To consider introducing solids at 4months?

[Azaeli]

He's showing all the signs of being ready (grabs things with both hands and puts them in mouth, watches us eat, is more than double his birth-weight, sits well with support etc).

I know current advice is wait until 6months but don't babies develop at different rates?

Also he suffers with reflux and I've heard introducing solids early can help that. He guzzles milk but rarely seems satisfied (EBF) and has lots of green slimy nappies (8-10 a day).

Anyone else ignored the guidelines and started weaning early?

YANBU to consider weaning at 4 months.

The advice to wait to six months is given by the government and NHS in the UK for babies living here
Yes, it is, and where do they get their information from? That would be WHO!

My point is simply that current official guidelines are edicts from God and are not infallible. Read the research yourself, compare/contrast with other countries, use your common sense. And make your decisions accordingly.

^EXACTLY!

Advice evolves as new information comes to light, and one scientific study can be interpreted in many different ways. You can also deign a study to prove more or less any viewpoint if you are so inclined.

Personally I don't care at what age people wean. I'm not convinced in the grand scheme of things that it makes that much of a difference!

Also, I'm amazed that everyone seems to regard the NHS and WHO as beacons of knowledge with no political agenda or bias!

I waited til 6mo with DS. He developed allergies. The NHS hospital he attends has been doing a study where they were getting thousands of parents to start weaning at 3mo. I can't imagine paediatricians doing this if they thought it would be so bad for the health of all these babies?

I may offer earlier with DD who is 4mo but only if she seems really desperate. She is somewhat interested but I don't get the feeling she is ready.

I'd look into the green poop. DS had that from foremilk imbalance.

Yes blue, the guideline came from the WHO but the UK government have looked at the evidence supporting that recommendation and made a decision that it needs to be guideline here.
No offence but if it were so obvious the WHO guideline only applied to countries with poor sanitisation that MN'ers could find it, why would the NHS go to all the trouble of changing guidelines? That would've been obvious to them also.

lauren the WHO guidelines apply to the whole world. The clue is in the title. What makes you think poor sanitation stops being a concern at 6 months? Your HV is wrong.

m.adc.bmj.com/content/88/6/488.full

Pretty damn inconclusive.

Feed your baby solids if you want op. Just don't tell mumsnet.

Evidence of harm through introducing solid food to these infants earlier than this is weak. Infants should be managed individually according to their needs.

On HVs advice, weaned my (now teenage) sons at 4months with no problems as they were big babies. All babies are different, and medical guidelines are just that- guidelines. Not the law and subject to change..

Well your GP is wrong. You're more likely to have diarrhoea than constipation for a cows milk protein allergy. My DS never had streaks of blood either. His presentation was eczema. GPs aren't always that clued up on it.

Weaning made no difference to his reflux. Putting on weight and watching you eat is not a sign of being ready. Babies are interested in all sorts of things.

The evidence for waiting until 6 months is pretty weak actually for babies in the developed world with access to safe non-breastmilk foods. (There is somewhat more evidence for solids before 16 weeks being harmful, at least from the allergy point of view, but none of this advice is bombproof).

My oldest was weaned at around 20-21 weeks for practical reasons (I was working and she was a bottle refuser) and she was more than ready in the sense that she was able to self-feed finger foods, had been sitting unaided for quite some time etc. Her brother although a much bigger baby and more advanced with physical milestones wasn,t really ready for solids until 7-8 months.

Personally I'd go with what suits you, if possible after discussing with your HV or doctor. There is rarely one size fits all with babies.

Read the research yourself, compare/contrast with other countries, use your common sense. And make your decisions accordingly

The majority of people can't understand the research, or compare/contrast adequately. As for common sense, well it's not that common.
Hence the need for guidelines in the first place.

Viola I will repost from the study

Evidence of harm through introducing solid food to these infants earlier than this is weak. Infants should be managed individually according to their needs.

You proved my point really quickly. One study, uncited? No thanks.

I didn't say that's the only study did I? Just that the evidence isn't as concrete as several hysterical posters seem to think.

Some of us are capable of using our heads and not blindly accepting anything we're told

Youbasard I'm a lactation advisor and she is absolutely right! The WHO advice is for the 'world' and it's got developing countries with sanitation problems . They want EBF until guts can deal with contamination.
4 mths is average, 6 for other dairy and gluten...

cat can you refer get to any other research paper or name any organisation that doesn't recommend waiting till 6 months? Till then I'll "blindly accept" what all the major health authorities, numerous scientific studies and my own research tells me, thanks.

Hot they recommend that because of the WHOs advice which others have already explained

I'm on my phone but there are several studies that show 4 months isn't bad on google scholar

" I'm a lactation advisor and she is absolutely right! The WHO advice is for the 'world' and it's got developing countries with sanitation problems . They want EBF until guts can deal with contamination.
4 mths is average, 6 for other dairy and gluten..."

Sometimes sorry I don't understand this at all. Who is right? Why would you know more than anyone else because you're a lactation consultant? 4 months is average for what and what is the 6mo for gluten about?

Want to pick at any more of my posts? Go on give it a go. I was simply responding to a comment you made about mine. Your tone, not just to me but others on the thread, is downright aggressive and you are making yourself look a bit ridiculous tbh. It's only a discussion about weaning ffs. Get a life.

Hotchoc good point.

I just don't like bullies.

Youbasard I'm a lactation advisor and she is absolutely right!

Why would you being a lactation advisor have any bearing on it? I presume you know all about the open and closed gut? Ie, the reason for the guidelines?

the guidelines are ideally 6 months ...not before 17 weeks

To all those who believe in following the 6 month guidance before weaning, how many of you exceed the 24 units of alcohol per week guidance?

Yes, exactly....