To ask what age you weaned your children?

[buncakes]

I have a DS, 19 weeks and am a FTM. I am conflicted about when to wean. NHS says 6 months. But my family and friends think I'm mad for waiting and they think he needs food now. He is FF and does cry for milk a lot more than he used to and I find it hard to fill him. I am not sure if weaning would help this - everything I've read online says no but everyone I know says yes.

Would be interested to hear experiences and opinions. I just want to do what's best for my baby.

Both times at four months OP.. I agree that you know when your baby is ready. (for first few weeks only tiny amounts). Both showed an immediate interest in food offered and readily tasted it.

I started weaning my pfb at 6weeks - on the advice of the health visitor! He is 27 soon, and obviously advice has changed since then, but he is perfectly healthy.
No2 son was almost 9 months before he would even let anything other than milk anywhere near him - he was the total opposite.
I'm not much help am I - go with your instinct and maybe try a bit of puree or rusk and see how your baby reacts. If he doesn't want it, don't push it, just try again in a couple of weeks.

The guidelines provided by the NHS are based on a 40 year study conducted by the World Health Organisation. It is a carefully constructed and considered report.

The baby food market is worth billions globally, so the advice to wean later had massive ramifications for commercial organisations that have ample funds to lobby governments. The WHO could not have published the report without solid evidence based findings.

However, this is an emotional topic and many feel very strongly about their choices. Personally, I did some research and based my decision on that.

I once read a comment on Mumsnet that has stayed with me; there are 2 things in life that everyone can do better than you - raise your children and spend your money.

I weaned at just over 5 months. DS was a very large, hungry, formula fed baby and the amount of milk he wanted to fill himself up was quite a bit over the recommended daily intake. This meant his salt intake was higher than recommended, plus he had started being sick from the sheer amount of milk he was trying to guzzle down! So I began weaning a little early on HV advice.

Believing that a few spoonfuls of baby rice or pureed fruit and veg will fill a baby up more than milk is ridiculous. Even when you begin weaning and for the first few months, babies still get their calories from milk.

DD was 5 months. I felt under pressure from other mums to start before 6 months. For the next baby, I will not be doing this.

24 weeks for my current baby and about 22 weeks for my first.

Current dd has just had a couple of spoonfuls of purée and things like cucumber sticks, banana and cooked sweet potato. So a mixture of methods.

No way do I expect it to fill her up more than breast milk barely anything goes in at this stage.

I waited till 6 months and then did purees. He had no interest in putting food in his mouth but happily accepted what I fed him. He still drank loads of milk up until 12 months.

4 months with my oldest 2 as the advice was then. They both took to it really quickly. When I had DS2, the advice had changed to 6 months and I managed to hold out to 5 months.

I started weaning my little one at 16 weeks after weeks of him drinking up to 14oz per sitting and then wanting more an hour later. The milk physically was not filling him enough at that point so it was wean him or have him be hungry. I couldn't physically get more formula in him than I was doing and he was still hungry.

I let my babies decide.

They were both around 7-8 months when they wanted solids. I did baby led weaning.
I made food available from 6 months onwards and they would play, lick and taste, but it was around 8 months when they started to eat really.
EBF until then.

3 to 4 months.
All healthy adults now with no allergies or health issues whatsoever.

A baby doesn't need to sit up "unaided", they need to be able to sit well with support for weaning. Not that many babies sit totally unaided at 6 months.

I had 2 big babies, 91st and 95th centiles. Both started gumming food at 5.5 months and both were 6 months, give or take a day, before they coordinated their tongue well enough to get the food in position to swallow.

As a pp said, many many people will say "it did mine no harm" but I know so many adults with digestive problems - IBS, GORD, coeliac, etc etc that surely it's best to leave it as long as possible? Milk is more nutritious than a bit of blended carrot.

& according to my dm, I was weaned at 6 weeks! quite normal back in the 60's apparently. I have no health issues.

Saying it did me no harm it she same as saying I played chicken on the roads and look I am ok. Just because you are OK does not mean that everyone else who was weaning early was ok. My DH was weaning early and has Chrons.

I started with small tastes from about four 1/2 months. There is some decent evidence that exposure to wheat, egg etc. earlier than 6mo may slightly lower the risk of allergy, although I don't think waiting till 6mo is wrong either, as the difference is quite small either way.

I think part of the reason they say 6mo on the NHS sites is because if you say 6mo, most people will wait till 4mo; if you say 4mo, you'll have people putting cereal in 6 week old babies bottles.... etc.

BTW, the people who go on and ON about waiting till 6mo amuse me greatly; a lot of them are pretty much hysterical on the subject.

On the Kellymom Facebook page, any discussion in which someone so much hints that they may have started solids even two seconds before the clock strikes midnight on the baby's six month birthday gets the thread pulled and deleted by moderators--too dangerous to be allowed to stand, apparently.

What's the hurry? If there is no benefit to weaning early and you might be avoiding potential long term health problems then why not wait for a couple more weeks. It's you that's impatient, not your baby!

There is some decent evidence that exposure to wheat, egg etc. earlier than 6mo may slightly lower the risk of allergy,
This was an Australian study which showed that children were less likely to develop allergies if given solids while still being breastfed.
Far more babies are still breastfed at 4 months compared to 6 months, which is why that advice was give,

Mine had small tastes of food from about 3 months. Old I am. Do they still give babies rusks??

6 months. The NHS guidelines are evidence based and explain why weaning at 6 months is recommended. Why would you go along with what your untrained relatives say?
Sounds like you need to give more milk. The HV can give you an idea of how much is average but you may have a hungry baby.

www.newscientist.com/article/dn28366-should-babies-be-given-solids-earlier-to-prevent-food-allergies/

I keep seeing people on this thread saying that "the latest studies" show that you should wait till six months. No, they mostly do not. On the contrary, there appears to be something like a growing consensus that early introduction of potential allergens, not late, may slightly reduce the risk of allergies. A very large and high quality study recently out found this with peanuts (I thought this had been widely reported, to be honest?), and similar results have been found with wheat, eggs and other allergens.

***

"Is it time to change weaning advice? Despite her paper, Abrams sticks to the official Canadian Pediatric Society line to hold out until 6 months “because of the benefits of breastfeeding for babies and mothers”.

And that could be the heart of the matter – the weaning question may be being distorted by efforts to raise breastfeeding rates. Because the official line is that babies should be given nothing other than breastmilk, rather than formula, for the first 6 months of life, telling parents they can give solids during this time could dilute this message. “Breastfeeding in the UK is so politicised that weaning has become drawn in,” says one researcher who did not want to be named.

Different advice is given by some other expert groups. The European Food Safety Authority says weaning at 4 months is fine. The British Dietetic Association says that while parents should aim for 6 months they should use their own judgement as different babies have different needs. “Sometimes they’re starting to grab food out of your hand before six months,” says dietitian and BDA spokesperson Tanya Thomas. “As a parent you know when they’re ready.”"

17 weeks under pediatric care due to chronic reflux.

I weaned DS1 at 4 months (advice at the time) with pureed veg, baby rice etc. DD (13 years later) weaned at 6 months, follwed advice to the letter with baby led weaning, which felt wrong for her. It was really wrong for her & she didn't get the hang of food for a few months, which worried me. DS2 (2.5 years after DD) I split the difference weaned from 5 months with mushier stuff.
I think ds2 was about right. It can be very difficult to trust your instincts when surrounded with such earnest & vehement advice on the latest studies. Having dcs over a 15.5 year period gave me a bit more perspective on it. Take all advice on board, but don't ignore your instincts.

They don't eat enough to fill them in those early months. Milk has far more nutrition than a spoonful of banana. DD seemed hungry so we started around 5.5 months and she got so constipated she was screaming in pain. I won't be rushing with the next baby.