To say something to this mum re. early weaning?

[Greywalls12]

Was at a baby class today, when one mum mentioned that she'd started giving her 15 week old baby rice.
No one said anything, but their were quite a few disapproving looks.

AIBU to say it has no nutritional value and she could actually be doing her child harm by weaning before 17 weeks?

Or is that incredibly rude and should stop being miss judgy pants?

I don't actually think she would care as she ignores most guidelines e.g. has baby in own room and puts on front to sleep etc.

I think anything over three months is okish. My dd started stealing food so we were told it was a sign she was ready.

I had one friend who was feeding from eight weeks, rice in formula etc with permanent pacifier. Am I now a little smug that aged 13 mine is a healthy weight whilst hers isn't and has braces to correct her overbite? The meaner part of me is.

Why would you say anything?

Mine all had food around that time!
And shock horror! All slept on their tummies!

It’s none of your business. Her baby will be fine and will grow...we all grew.

I can find believe people don’t use their brains anymore and follow everything to the T. Does no one ask their mothers, aunts, neighbours anymore for advice ?

It's a shame for the child that she's overweight and needs braces but it doesn't reflect well on you that it's something you revel in. Sounds like you have issues with the friend and like to indulge in a bit of one-upwomanship.

"DH has loads of bowel issues and GP believes it's because of early weaning when he was a baby"

😂😂 as if. The GP that manages to go waaaayyy back to birth in his 10 minute slot. Lies.

We were taught years ago that you should not take the breast or bottle away until baby can replace the pleasure of sucking with that of biting. It makes sense to me. Introducing solids at a young age can have problems, but you could try half a teaspoon - including milk - to get baby used to another experience, but that is all it should be. Some babies appear to swallow but it does not always go down to the stomach and putting baby down to sleep soon after makes that scenario worse. If baby chokes it can go into the lungs.

Is it worth the risk, just to give baby a little extra bulk to stop hunger? Personally I don't think so.

You will soon realise that we all have our own way of doing things, and one is not necessarily better than the other. And advice changes extremely frequently! Say nothing.

That's absolutely bonkers!

Sometimes you have to go with gut instinct. I had hungry baby no 3 - always miserable. I gave her a little rice at 12 weeks and she transformed into a happy content baby. Sometimes a mum just knows what’s right.

AIBU to say it has no nutritional value and she could actually be doing her child harm by weaning before 17 weeks?

Are you a research scientist in the field? If not I doubt you are in a position to advise

Guidelines are there to discourage idiots feeding 6 week old babies pie and chips. A little baby rice at 15 weeks I doubt is anyone would hget worked up about.. Beak out!l

I’m actually finding this hysterical - baby rice doesn’t “need” nutritional value - the nutritional value is in the MILK which you mix it with

So what is the point then? They are being fed milk anyway. You can feed a baby milk very efficiently, either by breast or bottle. Mixing it with rice and feeding with a spoon - not so much!

I guess because it is more calorific and being more solid stays in the stomach longer perhaps??

I don't think you should say anything, because as you said- she doesn't follow guidelines anyway.

However, to educate some of you- babies guts mature between 4-6 months of age. You cant see inside their tummies, so you should always wait until 6 months to wean. If you wean too early, your child will more than likely get IBS, Chrons and/or multiple other digestive system issues. Of course, this isn't set in stone- not every baby who was weaned early will get these health conditions. But 1.)they normally dont start showing until adulthood and 2.)why would you risk it? There are other ways to provide nutrition for your baby which dont include giving them solids before 6 months of age.

If a dietician has recommended you wean your baby early, it's because they've weighed up the pros and cons and decided it's best for your baby. No one but a dietician can recommend early weaning!

My kids are grown now, but back in the day, weaning started at 12 weeks - baby rice. I know things are different now but I really don't think you should be judging her. It won't harm her baby.

CecilyP

Because some babies are interested in their parents food early and more emotionally ready for weaning but not physically. And it’s a few extra calories I think. And it is a new experience in eating with a spoon.

My point is baby rice is pretty bloody harmless and some people on here are making out that it’s crack.

@Pinktinker Thu 18-Jul-19 18:07:13
I wouldn’t bother because she probably won’t listen but this is shit parenting, especially putting her baby on its front to sleep

@MuddlingMacken My youngest wouldn't sleep unless she was on her front.

My youngest also wouldn’t sleep! It was only when I slid her off me in tears at 8 weeks old and she soothed and fell asleep that I discovered she is a belly sleeper. We later learnt she had really bad reflux and quite a lot of other issues. Until I discovered how she slept, she was actually starting to miss milestones due to exhaustion! She didn’t smile at all until after that day. The HV agreed with me that for HER HEALTH I just had to be careful but have her on her belly.

She is about to have her 11th birthday, so she survived past SIDS! Is still taking omeprazole daily and will for her whole life.

About three years ago there was a tv documentary entitled

''Why aren't fat people thin?'' It was very interesting and would welcome a repeat updated.

The researchers said that fat cells are laid down at the start of life and feeding. They do not show themselves right away but in some cases the cells store fat and the more a child eats the more fat cells storing the excess.

Just because your baby survived sleeping on their front, it doesn’t mean others had the same fate. Look up the stats, SIDS has been reduced by 81% since the back to sleep campaign. It is irresponsible for anyone to plug front sleeping in 2019.

Baby rice has nutritional value, it’s carbohydrate. That is a nutrient- and an essential one too, regardless of anything you read about low carb diets. I could never understand being told not to give baby rice but stewed apple was ideal (largely water and fibre). Baby is getting all it’s vitamins, minerals etc from baby milk, breast or formula.

My eldest is 20 yrs old. When she was a baby I was advised to wean her on to rice at 12 weeks. I have 2 other children and weaning advice was different each time. Each culture has its own weaning practices too. Leave her to do her thing. Try to discourage disapproving glances. They aren’t helpful or supportive.

My son was weaned at 12 weeks 20 years ago. I have no idea if it did him any harm or not. Anyway I think you are over potentially stepping the mark and I'm stunned you would even consider it.

@Sara107 stewed apple is largely sugar and not great for babies or anyone!

My sister and I both have IBS. Both born in the 60s. My mum is dead now so I cannot ask her if weaned early but my guess is that people did wean earlier in the 60s and we were bottle fed. But I echo UnchangedFaces321 "why would you risk it? "

Just because someone's child slept on their front and was OK doesn't mean it is great parenting advice.

We all know smokers who lived to a ripe old age. But we don't recommend smoking!

This is a parenting website so swapping parenting advice is one of the things we do here. I am very surprised at some posters not feeling able to judge some parenting is bad. Some things we do as parents are not good. It's not wrong to say it, not when medical advice backs this up.

As plenty of other posters have pointed out, I wouldn’t say anything because she clearly isn’t interested in expert guidance and facts. It’s not unreasonable to judge her for that though!

I get her decisions aren’t crimes of the century and her baby will be fine, but I’m always surprised at the posters saying ‘how dare you judge another mum’s choices?’

It’s one thing to make an informed decision ( E.g: choosing to let a baby sleep on its front due to reflux), but I don’t think someone feeding their baby rice because they ‘woke once in the night’ is evidence of good judgment.

We have so much evidence based guidance, it’s arrogance not to even consider it. Her approach may not have consequences in this instance, but It could in the future.

...Bet she voted for Brexit!!

Sorry

To be entirely honest, I thought giving baby rice to help a baby sleep (especially adding it to a bottle) was one of those old fashioned things that no one does anymore, like dipping a dummy in brandy and putting the baby at the bottom of the garden to sleep and only feeding them every 4 hours.

(Obviously not comparing baby rice to brandy or anything like that, i just don’t know anyone who has weaned their baby in this way!)