to think that someone who works in paediatrics should know better than to wean at 20 weeks?

[vampirebankholidayweekend]

none of business what age they wean, I know.

It is a member of my family, she has decided to start weaning her son, who is 2 weeks younger than my DD, which would make him 19 weeks this week. She has said he is particularly hungry and her health visitor has managed to pursuade her to hold off til 20 weeks!
Even my mother, who weaned us at about 3 months (as was the advise in those days) has tried to convince her it;s probably a growth spurt.
She is a paediatric nurse

What I don't understand is why so many people think it has to be 6 months without any leeway. There's huge variation in babies' development in terms of hitting milestones, eg. sitting up, walking talking etc. Surely it follows that babies are ready to wean at different ages too?

But, babyignoramus, with walking, talking, etc we let the baby do it at their own pace.

You'd never say "I'm going to start my baby walking/talking today", would you?

So why put food in them before being sure they're ready? And since you can't know if your baby's ready before six months (though I agree, some may be), why not err on the side of caution? It's not a race (though for some mums it can seem like it is) and you're not depriving your baby of anything by waiting.

Fair point Hunkermunker. I was thinking more in terms of those who let the baby lead the way as they do when learning to walk and talk etc. It just seems to me that as weaning is the one thing we really have control over we seem to want to take that control to extremes and be really rigid about it.

Also, at the moment the opinion is we're not depriving the baby of anything by not weaning before 6 months - but do we know that as 100% fact or is it based on best research (which could change)?

Tis a minefield!

I think, the thing is, unless you perform a endoscomy, you will NOT know if the Baby's gut is ready or not....but you don't (normally, of course there are exceptions) usually do anything wrong by waiting to wean....because solids are not as important as milk....
however, many mothers seem to almost have competitions, who's Baby is eating the fastest 3 square meals etc....

Point taken - FWIW I can't understand the rush myself!

DS (8 weeks) was eyeing up my fish pie today, but I think he can wait a few more months!

that was endoscopy...btw....blardy should check my spelling, lol

DS1 was weaned at 12 weeks and DS2 at 9 weeks. Both on advice of HV. Both were big babies, Bf was not enough, both had to have top up bottles and were still wanting more. DS2 physically could not get enough milk inside him before he was sick. HV recommended early weaning and he never looked back. DS's are now adults and as healthy as they come. No allergies, only ever missed a handful of days at school,(none at all during their 7 years at secondary school) and both have more than an iota of intelligence. It is up to the parent, in consultation with her HV or other professionals, to decide when it is right for their child to be weaned, and certainly not for OP to get involved in this issue when the child concerned is not hers and she does not know all the reasons behind the parents decision.

true sayithow but how many aprents actually do consult? I know my sister hid weaning her ds and she's a particularly sensble woman,I suspect that happens a lot

hunkermunker - So when said baby reaches out and grabs some food off of mummy's plate and sticks it in her mouth, does that count as "baby deciding"?

If not, why not?

I'm just curious. I weaned DD at 4 months as per the advice at the time and stuck to purees for way too long. This time, I intend to let baby have whatever he wants off the table, when he wants it.

Am I wrong or is this "sticking food into the baby" not an outdated concept typical of my own middle-aged generation. Isn't it all supposed to be baby-led these days?

CoteDAzur, I believe you've pretty fairly described the concept of bab-led weaning there. If they can grab it, handle it, get it in their mouths, chew it and swallow it, they're probably also developementally ready to digest it without problems.

I believe that's the theory, any how.