Told to wean at 4 months

[Lily390]

Hello,
I was wondering if anyone else has been told this. I was told to start weaning my son at 4 months by the health nurse, I did see a pediatrician who recommended the same. For context my son was born with a severe tongue tie that we needed to have a frenotomy at 2 weeks old as we couldn't get an appointment sooner. Due to this he couldn't latch on to breastfeed and even found bottle feeding difficult. I combination feed him until my milk dried up. Although he now feeds well his weight has always been below where it needs to be. He's an incredibly active baby, constantly rolling over and kicking his legs to music. Due to this I've been told to start him on solids on top of his bottles to try and increase his weight. Has anyone else been in a situation like this and did it work? Thank you

I would have thought extra milk would do the same job. First foods won't add much in the way of extra calories. Does he seem ready for food?

He drinks a 6oz bottle every two hours during the day. I have tried getting him to drink more but he will not take it and just gets upset if I try to force it. He does seem really ready for food but I guess I'm just cautious of starting him too soon. He turns 5 months in a week so I've been debating just starting then as 4 months just seemed too young to me.

Agree with PP, there are far more calories in formula than the fruit and veg you would typically offer as first foods.

My HV told me to wean my daughter early at five months just because she thought my DD was ready, I did a lot of research into it and concluded it wasn't a good idea and ignored her. We were also under pediatric review due to birth circumstances and the consultant urged me not to wean before six months because babies internal organs are not developed enough to process food until six months plus the natural iron store all babies are born with doesn't start to run out until six months so there was no benefit to weaning. Plus like you I thought 5 months was too early, she didn't seem ready to me so we didn't wean until 6 months when she did seem ready.

You used to be able to access the HENRY program online which is or was an organisation promoting healthy eating in children. They had a checklist as to whether your baby was ready for weaning which was really useful. I don't know if it still available online but worth having a look.

We weaned our twins early. Between them they had a lot of issues with milk, including reflux. One twin had tongue tie too. My twin daughter was under the 9th percentile when born and is now on 50th. She loves her food, they both do, and have been much better for it with combination of milk and early weaning. My twins were also premature.
They can now eat well, chew food very well and are generally happier for it. Every baby is different and I’d suggest taking advice from healthcare professionals you trust and seeing what works for your baby. We took advice and guidance from paediatrician we trusted and gave it a go with intention to stop if it didn’t work.

Thank you that's really encouraging to know that it worked for you. I don't know anyone that has had a child with tongue tie and it's been difficult finding information. I'm glad that both your twins are doing so well on it.
I decided that I would trust my doctor's as they have been brilliant with everything else.
I started yesterday with the same attitude that if he didn't take to it I'd wait till he was older but he absolutely loved it. He's still took all his bottles that he normally would which I was worried he would drop if he was having solids.

If you are weaning then things like Banana-cado are calorie dense.

I'd just offer four once a day though for now and see how you get on over a few days

Thank you I'll definitely try that! I've been starting with very small amounts mixed in with his formula but I don't want to just he giving him the one thing all the time.

@Lily390 glad it is working out well so far!

Few things which helped us was doing the solids for the one meal at lunch or breakfast. So they have time to digest and we can see any tummy issues / if unsettled during day as opposed to eating before bed and issues during sleep.

Root veg was a good start for us, I did sweet potato, carrots ( then mixed) and butternut squash. Blended in spinach too. I think root veg might be easier on tummy. When I tried cauliflower etc too early it didn’t go down well until they were a bit older (6months ish)

And just one more thing , we had a lot of feeding ‘cues’ which was also why paediatrician gave green light for early weaning. Twins were always staring when we were eating and coming over, chewing motions and drool, lots of things in mouth and generally didn’t seem satisfied with milk (along with the reflux and general issues they had earlier on)

Take care :)

Thank you for your advice, I'll definitely keep that in mind when I'm trying different food. As most receipes are geared at 6+ it's been difficult to know what to give him.
Yes I have had all those cues too. I can't eat anything without him watching and chewing in tandem with me!
Thank you for all your advice it's been really helpful and much appreciated!