weaning

[mummy2t]

Hi all My little one is 20 weeks old and i have just begun to offer a very small portion of baby rice mid morning, he is doing really well with it and really enjoying it. Today i offered the baby poridge and he loved that too, how long should i wait before a offer more tastes and eventually start the proper veg and fruit purees? i dont want to go to fast with it all
all advice welcomed
steph x

yes mummy2t,and i and others have offered a lot of opinion that has barely been acknowledged.

you asked for all info... and not to go too fast,, but got upset when it was pointed out that weaning at 20 weeks might not be advisable

I hasten to add that a growth spurt is one thing, but feeding 11-15times per day at 3mths should not be necessary for wks on end. Growth spurts don't go on for wks

have been reading this with interest and wasn't going to post anything, but to yvonnek....you obviously don't frequent other parts of this site....if you did you would see that your last comment to VS about being "in a better mood today " was a little bit insensitive. If you do frequent other parts of the board and have seen VS's recent threads then shame on you.

and on the great weaning debate....i was weaned onto farley's rusks at 14 weeks. I was diagnosed with coeliac disease aged 35 after who knows what sort of long term damage has been done to my gut (it is unlikely that it will ever recover fully), and I am at a much greater risk of contracting bowel cancer or ulcerative colitis than someone without coeliac disease. I don't blame my mum as she did what was recommended at the time, whereas parents who chose to wean early inspite of the current guidelines can and should take responsibility for any future problems their children might have.

and i apologise if that offends anyone's sensitivities. If you are so sure that what you are doing is right and just....why are you so bloody defensive about it?

VS when I look at most 12wk old babies I would agree they have not got the alertness to notice. Rest assured mine does. She will already press buttons deliberately on electronic toys whilst sitting upright in a playstation.

Agree lulu.

I have a BF 11 week old and have just come through a growth spurt - nightmare IMHO but certainly not baby rice time.

Mummy2t

As i said earlier, ignore and don't feel like your are bad mum for doing what you feel is best for your child.

I have come to the conclussion (sp) that if you don't follow the guidelines you will be hung drawn and quartered should you ask for help about weaning, bottle feeding rather then breastfeeding. So i will not ask questions on this site anymore.

oh, and someone pointed out that their baby watches them intently while they read the paper....doesn't mean that baby was ready or able to read! Watching their parents is what babies do...it's how they learn....it doesn't mean they are at the developmental stage of being able to or needing to do it.

If you read the weaning stuff given by your HV, even that says watching you intently is not a sign that they are ready to be weaned.

get a grip vistorian, you have been caught making up mince and posting it.

mumm2t came on asking for advice.

she's got both sides.

lulu has strong opinions like yourself, but she agrees if signs are there it is agreed with health officials to wean between 17-26 weeks.

i do not have strong opinions on the weaning. believe each child is different. hold off to 6 month if you feel that is best.

i do have strong opinions that you keep coming back here and making people like myself, mumm2t and tori feel like we're shit mothers.

i just hope mumm2t is not suffering from post natal depression, as your attitude is appaling.

take a leaf out of lulumamas book,

get your point accross without being rude.

no need to be abusive to tori either. she's giving her opinion, the same as you did. but did you see her tell her she must start feeding her baby. NOOO she just told her story.

your opinion is valued if your gonna play nicely

Ach, Daisy, thanks, but it's ok, at least my unsubstantiated craziness has a reason

Tori, wrong thread love, that's G%T..

Yvonnek, I can't be bothered anymore.
Fuck off.

Like I said, if it was just growth spurts I would agree. Its not been for me. I have never been able to feed her less than every 1.5-2hrs from 6am to 11pm and at least 1-2times in the night, so I personally would have given up bf (with all the benefits of helping prevent allergies, helping immunity etc) and put her on hungry baby ff, if I hadn't started weaning. It really wasn't fair on dd1 who got no attention from me because I was constantly 'cuddling' dd2 in her eyes.

I just wanted to add that a lot of what Lulamama says seems very VERY sensible.... I know I have been in the 'you know your baby, you know when's best' camp, which I still am....

but I think you sound very level-headed, well-read, and also considerate of how to put your own understanding of weaning across to others.

Know the signs, like you say. Read them, know how to read them....

VS They don't get it from me LOL. I'm still trying to get my pic from phone to computer to add to my profile LOL!

i think you should follow your instinct with regards to babies and weaning, both of mine were weaned befor e26 weeks after being advised to by health care professionals. my ds was 12 weeks when i was told to wean him, my dd was 16 weeks.
advice has changed, and in my opinion caused mass hysteria. when i had ds we were told to wean at 4 months and if delayed do not in any circumstance wean after 6 months. one of the major reasons for this, at the time, was that delayed weaning meant delayed speech. if you weaned and they were not on proper solid foods by 7 months you were a bad mother. so when i had my dd several years later i was very confused when discovering this was no longer the case.
with regards ti original posts, if you feel your baby is ready for weaning go ahead. i think you should carry on with the milky type foods and slowly try other flavours. mine loved pureed carrot for example. try simple things at first i.e. just one flavour at a time. you could try mixing things together in a couple of weeks. sort of brocolli and potato puree (another of my dc favourites when small). your baby will let you know when they have had enough or if they do not like something. mine absolutely hated, and still do, cauliflower

... and if you can wait, then DO.

Sound advice.

Yvonnek, thanks but me and VS always have a good rant over this matter Thats why I said I would take the heat off the OP LOL

this is always going to be a hot debate,
i asked advice on something i have already started not something i was debating on doing.
everyone is right i did ask for advice, but last time i checked, when giving advice you do it politely, instead i have been basically accused of abuse!

regardless of whether i think i am right or you all think u are right the thing we really need to address is that IF early weaning is as harmless as everyone is saying then something does need to be done to get if of the shevles. this is what i can understand, like before, if a stairgate is made and found to be faulty or could harm a child or adult for that matter, its recalled ( we have all seen the notices in mothercare, argos etc ) why isnt this the case with the baby food?? sure, cow and gate etc etc etc are all making more money by getting people to wean earlier but surely this is against some kind of law???

ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

It isn't instinct to say your baby is hungry for solids, just hungry!!!

If everyone, including food jars, said weaning should start at eight months, and I mean everyone then not one of you would wean before hand, you'd cope with hungry babies, and sleepless nights, and not think twice!!

bye vs.

nice mouth, hope you dont speak to you kids like that.

Tori, tis lucky you have good opinions on other threads or I might think you were a fucking mentalist

They are having to change their labelling but ask for longer to do it for sceptical reasons.

I think you are being OTT about being accused of abuse IMO

No, I don't talk to my kids, too busy shoving slop in their gobs.

no i wouldnt i would do what i feel is right for my baby the same as i have with everything else, i potty trained when i felt they were ready, not when prescribed by a book.
i put them in a swing when i felt they were ready
i changed them to a bed not cot when they were ready.
the same as i fed them more than milk when i felt they were ready, with guidance from health proffessionals.

No VS my baby rice and cereals say 4-6mths 1st foods on the box but I chose to do it earlier because dd2 is ready. With dd1 she was ready at 16wks. Imust have done it ok though. dd1 eats everything including cauliflower, kidney, liver, blackberries .

as long as it's organic, free range, home made, salt free, sugar free, gluten free.

aw heck, why bother, give them a macdonalds made of chicken scrapings at 16 weeks.

joke by the way!!!!