Weaning: when the heck are you meant to do it these days?

[ScarlettButler]

Two years ago when DD1 was weaned it was six months. Now it seems to be 4. Am confused. When are you meant to do it now as regards official advice

No it's 6 months.

Is that so Rita? So where have I got the 4 months thing from? I know the EAT study is introducing food before 6 months that I read about but was there not another report talking about 4 months?

The EAT study hasn't finished or reported its findings and is part funded by companies that sell baby food so you have to question its impartiality. The current advice based on the WHO is 6 months. However I favour the advice of the La Leche League which is less proscriptive as in the middle of the first year allowing for individual differences. If baby is sitting up andshowing interest in food and seem less satisfied by milk alone and is around 6 months then it's ok to start but as there are lots of things they can't have until 6 months - bread, cereal, meat etc I just decided to wait until 6 months. There's no way mashed carrots has enough calories to help with growth no matter what Annabel Karmel might say! After all as adults we eat more veg when we're trying to lose weight.

There was a research review looking at weaning before 6 months that was reported quite sensationally in the media a few months ago, maybe you're thinking of that?

That was a paper in the British Medical Journal - it was just a report written by some doctors saying that because most babies are weaned before 6 months there's no point advising 6 months. There was actually no new research evidence in the report at all.

Rita yes the report I am thinking of is the BMJ one it sounds like - was that the one that said there was a danger of not getting enough iron if you bf for six months? It has really confused me.
Molly I spoke to the EAT people bcs I got approached via Bounty to do the study and I have to say they stated categorically they weren't getting money from Nestle or baby food people. I'd be v disappointed if that was not true. Where did you find info that says there was?

I think 6 months is too late to start, remember they start off with v small amounts of everything so you are hardly assaulting their digestive system with 3 course dinners from the start. My 2 dds were weaned at 5months and ds1 is now coming up to 5 months so will start any day on him. I think sometimes a little common sense is in order. Babies of my generation were all weaned from 4 months, some even earlier.

I just posted this on another thread so thought I may aswell post itfor you too. weaning to solids
The current guideline is for 6 months. That hasnt changed. The BMJ article was done by 4 researchers, 3 of them were linked to formula companies. They didn't compile new data, just used WHO's research and made their own findings.

I do think some common sense can be used by the mother, as Partyhats was saying. Some might show signs of readiness earlier or later. I think it's important to know what these signs are and know the difference between curiosity and readiness.

Agree with SlightlyScrambled - guidelines have NOT changed! BMJ paper made a lot of noise but it has been dismissed by a lot of medical professionals - look it up on the BMJ site and see the comments! The paper was written by 4 researchers, 3 of whom have done paid consultancy work for formula manufacturers in last 5 years, and was an 'opinion piece' - NOT a new piece of research, and using no new data. It wasn't even a meta-analysis, as it wasn't methodologically sound - they cherry-picked which studies to use, and omitted references to those that would have contradicted the highly speculative claims the paper ends up making.

Babies are meant to be on breastmilk until they are physically capable of feeding themselves - ie. picking food up and stuffing them in their mouths, while seated upright. I think some will be ready in this way earlier than others, but I remain unconvinced (and most specialists in this field do) that a baby suffers if it waits until 6 months for first solids.

the EAT study:
Funding is being provided by the Food Standards Agency, the Medical Research Council and Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust.

Not by Nestle. The study supports exclusive breastfeeding for six months, or combined early introduction of home made (potentially allergenic) foods combined with breast milk. You are not eligble to take part if you formula feed. You are not encouraged to use commercial baby food at any point.

Am sure people will have other reasons to question the study but that should not be one of them.

As far as early weaning goes, to provide evidence for what advice should be given someone has to run trials to find out what the best course of action is: this is a trial to gather that evidence. Six months remains the advice and, if you're not taking part in the study, there is no reason why it should in any way influence you to wean any earlier than six months.