Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Protection built in.

Meet the Other Phone.
Protection built in.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Infant feeding

Get advice and support with infant feeding from other users here.

Original poster

HV says start weaning, I say wait....confused now

31 replies

NineUnlikelyTales · 05/02/2007 16:24

Hello

I'd appreciate your perspectives on this.

DS will be 5 months next week. He is exclusively fed EBM. This is important to me as DH has asthma and there are quite a few allergies in his family. I felt quite strongly that we should hold off weaning onto solids until the recommended 26 weeks, just in case it triggered any food allergies.

I took DS to be weighed etc today for the first time since he was 6 weeks old. He started life on the 75th centile for weight (but then he was 3 weeks late...), went up to 91st because he was the hungriest baby ever. Now he is on 50th for weight and height, which is fine.

HV asked about sleeping. I said that since he had a chest infection at Christmas, he had gone from waking once or twice a night to waking every couple of hours. She said I should start weaning him. I explained about wanting to wait because of the allergies, etc but she said that it didn't count from 20 weeks, and if you wait until 26 weeks they associate the pain of teething with the sensation of having a spoon in their mouth and will refuse to eat. Also it is important to start solids before 26 weeks with a BF baby because there is not enough iron.

My heart tells me that this is a load of gubbins, but obviously the 2 hour sleep thing is a bit wearing and I would be very glad if he slept better if I started him on solids.

Any views? BTW DS is showing no other signs of readiness for weaning except that he is interested in people eating. And people washing up, and people doing pretty much everything really.

Thanks
Nine

OP posts:
hana · 05/02/2007 16:26

i think absolutely you can wait - you're not that far from 6 months tbh - very short time in the space of your baby's little life!

SoupDragon · 05/02/2007 16:27

She's talking a load of b*llocks

Weaning won't stop him waking up - there are more calories in breastmilk than in anything he's likely to be eating.

lulumama · 05/02/2007 16:27

go with your heart

what a load of rubbish re the teething pain and eating....blardy hell

breast milk is the best source of nourishment for your baby, and with a family history of allergies and asthma, i would definitely wait....

he will sleep better when he is ready to sleep better..not because he has had a spoonful of mush !!

kiskidee · 05/02/2007 16:28

wot soupy sez.

franke · 05/02/2007 16:31

I think your reasons for waiting are rather better thought out than your hv's completely daft and frankly inaccurate reasons for weaning now.

Your child, your decision, you're right

MrsBadger · 05/02/2007 16:34

You are right, and your HV is talking rubbish. Hold out.

3andnomore · 05/02/2007 16:34

Well, another case of useless not up to date HV there, me thinks, sigh!
As for not to late weaning because of teething, now my younger 2 both got their first teeth very late, but they had lots and lots of trouble with sore gums from like 6 weeks, from where the teeth shoot into the gums, like.
I would say, wait with weaning

SoupDragon · 05/02/2007 16:35

"if you wait until 26 weeks they associate the pain of teething with the sensation of having a spoon in their mouth and will refuse to eat."

utterly hlarious - or it woud be if she wasn't a Professional giving advice... anyway, you don't have to use a spoon at all at 6 months.

JillybeansNW · 05/02/2007 16:36

What Lulu sez and what soupy sez. I have NEVER heard that thing about teething pain, and if you give finger foods at 6 months I would have thought that the teething-ring action of chewing on them would make them quite soothing akcherlee!

colditz · 05/02/2007 16:36

God, any excuse to spoon reconstituted rice down a baby's throat

Teething puts them off their food sometimes regardless of when you wean th em.

RanToTheHills · 05/02/2007 16:38

I@m shocked! The official advice is 6 months, what's she on and where's she been?

stand your ground and follow your instincts, you're doing fine.

AitchTwoOh · 05/02/2007 16:44

i'd actually think about complaining to the practice. that bit about the spoon... crackers.

DaisyMOO · 05/02/2007 18:12

Why are these people being paid to spout such garbage?!

Greensleeves · 05/02/2007 18:20

Just throw the red book in the bin and tell them to mind their own bloody business. That's what I did, and I'll do the same next time. In the event of any real problems or concerns relating to my children, I want them to be seen by someone medically qualified. Otherwise, we don't need any surveillance, thanks

Muminfife · 05/02/2007 18:48

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

mamama · 05/02/2007 18:54

Go with you heart. There is no reason to wean him yet. And weaning won't help him sleep better.

puffling · 05/02/2007 18:57

For the first month its just tiny little bits of rice, carrot, pear etc. so nothing to really fill him up. Does he seem more hungry? If not, don't worry.

belgo · 05/02/2007 18:58

If your dh has got asthma, it's especially important to wait until 6 months - your HV should know this!

I would complain about her advice.

And her comment about teething makes the massive assumption that all babies start teething at 6 months - which is rubbish.

yellowrose · 05/02/2007 19:04

Nine - first of all well done for getting so far with pumping bm for your baby

"it is important to start solids before 26 weeks with a BF baby because there is not enough iron"

she is talking rubbish. bm has all the iron baby needs for the first 6 months after birth. he will need some iron after 6 months, this can be done easily by introducing meat and other iron rich foods after 6 months. please refer to kellymom.com and la leche league websites which give scientific evidence for iron in bm.

you have one more month to go before introducing solids and then your baby can have anything you wish to give him and you can also look up allergenic foods on kellymom.com if you are worried about what solids are allergenic (i.e egg white, nuts, tomatoes, citric fruit, etc are listed as not to be introduced until much later than 6 months)

as for sleep - she is talking rubbish again - my ds didn't sleep thro' until he was around 10 months old - i.e 4 months after i had given him solids - solids make diddly difference to a baby's sleep and can only cause risk of allergy if introduced too early

good luck !

indiajane · 05/02/2007 19:06

Amazing isn't it - all HV's are Grade E nurses or above and get paid loads - to spout this kind of mumbojumbo.

Wean when you think it's right, I'm living in Austria at the moment and everyone here still weans at 4 months - even the formula tins tell you to do this which is a bit odd..?

belgo · 05/02/2007 19:07

indiajane - the standard advice I've been giving in Belgium is to wean at 4-5 months, and it's very hard to stand the pressure and wean later then that.

indiajane · 05/02/2007 19:09

I weaned my first 2 at 4 months (way back in the day) my DS is now 5 months and I'm plugging ahead with pure breast milk. Not really sure I'm doing the right thing though as he genuinely looks pathetic and watches me eat like a hawk, hands in mouth, drooling etc!

belgo · 05/02/2007 19:11

indiajane - maybe with his hands in his mouth and drooling are signs that he's teething?

indiajane · 05/02/2007 19:13

Yeah, that could be it too... my other 2 were really late with their teeth - 12 months plus so I kinda assumed he would be too. Either way, I'm going to do it by the book it's just strange that other countries aren't following WHO guidance - after all it's supposed to be a global thing - isn't it?

yellowrose · 05/02/2007 19:14

muminfife - you say about hv's "i thought they just existed to put people on child protection register" - absolutely bloody right !

mine never had a decent word of encouragement or knowledge for me re. bf (i did and do it despite her) but was shocked when i admitted ds aged 6 months had rolled off the bed (poor baby just looked very shocked, didn't even cry) and yes i felt like a clumsy mum for allowing my baby to fall off the bed while i turned my back, but she gave me a right ticking off for it (with the door to her room wide open so practically the whole surgery could hear)!

in her book it was some sort of child abuse

needless to say i never went to see her again