Has anyone weaned before 6 months?

[whyIsARavenLikeAWritingDesk]

As title suggests?
I have been having trouble getting any Mille into my 18 week DD, it is a daily battle and she refuses anything after taking half oz!
My HV isn't any help she says not to worry and she'll grow out of it, this has now been going on for 7 weeks!
Basically I want to know if anyone has weaned their baby this young? I know to speak to HV first but thinking MN might have some advise!
I'm in tears everyday because she just won't eat

Assasinated, I cant speak for all mothers but i just knew that the time was right to start weaning. It was a long time ago so i can't tell you exactly why as I cant really remember but im assuming my dc displayed some some signs that their milk wasnt enough. Its a bit like the question is motherhood instinctive or learnt? I've always leaned heavily towards the former. Government guidelines are informative, but I wouldnt stick rigidly to them like a set of rules, I'd just go with my instincts.

I weaned dd1 at 12and half weeks, she was a hungry baby, I used to give her baby rice mixed with my breast milk twice a day it helped a lot before I did this I fel like she was glued to my chest 2nd dd was weaned at 16 weeks on baby rice then food.

Some health professionals do. The thing is with instincts is, there usually right so for a parent to feel the instincts to wean at 2 weeks is pretty unlikely.
Imagine telling your baby not to walk before 12 months because their legs just arn't strong enough. Which for an estimation on most babies that's true. But some have the natural instincts to walk earlier because they no there legs can take it. How do they possibly know their legs can take that weight?
Ok might be a shit comparison but it's all I can think of off the top of my head. But surly you can see my point?

'I wonder what the point is of the NHS advice'

That's just it. It's advise not set in stone rules

So a mum (dad?) can just tell when a baby is ready to wean, and that means there definitely won't be any risks to the baby as long as you go with your instincts?

I wonder what the NHS advice is based on then, and why it's recommended by them instead of just going on instincts? They must have some kind of reason for giving that advice, based on some sort of information that they've discovered.

Is anything risk free? Even following nhs guidelines isn't 100% risk free. NHS guidelines dont say follow us to the letter and nothing can go wrong. All they can do is minimise the risk. Most maternal instincts are also with the child's best interest in mind. Which is why they are usually spot on. If you felt your child was seriously ill and instincts told you that they needed urgent medical attention, would you sit at home and do nothing if your local GP said to just give your child calpol?

I really don't know. Maybe because a lot of parents don't trust their instincts. I don't doubt they've done extensive research over several years. But the advise changes all the time aswell have we really evolved that much in 10 years that our gut and food tollorence has changed from being able to handle solid foods at 4 months to 6 months? So therefore the advise parents was being given just 10 years ago was wrong?
There are guide lines for everything. But as I said before there just a guide and I wouldn't have been without my baby books when dcs were babies. But we don't have to follow them the latter. There just there to help and reassure you

The NHS might be trying to reduce the risks rather than trying to say there are no risks, though? So weaning near to 6 months (the guidelines say "around 6 months") represents less risk overall than weaning at 10 weeks, even if that's your instinct as a mother.

The NHS are going to give their advice based on their understanding of the latest research and what they think will be the best outcome for the most people. The advice given 10 years ago was the best they knew then, as was the advice 20 years ago and 50 years ago. Research and knowledge moves on all the time, it makes sense that advice can be improved upon as a result. Nothing has changed about babies during that time, we certainly haven't evolved in that short a timeframe. But further research and analysis has happened and advice updated as a result, in order to try and help parents.

The guidelines are 17 weeks and over because the latest scientific research tells us that before 17 weeks, the gut is immature and introducing food may cause digestive problems. It's really important to remember that guidelines constantly change as we learn more. My grandma was advised to smoke a cigarette to combat morning sickness. My mum and MIL were told that they should only feed a baby for 20 minutes on each breast before topping up with formula. Mil was instructed to give dh baby rice at 8 weeks because he had reflux, she did and he has awful IBS which can be quite debilitating at times. She was following medical guidelines though and it did stop the reflux. The issue with following an instinct is a tricky one. For mum's that have a difficult baby, they just want a solution. When my dd wouldn't take milk in a decent quantity I was desperate. I saw my neice thriving on food and it made me question if I should just start food. My mum and mil who had weaned during the 80s when 3 months was the normal, actively encouraged me. My hv was insistent that I shouldn't even consider it a day before 6 months. I couldn't have told you what my instinct was if you asked me - I was confused and bombarded with contradicting information. It was the GP who finally took me in hand and explained the science behind weaning. My dd was skinny, colicky, unsettled and dropping centiles and I was scared. The gp said id donevthe rightbthing by persevering with milk but at 17 weeks she was old enough. Plus she was showing the signs of readiness. Someome talking me through why she was ready was so helpful. So I weaned dd and never looked back. Dd2 is currently 12 weeks and is totally different to dd1. At some point between 17 and 26 weeks she will be ready and I will follow her. The guidelines are just that, guidance. It is important to also do your own research. I know plenty of mums who now have grown up children who will say anecdotally that 12 weeks is fine. My friend whose dd is 1 would not even wean a day before her lo was 6 months because she 'had to follow the guidelines'. These are extremes. You are better off making your own decision for your baby based on your baby. Do your research, listen to your gut and find a happy medium.

But your instincts as a mother wouldn't tell you to wean at 10 weeks unless in the unlikely event that babies was ready
Most mothers instincts are on parr with nhs guide lines because neither are wrong. Just that a mother instincts are fine tuned with your particular baby. Nhs guide lines are for all babies as a whole.
Was I wrong to ignore nhs guide lines 16 years ago and NOT wean my dd at 16 weeks like I was instructed too? Or did I do the right thing and wait until she was ready at 6 months?

"Most maternal instincts are also with the child's best interest in mind."

That is such a dangerous way of thinking!

Was a a quote from me? Sorry can't seem to see where it's wrote.
But you think a mother's natural maternal instincts are dangerous?
Explain?

It was from justnowords last post.

That's not what I said, funnyfarmer. I said that assuming a mother's instincts have the child's best interests at heart is dangerous. They often don't.

And when it comes to weaning, suggesting that a mother's instinct can determine the development of a baby's gut is just bonkers.

In the animal kingdom they can. We're all just mammals. A mother can tell if a child is sick days before any symptom are shown just by smell. Nobody eles in the world can smell that smell but a mother.
Mothers have managed thousands of years without nhs guildlines, expert advice and forums. And as I've said I would never suggest ignore medical advice completely. Just use a bit both. I just find it a bit sad that mothers don't trust themselves when there brilliant!

"Mothers have managed thousands of years without nhs guildlines, expert advice and forums."

Yep. However, infant mortality rates are a bit of a stumbling block in the rose tinted spectacled view of the past!

@AssassinatedBeauty
You never answered my question. I'm generally interested in your opinion. Because I'm not saying what you're wrong.Far from it. Medical science is marvellous. So are mothers instincts! And I feel they should be used together like salt and pepper

"Was I wrong to ignore nhs guide lines 16 years ago and NOT wean my dd at 16 weeks like I was instructed too? Or did I do the right thing and wait until she was ready at 6 months?"

"Yep. However, infant mortality rates are a bit of a stumbling block in the rose tinted spectacled view of the past!"

Yes due to sickness. Disease and povity and not enough medical resources. Not by motheres getting weaning timing a bit wrong.

"Was I wrong to ignore nhs guide lines 16 years ago and NOT wean my dd at 16 weeks like I was instructed too? Or did I do the right thing and wait until she was ready at 6 months?"

You weren't instructed to wean at 16 weeks. The guidelines have been broadly similar for at least the last 21 years. 4 months at the earliest. I'll hunt up dd's red book sometime if you like!

Well, I would consider you followed guidelines 16 years ago, because I don't think people were instructed to wean at exactly 16 weeks and no later. I think the advice then was between 4 and 6 months, before it was changed to "around 6 months and not before 17 weeks" as it is now.

Even if the official advice was to wean at 12 weeks or whatever, that would have represented the best knowledge at that time, and you wouldn't have been wrong to follow guidelines. It's about the risks that are known about, and making a decision based on our current best information.

I was Instructed to wean at 16 weeks. My hv was quite persistent. I do remember doing research and finding some written text about how sometimes baby's can wait a little longer.
Hv said said that advise was mainly for prem or smaller babies. And I would delay dd's development if I didn't have her "fully weaned" by 6 months.

If you were given specific advice by a health care professional in your own individual circumstances then that's different to the general advice which applies to everyone unless they have specific issues.

Do you think the HV was right in saying the general advice was meant only for small or prem babies?

"And I would delay dd's development if I didn't have her "fully weaned" by 6 months."

Then she was an ill informed person who was ignoring the guidelines which you would have had in writing from many different sources (Red book, Bounty pack etc etc etc). That is not proof that "the guidelines keep changing" or any of the other things people say to justify ignoring them.

I don't know if the health visitor was right about delaying weaning for prem or smaller babies. That's not really my call.
You've got me looking for dd's red book now. Think I put it in the attic not long ago. Thinking I would never really need it again 🙄
I remember doing a lot of reading. My red book and the orange and green NHS one you get from the hospital.
All I can really remember that you was advised to start the weaning process at 16 weeks. At 1st just a spoonful a day. Each day a little more until by 6 months old your babies is fully weaned eating 3 full meals a day. But with milk still being the main source of nutrition and after 6 months you slowly change the ratio so that solids become the main diet and not milk. Also babies should be able to handle lumps by the time they're 6 months and learning to chew and failing to wean before 6 months could mean that baby would struggle with lumps and chewing in the future. I remember it because of how stressful I found it.

Anyway I'm sure all this isn't helping op. It's probably just confusing her more and fundamentally it's her decision.
And I'm sure you use your maternal instincts a lot more than you even know.
Following the nhs guide lines is a decision you've made because you feel that's best for your babies. And by the sounds of it you both feel very strongly about it maybe even instinctively strong about it?
I'm not saying any of this to try and change your minds or try to tell you your wrong. That really isn't my place. It's just my opinion that mothers know a lot more about what's best for their young without knowing that they know and that voice inside us driving us to make the decisions is there for a reason and maybe we should listen to it once in while😊