Is 3 months too early to wean?

[May2000]

My baby girl is 3 months old and is having 6-9 oz every 2/3 hours ( having a 6oz then wanting more so she has another 3oz) she was taking 5oz every 2/3 hours HV said it’s normal as she was a bit small at birth and she might be ready to wean early.

I tried her with a little bit of banana porridge the other day and she loved it and was demanding more when I took it away as I was too scared that she was too young. Has anyone else’s baby been ready before 4 months if so what do you start them off with? Thank you x

3 months is far too early. NHS recommends 6 months, which I agree with

Yes far too early. Ideally a baby should be able to sit up properly as well.

These days according to official guidelines, yes.

When I had my first child, three months was deemed to be fine for weaning, so that is when I started.

By the time DC2 arrived only a year and a half later, it had changed to not earlier than four months. A few years later, the guidelines advised six months.

I was exclusively breastfeeding, and I can tell you that I'd have really struggled to ebf for six months.

Make of that what you will, OP. You're the mum, it's entirely your decision.

I think your idea of baby being ready is just because she’s hungry, I would suggest you offer more milk and keep the weaning til around the 6 months mark when she can sit up. Looking at food and putting things near her mouth are not signs that you need to wean, it’s just a baby learning and being curious.
Guidelines change as more research is undertaken about what is better for developing digestive systems.

@PercyPigInAWig definitely not. I wouldn’t just go straight to weaning if that was the case. Like I said I give her 9oz and she still wants more I was told on here before that I was feeding her too much. HV already sent me a guid to weaning as even she said she will definitely be ready before the 4 months that they usually advise.

i do understand what you mean about the digestive system which is why I asked for advice

HV already sent me a guid to weaning as even she said she will definitely be ready before the 4 months that they usually advise.

Are you in the UK the guidance is 6 months. Your HV sounds very uninformed.

Honestly I wouldn't bother the food you'll be feeding her won't fill her up more than milk will and weaning is such a faff compared to when they are just having milk. She's so tiny there's honestly no reason to rush.

Absolutely no way I'd give food at that age.

I don’t think cows milk would be the best thing to try at 3 months either. If you let her try bits of your food then there are better options.
But try and wait until as close to six months as you can.

Advice is six months.

So yes three months is too early.

@DramaAlpaca . Thank you… Exactly I am mum so I know when she is ready. What age did you start to wean? Family members have told me to start giving her little bits of things now HV sent me a guid to weaning as she even knows some babies are ready before others. My little one was born with a fully formed tooth and was able to lift her head up from an hour old midwives said they had never seen a newborn like it every baby develops at their own pace.

Yes it’s too early. The current advice is 6 months. Perhaps do a weaning course. I found it useful and will confirm to wait till closer to 6 months. A bit of puréed veg etc won’t fill her up/give her enough calories like milk does.

Have you looked up the signs of readiness? You need to wait until she is sitting up unaided in her high chair, doesn’t have her tongue thrust anymore, can coordinate hand to mouth etc. which will be closer to 6 months. Having teeth isn’t a sign of readiness. What makes you think she is ready apart from wanting more milk?

Far, far too early. You may say baby is 'ready' by showing certain signs although if you sat her in front of your car steering wheel I'm sure she would grab the wheel and start turning it - does this mean she is ready to drive?

Think of your baby's digestive system, think of the future implications early weaning may cause.

Wait 3 more months. You have the rest of your life to feed her food - enjoy this short period where breast/bottle and a cuddle is all she needs.

Yes you're her mum but you honestly don't know best.

Not at all before 4 months

Exactly I am mum so I know when she is ready.

This is a very dangerous statement. Just because your her mum doesn't mean you know better than decades of research.

HV sent me a guid to weaning as she even knows some babies are ready before others.

Sure, and no one is going to judge you for offering food just before 6 months or waiting until 7 months to start weaning. But your baby is 3 months old, it's far too early.

The guidelines were 4 months when elder was born in 1996. They changed iirc between one of mine that was born in 2002 and one in 2004 to 6months. I wouldn't wean before 4 months and then only on medical advice (being hungry isn't a criterion) and would try to wait until 6 months for health reasons and also due to the faff.

I wouldn't start on sweet things and definitely not baby rice as it has no nutritional benefit and doesn't fill up as much as milk. All of mine just had what we were having, from an appropriate age.

"I'm her mum so I know best" isn't much of an argument for, well...anything really, is it?

Do what you want, but maybe read up on baby development first so you know what the actual signs of readiness for food are.

I did exclusively breastfeeding and started offering solids after 6 months (baby led weaning) but there were muns in my baby group who gave formula and started mixing some sort of powdered cereal for babys at around 4 months, presumably specially formulated for that age. I would never offer ordinary food before 6 months but might be open to offer baby food which is certified as suitable for the age.

My DC are 29 and 26. When DS was born the guidance was four months. He was very hungry and drinking more than two pints of formula a day. I stopped breastfeeding at 8 weeks. My GP advised to start weaning at 12 weeks.

With DD bf was more successful. At 11 weeks she upped her intake significantly, fed every two hours and I lost 8lb in 10 days. I could not keep pace with her. Again, I had a quick chat to my GP, I was there for something else, and she advised that I should start weaning. DD was 12.5 weeks.

Both DC settled. Both were ready. Both grew up fit and strong. And could sit up in the high chair.

Babies used to be weaned earlier than 12 weeks 60 years ago.

I also recommend getting the Solid Starts app which is brilliant for baby led weaning and shows you how to cut up food etc for different ages.

I am verrrry relaxed about most of this stuff.

5m with a high centile baby? Yeah crack on…. but I think 3m is really too
young.

she may well just be having a growth spurt and milk intake settles next week…. It’s not good to wean them early and my understanding is studies have consistently confirmed this.

Except you can't see inside your babies body and if her gut biome has developed enough to handle solids!

The reason why it's 6 months is because weaning early means less gut biome has developed enough to handle food and also more likely to develop an allergy.

There is a good reason they say to wait until 6 months less likely for an allergy and gut is developed enough to handle it.

While readiness is one part, I thought it was also based on evidence that their digestive systems weren't ready for food and there was the potential to cause long term damage. I don't think anyone - medical professional or otherwise - can tell you that your baby's guts are ready for food. The guidelines are there for a reason and - shock horror - may have been updated since we were children as more research (ie data and not anecdata) has been done.

Yes but there are a lot of things that used to be done with babies in the past that aren’t recommended anymore! Doesn’t mean we should do it now.