Anyone started weaning before 4 months?

[snowmoon]

Hi. My DS is 3 months and 2 weeks old. In the last 5 days or so, he has shown little interest on the breast and the bottle. With the bottle he will drink 3 - 4 oz and then start chewing on the teat. On the breast he fusses and loses interest after about 5 minutes. And because he's taking less at each feed, he's feeding more often.

I am wondering if he is getting bored with fluid feed and whether I should consider giving him some baby rice. So I would like to hear from other mums who have found their babies ready for solids earlier than 4 months, and whether you encounter any problems. Did your baby develop any allergy for instance?

In my opinion, the 4 months at the earliest guideline surely cannot be universal for all babies, since every baby is different?

Thanks.

I haven't started before 4 months because my babies have not been particularly hungry but in my NCT class first time round, everyone except me started before 16 weeks. No problems encountered as far as I am aware. One friends ds and dd both have eczema and are very sensitive to bubble baths etc but I think that's more hereditary than to do with weaning.

Every baby is different to some extent but research has shown that at 4 months babies are just not ready for solid food and particulaly before 4 months are more likely to develop allergies/ear infections etc. Ideally you should wait until around 6 months, though some will developmentally ready a little earlier, others later. This is becasue at around 6 monthd the gut wall closes to prevent allergies.

It actually sounds like he may be going through a growth spurt where he will need to feed more often. If you are breastfeeding this little and often pattern helps to build your milk supply up.

Sounds like a growth spurt to me too. He's unlikely to be bored with fluid feeds, because he doesn't know there's any alternative! Breast milk and formula has way more calories than baby rice anyway so that wouldn't go anyway near satisfying his growing appetite. I would stick to increasing his milk feeds.

If he's getting easily distracted as he gets older then try feeding him in a quiet room, then he's only got milk to concentrate on.

JulieF, if DS is going through a growth spurt, would he be feeding so little at each feed though? He normally drinks 7oz from the bottle, and feed for 10 - 15 minutes on the breast.

I must say I'm confused.

Thanks.

You seem to have started this thread twice.

Here's what I wrote in your other thread.

FYI, snowmoom, the guidelines are now 6 months. See this thread.

I know... when I did a refresh on my browser it pasted in the question again!! Sorry about that.

All my three started on solids before 16 weeks, because they were hungry. If you are worried, you can stick with baby rice for 2/3 weeks before moving onto more challenging tastes. I think that the 16 week rule is nonsense, go by what your baby needs.

Well, it's not nonsense at all. It's backed up by a huge amount of scientific study. I gave my ds baby rice just prior to four months - under huge pressure - but won't be doing it this time. It was , I think, essentially harmless, but also totally pointless.

I think you have to do what is best for you and your baby. You know him best after all.

My Dd was given her first food at 14 to 15 weeks (when 4 months was the recommendation), but had started trying to take food off of us. She took no persuasion to take food during weaning, and she did seem to benefit from it. I did speak to my HV first also, and didn't do it to make her sleep through or anything.

I thought the new 6 months guidelines only applied to exclusively breastfed babies???

I started my DD on solids at 15 weeks and kept her on baby rice for about 3 weeks before I started other tastes, because she was so obviously starving. Although she'd started to sleep through the night at 9 weeks, she started waking up at 14 weeks at about 2 am for another feed, then at 6am for yet another feed (having gone from 7pm- 7am quite happily beforehand.) And during the daytime, she was still hungry after feeds, even though I'd moved her onto the "for hungrier babies" milk. She's had no trouble, no allergies, and still has an enormous interest in food!

Guidelines are based on averages. As long as you don't stray too far from the average, I wouldn't have thought there would be a problem.

Having said that, fussing at the breast and bottle doesn't sound like hunger and in this particular instance, I don't think it sounds like putting him on solids would necessarily solve that problem.

yes, weaned DD at 11 weeks BUT she was bottle-fed from the start and at 11 weeks was taking 9 9oz bottles of the extra-filling cow & Gate every day!

She's now 3.5y and still tall, defo not skinny but not fat IYKWIM. No allergies, no ill effects.

I was really just after some advice from those who had started weaning before 4 months and to know what their experiences are. I didn't want to start a war about the timing of weaning etc. I'm sure we all know about the WHO guideline, it's just that sometimes we mums want to know what others have done in practice, and whether problems arise as a consequence of straying from the strict guideline.

I agree with you Caligula, the WHO guideline of 6 months is an average for the whole world. And this, as I understand, takes into account conditions in underdeveloped countries, where the quality of the water supply etc is less than ideal and therefore it would be much better to BF exclusively for 6 months.

Also, even though the WHO guideline is 6 months, I get the feeling that the opinion among HVs is that it's perfectly normal to start at 4 months. I myself recently went to a postnatal group about weaning and the HVs talked about weaning at 4 months as though it's the norm, provided each food is introduced gradually and sensibly. We are not talking about steak and chips here after all

Thanks.

Forgot to say, I probably will not start the baby rice until DS is at least 4 months.

Sorry, but the six months guidance is nothing at all to do with developing countries or water quality - it is to do with gut maturity. HVs talk a lot of crap, I'm afraid. Most of them have simply no idea.

aloha, please don't sound so defensive, we're all just trying to do our best

Also, can you point me to some sources of these research? I would like to read about them. Thanks.

Snowmoon, My son was just three months when i started to try out solid food. Like your son he was loosing interrest in fluid, he seemed bored with it. My health visitor said feeding before was not recommended but i knew my baby and should tread with caution. So next time he started dribbling at my dinner but refusing being fed i mixed a tiny amount of baby rice into a lot of my breast milk and gave it too him on a spoon. Very impressed and it went from there! My son is three now, no problems, no alergies, normal boy with a big appetite. I hope this helps a bit. I know what the other people are saying and science does know what it's talking about a lot of the time, but how can you keep up when the rules keeps changing. Every baby is different, people have recognised this for thousands of years. Why mess with nature.

Is it possible he could be teething? My children have always fussed at breast and especially bottle when teething. When DD was still exclusively breast fed and cutting her first tooth I ended up spoon feeding her expressed milk at one point. Admittedly she also had chicken pox, a temperature and diarhea so I was worried about keeping up her fluids. But I also remember spoon feeding DS very sloppy baby rice when he was about 7 months because he was teething and wouldn't take his bottle.

Agree with trying to avoid distraction when feeding. If there is a conversation when DD is feeding her head is going from side to side with the teat spraying milk at me or she comes unlatching (if breastfeeding) and if the TV is on she is craning her neck to see it.

"for many years it has been official World Health Organisation policy that babies do best on a breastmilk-only diet until the age of six months. "

But what about babies who are not exclusively breast fed?

"Some studies have looked specifically at the implications of early weaning: one found, for example, that babies who were fed solid food before 15 weeks were more likely to have a higher risk of wheezing and had increased body fat and weight in childhood"

But this refers to before 15 weeks, not before 6 months?

Just to back up alhoa here .. HVs do in general talk a lot of crap snowmoon .. just check out some of the HV threads

Just thought i ought to mention that although i said "big appetite" my son isn't overwieght! . He's moved steadily along that centile just under the middle one since he was born. He's very active. Generally did most things early. Was drinking exclusively from beakers before he was five months... very much his preference!

Snowmoon, I'm not being in the least defensive. It's true. HVs are so badly informed it's unbelievable. And the WHO advice isn't new and isn't anything to do with water quality. That's exactly the kind of crap that HVs love to come out with. It's not true. There have been endless studies quoted on Mumsnet. A search will find them and I'm rubbish at links.
As I said, I gave baby rice at just before four months last time under huge pressure, esp as I was told endlessly, and wrongly, that it would 'make him sleep through'. I won't do it with the baby I'm due in Feb as I think it is not in a baby's best interests, and just as importantly, it's pointless and makes more work. I think my experience is just as valid as anyone else's.

Snowmoon, Aloha is right that you shouldn't wean your baby over pressure. I think mine and her's experiences have been quite different but I think i'd be right to say that it's because the babies were different. It's your baby that you should listen too. If you really pay antention to your instinct as a mum too you'll know what's best. You must be really overwhealmed by all these responses

I second that. All babies are different, which is why you should go with what your baby needs. Although obviously, with the solids thing, you should try and hold out for as long as possible - the longer the better. It is to do with digestive development, rather than external factors. And yes, HV's do talk a lot of crap a lot of the time! They're no more immune from being daft than any other profession! When my DS was weaning, they were only just changing the guidelines from 12 weeks to 16 weeks, and most of the HVs I came across were out of date. Only my wonderful one, who was a breastfeeding expert, kept up with professional guidelines.

Hi PocketTasha, I'm not under any pressure at all from anybody to wean my DS. I'm in no hurry to wean, but wanted to know just in case. I'm certainly not doing it to make him sleep through because he has been sleeping through for the last month.

And of course everyone's experience is just as valid, but we shouldn't dismiss other people's opinion/experience just because it differs from our own.

By the way I'm sure we are all capable of talking crap once in a while

I started DS on solids at 14 weeks. He was a big baby and I just seemed to be feeding him constantly, though never for very long. So I followed some (dodgy!) advice and gave him solids. He did actually take to it quickly, although I must say he still had several (small) milk feeds a day. Solids made no difference to his night time sleeping.

He is now 3 and has suffered from very severe croup and asthma from 8months old. He gets the croup every time he catches a cold and we usually have to take him to A&E in the middle of the night . This time of year is a nightmare .

Of course, he may have been like this anyway, but I can't help but feel the croup and respiratory problems generally are because of early weaning. There is certainly no history of asthma in the family.

With DD (6.5 months) I held off weaning till a month ago. I knew it wouldn't make a difference to her night time sleep and so we left it. We started gently and she quite likes her food now but I'm certainly not stuffing it into her the way I did DS. I'm hoping she doesn't develop asthma as well.

I think with your first child you're always looking to the next stage in their development, wondering if that will be the key to something or other. I enjoy DD's babyness so much more through just living for the day.

Could it be that perhaps your baby isn't that hungry at each feed as you're feeding so often, and therefore he's just snacking? My DS certainly did this - there's no harm in it for them, but it's not that convenient for you! If he is snacking, perhaps trying to settle him with a dummy, or some water, or just distracting him by going out or whatever could help? Then if he's really hungry for each feed, maybe he'll take more and be more settled.

Sorry bit long winded but I just feel if you;re in doubt, do nothing for the time being. Ride it and see if things change - babies do go through funny phases and often in a week or so they're back to their normal patterns.