Whatever you think of the WHO guidelines, you'll be shocked!

[hunkermunker]

Well, you might not be.

But I was.

Superdrug's Little Star brand of weaning spoons say suitable from 3 months!

I emailed them and they said they'd pass my comments on to their buyers - wtf?!

I never take advice from my HV, or spoon packets.

I know everything.

I dont see my hv as she only spoke a load of balls.

Is there anyone else on here with a 10 year old who was aware of the WHO guidelines at the time? I certainly wasn't, never met anyone who was, and the www was only just starting up at the time, so you would have had to look very hard to find out I would have thought. There was just no reason to doubt all the advice at the time.

HM seems to want the spoons only to be sold with "6m+" on them. Fine for government and health professionals to give advice/etc, but a step too far to enforce this on labelling spoons. I can just about live with the food jar labelling laws (but mainly as I didn't rely on them myself, and if someone can't puree apple for themselves, then they might need more nannying). But spoons? What about plastic bowls?

I've just checked my holepunch box - no warning that it isn't a suitable toy for newborns...

Why a step too far?!

DS's best friend wasnt weaned until he was 6 months, now 9 years old. I started going to la leche meetings when ds was around 6 months , having started him on solids at 4 months, lots of babies there werent weaned until 6 months either due to WHO advice. DS is now 9.

Well you are obviously phenomenally better informed than anyone in the circles I move in hercules.

Very interested to know why the medical profession supposedly ignored WHO guidlines for so long! And yet look - all of these babies that up until recently were weaned at 16 months are now active, healthy 5 years olds. Funny that...although come to think of it, I did buy that Superdrug weaning spoon

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Why pooppoop the research without having read it?

hunkermunker - I'm sure that the self regulation "rules" on promotion of breastmilk substitutes (of which they include weaning food)based on the WHO guidelines says that anything that promotes replacing breastmilk with anything else up till six months is not allowed. So technically those jars that say from 4 months are not supposed to (and they shouldn't put a picture of them in a magazine advert for instance).

As the spoon is intended for food (Superdrug not making much money out of EBM) then I would think it breeches these rules.

Passing comments onto buyers is euphemism for in the bin. As if the buyer is going to get rid or change something unless it's actually not selling.

I really dont want to get into another discussion on this, had too many heated debates before. THe research and evidence is there if you choose to read it.

Because if you read every single piece of research, you'd never eat, drink or leave the house ever again - and because I get paid to find and read research articles on health, and have a very cynical approach to a lot of it.

Why is it when Jaime Oliver is concerned by what 'other people's children' eat, and trying to make it healthier, he's a hero, but when others try to promote breastfeeding or a healthier weaning age, they are poking their noses into other people's business? Just a thought.

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Because he critisised the schools Aloha, not the parents.

HM is trying to attack superdrug, but people are taking that as an implied critisism of their parenting.

I tried to get some horrible Tshirts off the shelves of a shop, my issue was with the shop, but everyone who had bought that sort of Tshirt took it as a critisism of them.

Someone may have said this already as I haven't read every post but surely SuperDrug mean that the spoons are not suitable to be used BEFORE 3 months (for whatever reason).

As for anyone "not understanding how anyone can wean before 6 months" What a ridiculous statement.

I weaned both mine at around 4 months (one in 1973 and one in 1997) and I absolutely know it was the right thing FOR THEM.

Bobbybob, um, where did HM criticise any parents?

That's quite shocking!! When DS1 was a baby the recommendation was 4 months - and that was in September 2000!

Fact - breatfeeding is better for baby and for you. You can't argue with that.
Fact for the moment - weaning should be done at 6 months. Fact a few years ago - 16 weeks. Fact a few years prior to that - 12 weeks. Do you see the difference?

And can I be in your clique Enid