overdue...wean early?

[allypally1983]

im just wondering if babies who are overdue should be weaned earlier? if they were born 'on time' then they would be 2 weeks older. just a thought, does this apply to other developmental things?

Doesn't necessarily mean they are older, could just be that you got your conception dates wrong or the dating scan wasn't accurate.

well, term is 37-42 weeks, so I think you'd have to be very, very "overdue" for it to really make any effect on things like weaning.

I don't think two weeks either way would make any difference to anything in particular. Children aren't clockwork, and most dates are give-or-take.

I wouldn't assume that just because you were overdue you HAD to wean early, or that it would be of any benefit. Like thisis says, your dates could have just been wrong.

Are you thinking of weaning at the moment?

A due date is just an arbitrary date which allows your care to be managed accordingly. A baby gestates for between 37 and 42 weeks on average and it depends on that woman and that baby. A baby born after 40 weeks isn't late necessarily, it might just be that it took that extra bit over 40 weeks to reach full gestation.

And you wean when the baby is ready. So if they're sitting up well, lost the tongue thrust reflex and able to accurately pick up items, put them in their mouths (and chew and swallow), then their gut is probably mature. This happens around 26 weeks. Just as with pregnancy, sometimes a bit before, sometimes after. All babies are different. Wean your baby according to developmental readiness, not according to the date. If unsure be reassured by the fact that milk is all a baby needs for 6 months and they rely on milk for a good 6 months after this for the majority of calories and nutrients.

The weaning guidelines here are good.

that's a bloody good post, SOH :)

No, i had not even really considered this.

With my DS (5)i followed the 'book' to the letter - weaned at 6 months, starting of pureed rice/porridge then fruit purees etc etc, small lumps at 7 months, more chunky at 10 months and so on

With my DD (4) started weaning at 4 months, skipped the puree stages and pretty much went straight to finger food (she used to sort of suck/chew on cooked carrots, green beans, fish etc) Much less up tight with her and followed my own instincts

Guess which one is now the great eater and which one is very fussy?

My advice is use your own judgement and readiness in terms of your own baby's development and boods etc as a guide and nothing more

Why thank you, I wrote it myself.

No, it's their real age that determines their digestive system's readiness for weaning. So although DS was nearly six weeks early, I didn't need to adjust for that when weaning (just for most other developmental stuff)

i'm not thinking of weaning just yet, it's just something that popped into my head. my midwife always said to me that my baby would be take more milk cos she was 2 weeks over and weighed 9lb 10oz. its an interesting one

I'd just follow the signs of readiness from the NHS website and not worry about how many weeks your gestation was.