Allergies and weaning

[Bekki]

I fully intended to leave out solids until 6 months and I was quite happy exclusively breastfeeding. But as usual a government leaflet has made me doubt my own judgement. It explains the signs that you should look out for when your baby is ready for solids, and ds2 at 3 months is displaying all of them (hes 14 weeks and 14lbs his weight gain has slowed btw). Biting fists, frequent feeding, seems to be unsatisfied with quantity of breastmilk etc. All of these things have been occuring for at least 3 weeks so I have ruled out a growth spurt. The only other options are that hes trying to self soothe, thats hes teething or that hes ready for solids. I would be quite upset if he was hungry and I just ignored it for another 3 months. But on the other hand I don't want to misread the signs and offer them before hes ready.
At the same time as my HV handed me the leaflet she mentioned that with my allergies and the strong family history of it that I should leave solids until 6 months. So could anyone explain to me how waiting until 6 months to introduce them can help prevent allergies? I would understand if it was just allergies to food but this seems to cover all types of allergy.
I'm also beginning to wonder how effective early weaning (4 months) could actually help with hunger as he probably wouldn't be able to eat that much anyway. It also states that a baby that still pushes the food/spoon out with his tongue is not ready for solids but I don't remember ds1 taking a mouthful and swallowing normally until he was 7 months.
I really didn't want to ask for advice concerning weaning as I really just wanted to use my own initiative but with so many conflicting and changing views I'm not sure which is the best choice for my baby.
Advice would be very much appreciated, thanks.

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Please correct me if I'm wrong-
Allergies are caused (primarily) by the immune system reacting to any new stimuli to the body.
So if you give babies solids before thier immune system has matured then the immune system will react and then you run the risk of permanent allergies or at the very least minor skin reactions.
But how does that then affect the bodies defenses against other normal irritations such as dust mites, pollen, animal hair, etc which sets off asthma. Myself and most of my family suffer from these allergies which although not always life threatening are very problematic for us and if theres any way that I can help ds2 avoid them then I would at any cost, but I don't understand the link between weaning and everyday air bourne allergies.
Is it a case of damaging the immune system irrevocably if you give solids too early, therefore your immune system won't react normally to everyday irritants? Or is it a more complex issue like you say of gut deveolpment? rather than immune system maturity?
If that is a large factor in preventing allergies then I think that I should put off weaning until 6 months. Weve just had the 5th dirty nappy of the day so I'm pretty sure that his digestive system isn't working as well as it could be anyway. I thought that there wasn't alot of waste with bm!?
Thankyou RobinW armed with this new information I shall go and confront my HV whom as lovely as she is probably wouldn't be able to tell me anymore than you have.
Oh and the thought of consuming bacteria of any kind good or bad makes me feel quite ill but if it helps ds2 then I'll be a martyr to the cause.
Thanks again.

bacteria are in everything we eat or touch, and our skin in covered in them, so its nothing to be squemish about really.

I take probiotics and so does my 9 month old ds - The difference in his poos is nothing short of amazing, nappy time is now happy time. I didn't introduce solids until 6 months, though about the same time as you we had a very bad month. It did get better though without the solids- get out lots and enjoy having a portable baby! When I introduced solids it was straight into big portions, none of this fiddling around with a teaspoon of baby rice here and there. He now eats 20 different things (no dairy, eggs, wheat, tomatoes, citrus, kiwi, preservatives etc.) which is a lot more than those babies who were weaned at 16 weeks. HTH

So if I was going to take probiotics, where would I get them from? Is it those strange little drinks that nobody touches next to the milk aisle or are there other proboitic products now?

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Bekki - I know this may not cover everything that your ds is doing, but it's always seemed to me that chewing hands is a very poor indicator of hunger. All babies start doing this at this age - they've just discovered their hands, and hurrah they can put them in their mouths!

Another supposed indicator of readiness for weaning is showing an interest in other people eating, reaching for the food on your plate etc. Again, that one strikes me as bizarre ... at about 4-5 months my dd was interested in everything, looking at stuff reaching out for stuff. She started nursery at 5 1/2 months and I didn't give her any solids till 6 months and I remember the nursery staff telling me she was definitely starving hungry because she was watching the other babies eat. Well, she's also pretty interested in me drinking cups of tea but that doesn't mean I'm going to give her some!

Being unsettled after feeds is more of a concern - I'm guessing you've tried feeding more frequently. You could also try giving your baby both sides and then putting him back on the first side - there's often time for more milk to have been produced, plus it'll stimulate your supply. Try having a couple of lazy days at home (as far as that's possible with 2 kids!) and do lots of feeding and lounging about with your ds.

I don't understand the relationship between allergies and late weaning, but there does seem to be reputable, quantitative evidence supporting postponing solids till 6 months if you can. Having said all that - all babies are different - so just see how it goes - main thing is that you and your ds are happy.

Good luck