Oh when to wean???

[newmum2Jack]

Hi everyone,

Wondering if you can help. My partner and my mum and my sisters all say I should start my little one on solids next week (3 months old) - but I've heard that in the UK it is recommended only at 6 months.

My baby is on aptimal comfort and struggles with pooh (only goes every 3-4 days) :(( I am terrified if I start him on solids (banana, rusks) that it will mess his stomach up but everyone says 3 months is fine. Please help or advise if you can.... Thanks so much. 1st time mum x

Wait til 6 months and ignore your family.
Baby's gut isn't closed up yet and early weaning can cause problems later in life. Also, don't confuse 4 month sleep regression with hunger. Baby will survive just fine on milk until 6 months.

Why are you using comfort milk, by the way?

On aptimal comfort as my little one suffers from constipation :(
So you say wait till the 6th month?

Read the NHS website, it's very clear. Share it with your family. Guidance changed a few years back to 6 months and it's based on solid research. You can also talk to your HV/GP.

3 months is too young so I would wait as well. Have you spoken to the gp about his pooing issues?

Three months is incredibly early. Current guidance is six months.

Three months is too young, you could damage your baby's gut.

6 months is the aim, never before 4 months. Wait til your baby can sit well and hold his head up, pick up objects and get them to his mouth, and has lost the tongue-thrust reflex (pushing things out of his mouth). I weaned my DS at 5 months personally.

If your DC is happy until the 6 months mark, that's the ideal.

I'm sure I weaned DD (almost 15) at around 3 months but the guidelines have changed and it's recommended between 4-6 months now (again, 6 months is the ideal).

My DS is 24 weeks today and I started giving him baby porridge and stewed, puréed fruit and veg at 4 and a half months. Only a few spoonfuls at first and only once per day, but he's a grubber and gets very excited when his bowl and spoon comes out he's on 2 small puréed meals a day now and doing grand.

I'll BLW when he's around the 6 month mark.

HTH Good luck

The guidelines have never been to wean before 4 months by the way - it may have been common practice in the past but 4 months has been recommended officially since the 70s.

Cloverer - now that you've pointed that out, I actually remember my HV telling me the same when we were chatting about weaning and how it's changed since I last weaned a baby.

I'm blaming baby brain!

Wait till 6 months this is recommended by the WHO based on many studies and research, early weaning has been linked to many medical conditions. NEVER before 17 weeks as i understand this could damage your little ones kidneys. Why rush anyway?

Why the rush? Definitely 6 months.

Wait until 6 months unless there is a very good reason to start early and you've discussed it with your health visitor. I'm a GP - the absolute earliest babies should start weaning is 17 weeks as before this can damage their kidneys. And if you start too early you may have more problems with baby not taking to solids. Sorry but the advice your relatives are giving you is potentially dangerous for your baby. Tell them to back off and not put pressure on you to make choices for your baby that would not be of benefit to him. And yes, starting solids can make constipation worse, you need to offer water with every solid meal to try to counteract that.

mummy - I'm in no way posting to offer a counter argument, only to say that not all HCP make it plain and or simple for those of us with small babies.

All my HV told me was not to give him baby rice, as 'it's like wallpaper paste'.

My GP told me (on an appointment made to disclose my mood) that he 'also had a big baby boy who woke frequently through the night. I put a rusk in his bottle from 10 DAYS old'. Grinning he then said 'but don't tell my wife this was the reason he slept through when I was on night-shift'.

wait till around 6 months, we did BLW and gave a few steamed carrots at 5 months 3 weeks and a few days though as he was sat at the table then anyway :)

Itsall - yikes that's poor advice from your GP. I know that lots of our generation were weaned at 3 months and have been fine, as there wasn't any research to say if that was okay or not. But there would likely have been a few babies weaned too early that did have medical problems as a result. Because the evidence is pretty clear that you need to wait until 17 weeks. I tell parents that 6 months is the ideal, but some babies are simply really hungry earlier than that, and won't settle on just milk. And I think that's fine to start offering some solids early in those cases. Yes unfortunately HCPs frequently differ in the advice we give, which is frustrating for mums and causes confusion. There is nothing wrong with starting on baby rice although some babies do find it bland and won't be too enamoured with solids until presented with some more interesting flavours. The point of the baby rice is really just to get them used to opening their mouth and having a go at eating though. Baby porridge tastes a bit nicer I think. I did a couple of days of baby porridge and then went onto the basic fruit and veg purees. BLW generally works best from 6 months though, as they have the motor skills to have a go at holding things and chewing which they may not have earlier than that.

I tended to work on the basis that I shouldn't expect my baby to take with enthusiasm to something so vile I wouldn't put it anywhere near my own mouth! Pureed carrot - ok, not the most exciting thing in the world, but it isn't vile. Baby rice - just truly disgusting. I don't really understand the point in it, other than to push up the sales of baby specific products.

Nothing against it for those who want to use it, but I hate the way some people act like it is a mandatory stage. No harm at all in going for some carrot or pear or something, or doing BLW.

Hi newmum, congratulations on your baby. Almost everyone I know has had pressure from family or ILs to wean early, it can be quite difficult when you are trying to work things out for yourself.

I would say simply that there has been a lot of research and it's now known to be better to wean later due to gut immaturity and allergies etc. There are still studies going on but it's best to follow the current guidelines (as I expect your Mum did). As another poster said, the guidelines have actually only changed once since the 70s so if your family start saying about fashions changing all the time, you can say that's not true. Or just smile and nod - and do your own thing.

It would be good to get your partner on side, see if you can get a leaflet or info from your HV to show him.

We started BLW at 5.5mo with a few sticks of fruit and veg and since 6mo have been giving him everything else - he loves it. Good luck!