weaning at 11 weeks

[ja9]

two dear friends of mine are doing this.

i'm so

couldn't bring myself to say anything to them except squeak '11 weeks'? when they were talking about it.

In what way have i wound you up?

i do apologise twinmummy. i thought you were joking. clearly you are serious.

Hmmm, are we really happy to let a bunch of preaching whitehall gimps tell us what to do in every single sphere of our private lives?

I detest being told what to do without being given a bl00dy good reason for it. My understanding is that a baby's internal organs are ready for food from 16/17 weeks (obviously depending upon individual development). This government is so caught up with meeting targets and measuring us against everyone else in the world that they'll say owt to keep us breast-feeding.

Did you know that HVs have TARGETS on this, like we're they're 'Performance Indicators' to see how well they do their jobs and all they're doing/saying is precisely dictated from central government.

Sorry, went off on one a bit there, wasn't a rebel until i had a baby!

i just wish we could be treated like adults, given the facts and be allowed to make up our own minds, it's like we're not trusted to make the best choices for our own children, as if we don't want the absolute best for them without being told to!

you are treated like an adult. No one can stop you weaning early, if you decide to ignore all the bloody good reasons to wait till six months.

oh

my

god

so the WHO are a bunch of whitehall gimps obsessed with targets

dear

god

If you've got a hungry baby with a body that's physically capable of eating then it's madness to wait for the magic 6 months date.

I wasn't just talking about the weaning issue... there's an awful lot of advice dished around without good reasons being explained, that's my experience anyway.

BD -walk away. here, have a bun

"My understanding is that a baby's internal organs are ready for food from 16/17 weeks "

Can I just ask where you've got that "understanding" from?

"i just wish we could be treated like adults, given the facts and be allowed to make up our own minds, it's like we're not trusted to make the best choices for our own children, as if we don't want the absolute best for them without being told to!"

Facts are that babies' digestive systems aren't really ready for solid food till 6 months or later.

You are more than welcome to make up your own mind about it and choose to wean earlier, but you run a higher risk of your child developing allergies, bowel problems, etc if you do. Most won't. Some will. Without a crystal ball, you can't tell if your baby will be one that does, so better to err on the side of caution, IMO.

Has this thing kicked off yet?

I don't understand how they come up with the 6 months theory. Surely babies' guts don't mature overnight on their half birthday, so doesn't that mean some are ready earlier and some later? And if that's true, do some people wait longer than 6 months? If not, are they as bad as those who don't wait?

Or am I just not "getting it"?

I know you will ask for the link to the original report .. and it will take a bit of searching to find.... BUT not long after the WHO report about not weaning pre 6months was a subsequent WHO study which focused on well nourished mothers (in Russia) - in this case it was suggested some babies are ready to wean earlier than 6months but only on simple fruit or vegetable purees.
However the WHO cannot be seen to have one recommendation for the third world and one for richer countries.

Also there a UK academics concerned our determination to wait until the calendar says 6months rather than be led by when the baby is ready could mean the baby misses out on a key taste development stage.

All studies indicate weaning pre 17 weeks is not advisable (with the exception of very rare conditions - and then only under medical supervision)

Well...thats what i was wondering...i feel bad now as 14 years ago i believed the guidelines then when they said wean at 3mth..then 4 mths....but they were all wrong...now i have put my children at risk....

....there are always gonna be guildelines and i guess before long it could be moved up to 8 mths?

..i acted on the advice of my sons pead....he was under him for kidney probs since birth....he was showing all signs for weaning 3 weeks before he was 6 mths old...sitting up etc....he advised me to go ahead with the baby rice.he weaned very easy, hardly any mess, was going down the right way.

In my mind i got information from a very up-to-date man at that time and acted on it.

Out of all my 8 children he was the only one that needed earlier weaning....feeding every 2 hours day and night was just too much!

MoosMa, of course there is no sudden 'ping' of readiness over night on their 6month birthday, but by then it is pretty certain that babies' guts should be mature enough by then (premature babies might be different of course). As it's pretty difficult to tell when a baby might be internally physically capable of dealing with solid food, the safest thing to do is to wait unti 6 months. There has been some research that suggests that when a baby has the motor skills and oral skills to hold, chew and swallow food by itself, it will probably also have the gut maturity, and this might happen before 6 months (e.g. your 5 month old grabs your chips and happily eats them). But other supposed signs that your baby needs solids could be down to other factors (growth spurt) etc. There's been lots of discussion on this on the Weaning board.

"i feel bad now as 14 years ago i believed the guidelines then when they said wean at 3mth..then 4 mths....but they were all wrong...now i have put my children at risk...."

Who's to say they were wrong or what they say now is right? As you say, I expect it will change again soon. I'm sure you haven't done your children any harm and there's certainly no point worrying now it's done!

Twinmummy, you can do no more than follow the best advice at the time, so don't feel bad. And you had medical advice with your ds. As Hunker said, probably the majority of babies won't be harmed by weaning before 6 months, but as you can't tell whether your baby could be one of the minority that it might not be good for, then the recommendation now is to wait.

It's mad how it works out...i only breast-fed 1 of my 8 children..and he is the one with aspergers...i must have bad milk.

LOL..i don't even know what i am doing here...my youngest are 2 and a half..and am not having anymore!!!!

I'm going to have a cup of coffee

My brother was weaned at 4 weeks and he has the strongest stomach, my other brother was breast fed until 8 months and gets every illness going. There must be lots of variations to the rule!

I crossed the road without looking both ways when I was nine and didn't get run over, so it must be fine for everyone to do it.

is it o.k. to just............ go............................
thunk.........................
not the op (am with you)...but some of the replys...

There does seem to be sooo much that you can do from 6 months old though according to 'guidelines'!

Wean
Put baby in own room
Sit baby in a stroller
Use a sippy beaker
Oh there must be more..!

Personally I started to wean about 5.5 months. I started with mashed up fruit and veg. I didn't do the whole 'ice cube thing'. I just gave ds different fruits/veg to try. A few teaspoons a day. I think that 5 months is early enough to start imo. Ds was a hungry chap and did weigh amost 10lb at birth. I think alot of when to wean is determined on general health of little one.
But hey, what does someone with only one ds know?