Has anyone starting weaning before 6 months

[Vicky1y]

Im a FTM and baby is 5 months and 1 week old. NHS guidelines suggest start weaning at 6 months. Has anyone started weaning their baby before 6 months and how was it.

Many thanks x

I know people that have but personally I wouldn't. Both mine I waited until the exact 6 months date. That probably sounds really sad but that's what I thought was the right thing to do

The advice and guidelines when I had mine was four months, so that is what I did. That is what we were told. No food allergies or intolerances.

@MartiniDry

The advice on weaning was 3 months when I had my first child, and 4 months when I gave birth to my second less than 2 years later. So, in answer to your question, yes, very much so, although it was not then a case of weaning earlier than guidelines.

It was fine, albeit messy, but that's small people for you. My children had no resulting issues at the time and none in later years.

It was 4 months with DD1 and she wasn't interested and continued to be a fussy toddler. By the time DD2 was ready, the recommendation was 6 months. However by five months she was already self weaning, swiping at whatever was on my plate when she sat on my lap at the table. Needless to say we skipped the purée stage with her!

The NHS guidelines actually say "around six months", so if your baby is developmentally ready it's ok. E.g they can sit up, have hand eye co-ordination and can swallow food without spitting it out.

This thread is like playing bingo for bad weaning information. It’s amazing how the same tropes come up over and over.

Myth 1: ‘Baby rice is useless’. It’s fortified with nutrients and baby cereals can be a fantastic source of iron in weaning babies (formula fed babies don’t really need much iron but bf babies do. Low iron levels in infancy have been linked to lower test scores in school children, so iron is incredibly important).

Myth 2: ‘You should wait til six months’. The WHO gives a blanket recommendation of six months in order to preserve bf in developing countries. In fact, when you look at recent allergy studies and the resulting protocols, babies at risk are fed quite large quantities of allergenic foods starting at a very young age. Weaning late is linked to food allergies - for example, a recent study found a link between bf and food allergies, probably because bf mothers are more likely to delay weaning.

BLW is just a daft name for something you’d probably do to some extent anyway without having read about it. It just means you give your baby intact food as opposed to purées and let them play about with it a bit. Not much goes in, so you have to be careful (again) that they’re getting enough iron etc.

If I were to wean again I’d start around five months and wean onto allergenic foods (my 4yo son has food allergies), including nut butter purées and cooked (not baked) egg. I’d do a mixture of purées and intact food as I saw fit. Also, I’d buy the purées because it’s worth it not to have to make them and have a freezer full of tiny cubes of frozen carrot.

Yes. At 4 months. Best decision I made.

@fartnisseverbeans took every thought out of my head and wrote it down!

The advice is to start around six months, as opposed to 'at'. I've started weaning DD at about 5.5 months. They say to expose them to lots of tastes and the books I've read (Anabelle Karmel, Ella's Kitchen and the nutritionist who worked on Joe Wick's book) have said six months is the best window and not much later. I'm a terrible eater so am really keen DD is better with food than I am. So far it's been fine, she's had about five foods since 30th Dec. Puréed veg and then a finger food of the same veg where possible. She gets an ice cube sized portion and eats some of it then plays with the rest. She's definitely more receptive to different flavours already which I'm relieved about.

I also plan to wean really slowly. She will get lumpy purée ASAP and continue to be offered finger foods alongside. I read some interesting stuff on Kelly Mom about weaning slowly to ensure they still get the nutrients they need from milk and to make sure you don't just fill them up with fruit and veg early on which doesn't give them everything they need. Only when they're eating a variety should the milk feeds start to drop and it should be a gradual process over months.

I started weaning DD at just gone 5 months. She could sit without support indefinitely, had lost the tongue reflex and was able to grasp food and bring it to her mouth. She would also yell her head off at mealtimes unless she was sitting on my lap, and then was getting almost frantic trying to swipe food from my plate or fork. I sat her in her high chair, gave her some simple fruit and veg, and let her eat whatever she could manage to feed herself. It wasn't a huge amount to start with and I left it a few more weeks before giving her grains, protein and more complex food but she has taken to eating really well.

DS was similar, although he was a bit nearer to 6 months. He also met the signs of readiness and was also slipping down the centiles despite breastfeeding every 1.5 to 2 hrs around the clock. He was an incredibly active baby and was just burning more calories than he could get from milk so on medical advice we got him onto eating three meals a day pretty quickly.

If I were to wean again I’d start around five months and wean onto allergenic foods (my 4yo son has food allergies), including nut butter purées and cooked (not baked) egg.

@FartnissEverbeans why would you wean them onto allergenic foods out of interest? What are the advantages of starting them early on foods that can cause allergies (like nuts, eggs)? I’d be grateful for any advice.

@FartnissEverbeans

Both mine were bf until over 2 and weaned at 6 months and after. No one has any allergies and the eldest is 15.
I've never read any link between bf weaning late and allergies.
You are meant to wean from 6 months and babies don't even need food until over the age of 1 as all their nutrition is from their milk

The evidence for waiting is extremely flimsy in fact it’s starting to go the other way and there is a lot of suggestion that late weaning makes a child more prone to allergies.

When mine was little the age was four months, now people use this six month guideline (and bear in mind it is a guideline) as if it’s gospel. But people pick and choose on here, advice is against cosleeping but people will defend their decision to do so on here and God help anyone who points out the risks.

Yet those same people uphold six month weaning as if it’s some kind of religion.

So do what works for you.

why would you wean them onto allergenic foods out of interest? What are the advantages of starting them early on foods that can cause allergies (like nuts, eggs)? I’d be grateful for any advice. there is a lot of suggestion that failing to expose babies to allergenic foods can contribute to them developing allergies. This is why e.g. the guidance has changed from women being told to avoid nuts during pregnancy to actively consume them.

Obviously there will be children who have allergies regardless but there is very little evidence that those allergies are caused by early exposure, quite the contrary actually.

The advice I was given by professionals when I had my three year old (and there was much more input!) was “by six months” but not much before.. so quite vague! I started with my second around 5.5 months very gently with mushy stuff and now at 6.5 months he’s munching very happily on all sorts.

We weaned at 5 months as he was showing all signs of being ready. We did a tiny bit of veggie purée every day, a different veggie for 2 weeks. He took to it really well so we just went on from there! I didn’t start to mix in any BLW until 6 months when I was a little more confident. We usually offered something he could hold/feed himself and a purée too from 6 months. There isn’t a right way, just so whatever works best for you. Good luck! Xx

@namechangefor2021 it’s the LEAP and EAT studies. Both really good long term studies that show earlier weaning onto allergenic foods reduces the risk of allergy. From memory the reduction in egg allergy was quite significant. It’s to do with particles of food getting into the gut before the skin (someone with more medical knowledge will be able to explain MUCH better than me). I did this with dc2 and no sign of allergy yet 🤞dc1 has an allergy. Both EBF. Totally agree with every word FartnissEverbeans says.

The LEAP and EAT studies are exactly the ones I was thinking of, thanks @Dinocan .

@MondeoFan -.I was just waiting for ‘food before one is just for fun’ to give us a full house and there it is. Food before one is extremely important and any websites that say otherwise are not trustworthy. I already mentioned iron as an example - iron in bm will not meet the needs of a baby as it grows. They need food.

And your comment about your children having no allergies is bizarre. Most children, no matter the weaning method, don’t have allergies. It’s about probabilities. There’s plenty of research that draws a link between late weaning and food allergies, and our understanding of the topic has naturally developed in the years since your eldest was weaned.