Early weaning and allergies

[Pandemicpregnancy]

Has anyone been advised to wean their baby before 6 months due to them being at a higher risk of developing allergies?

My baby is 5.5 months old and has quite bad eczema all over her whole body. I was reading into weaning and allergies yesterday and found that this puts her at a higher risk of developing allergies, a long with the fact I have eczema, hay fever and a couple of mild allergies myself. I ended up down a bit of a rabbit hole and there actually seems to be a fair bit of research out there that early weaning between 4-6 months can help reduce the risk of developing allergies.

As my LO is nearly 6 months anyway it's probably a bit irrelevant now but I don't know whether to start weaning ASAP rather than waiting a couple of weeks? I tried to do the best thing for her by waiting until 6 months as advised by the NHS, but I now worry that I've done the wrong thing and have put her at higher risk

The NHS says around 6 months. The EAT study looking early weaning and allergies. My girls have allergies from birth but with a family history of crohns I waited until 26 weeks to wean but I did go through the top allergens very quickly with them.

That's really helpful, thank you. I think I'm thinking too much into it but just get fed up with conflicting advice on everything!

As far as I have been able to understand there is evidence that weaning between 4 and 6 months decreases the risk of allergies. But that isn't the beginning of 4 months and the beginning of 6 months, it's the end of 6 months. Basically, it just means, don't be late to start weaning. It's perfectly fine to wait until 6 months, or you could start now as 2 weeks won't make any bit of difference. Ideally, they should be able to sit up safely in a high chair without slouching or lying back or being too propped up.

I'm sure you won't have put them more at risk. If you're worried just start with 1 meal a day now and only introduce one new food at a time and early on in the day so you can watch for any reactions. My 8 month old has cows milk protein, soya and egg allergy and weaning is a challenge but we are getting there slowly! He also has small flares of eczema which is being managed with steroid creams and hydromol. It's important to get control of the eczema do you have creams for it?

We started at 4.5 months for this reason. I think the main thing is trying to introduce the allergens early and regularly. I wouldn’t worry but would consider starting in the next few days.