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Original poster

weaning at 3 months???

18 replies

dolores12 · 02/01/2011 09:32

i gave my first daughter a little baby porridge from 3 months old but now things change again and there is all this hoopla about waiting till they are 6 months. thoughts please

OP posts:

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faverolles · 02/01/2011 09:49

Might this be better in the weaning topic?

poogoestothailand · 02/01/2011 09:52

What is the point at doing it at 3 months?

I weaned both of mine at 6 months, weaning is a pain in the butt, why would you want to do it early?

faverolles · 02/01/2011 09:52

Sorry, didn't mean that to sound dismissive.

All the "hoopla" is about protecting your baby from eating inappropriate foods that may mean it ends up with allergies and/or digestive problems.
A 3 month old baby should just be having milk.

MoonUnitAlpha · 02/01/2011 09:53

Things haven't changed "again" - guidance has been 6 months for the last 7 years, and 4 to 6 months for about 20 years before that!

growing3rdbump · 02/01/2011 10:08

With DD (now 7) the guidance was to wean breastfed babies at 6 months... it was quite new then and I remember trying to wait until 5 months. With DS (now 3.5) I waited until 6 months to wean him - it was so much easier as there was no need for baby rice etc - I was told to introduce 3 meals to him over about a week and steer clear of ready made 'baby food'. It was so easy as I was already cooking for DD, he just had a purreed version of her food.

Scouseem · 02/01/2011 10:10

i think you know when your baby is ready to be weaned and if you think they are ready they do it. all these new rules are rubbish. our parents done what they wanted with us and we survived it.

MoonUnitAlpha · 02/01/2011 10:11

Personally I'm aiming a bit higher than just survival for my children, but each to their own.

Rockbird · 02/01/2011 10:14

What thoughts do you want? Guidelines now are to wean no earlier than 6 months. You either accept that maybe there are good reasons for these guidelines or you ignore them and go your own sweet way, which is what I'm guessing you're seeking approval to do?

Scouseem · 02/01/2011 10:16

It can all get a bit obsessive with all the rules now and i know people that are driving themselves crazy trying to do everything perfect i have a nearly 4 year old who is perfectly healthy and also a daughter with cystic fibrosis who is also doing brilliant and i didnt follow the endless rules so worked for us.

StickThemWithThePointyEnd · 02/01/2011 10:17

unfortunately, there are parents who want their babies to be ready to be weaned, so they are going to read signs into everything. that's why there are guidlines.

I agree with growing3rdbump - weaning at 6 months is so much less fuss, as well as being healthier for a normal, term-born baby.

MoonUnitAlpha · 02/01/2011 10:23

There are no benefits to your baby for weaning at 3 months, and some risks. Why bother? At least wait til 17 weeks - that's the absolute minimum.

faverolles · 02/01/2011 10:24

Guidelines are simply that - guidelines. They're not set in stone rules.

I would always rather do the best for my children, so will follow guidelines as long as they are reasonable and workable in my family.
I weaned my now ten yo at 4 months, following advice from hv's. I wish I hadn't, as he was clearly not ready for it.
Of course some babies are ready earlier than others, but 3 months is far too young.

Scouseem · 02/01/2011 10:25

well when your feeding your baby every hr a 9oz bottle then there is risks to that. so there is benefits to weaning earlier. i find it so hard that someones comes on here asking what you think and people just attack.

MoonUnitAlpha · 02/01/2011 10:27

Faverolles - I think that was one of the reasons they changed the guidelines to 6 months. When it was set at 4-6 months depending on the individual baby, a lot of HVs interpreted that as "all babies must be weaned at 16 weeks".

WanderingInAWinterWonderland · 02/01/2011 10:33

I don't see any benefit to weaning at 3 months TBH. The parents I know in RL who tend to wean their babies early are the ones who are desperate to get them to "sleep through" or say they are "hungry babies." Yeah, so? Why not just give them a bit more milk?

DD was weaned a little earlier than 26 weeks so I do agree that the guidelines aren't set in stone but 3 months old is still so tiny.

SarahScotChristmasSpirit · 02/01/2011 10:41

I weaned my DS at 19 weeks. He was big for his age and feeding every hour on the hour day and night at that point! He was 2 weeks over due so was physically 2 weeks older than his real age IYSWIM.

I understand that the 6 month guidelines are there for a reason, but all babies are different so sticking to 26 weeks exactly isn't sensible. At the same time though, I would agree that 3 months seems early.

However, I've always wondered, if weaning early increases the risk of intolerances and allergies, why is it that allergies are more common now than they've ever been?

CardyMow · 02/01/2011 14:50

When my DD was little, I was told to wean her at 3-4 months. She is going to be 13yo in a few weeks though. I weaned her at 14 weeks with no ill effects. When I had DS1 (almost 9 yrs ago), I was told to wean him between 4-6 months, on advice of HV he was weaned at 16 weeks. When I had DS2 7yrs ago, I was told not to wean him until 4-6 months, I think he was 22 weeks when he was weaned. His weight by that point was dropping off the bottom of the centile charts. . This time round I'm being told not to give any solid food before 26 weeks. I'm a bit concerned by this change, because if weaning DS2 so late made his weight drop so considerably (he had been on the 50th centile until 16 weeks, then started dropping), how low will the weight get by 26 weeks? Having said that, I will wean when advised by the HV. It all keeps changing!

VickstaS · 02/01/2011 15:37

Actually, although the current guidelines are 6 months, this is based on the WHO recommendations based on what is most appropriate in developing countries. The applicability to the UK is not especially clear and is still being researched at the moment.
There is research going on currently by the food standards agency, kings college, and the MRC into weaning age in the UK.
Look at www.eatstudy.co.uk for info.

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