Have I weaned to early?

[sleepingrosy]

My baby is now 20 weeks and I have been giving her baby rice for breakfast for the last week. My reasoning for this was she was taking less and less milk during the day but not increasing the quantity she was having at night.

In the last few days I have also introduced bananas and carrot puree. All have gone down very well (lots of lick smacking and happy noises).

The problem is everything I have just read tells me I am making a huge mistake. My baby clearly enjoys solid food, but I am the one who should know best. HV thinks its fine ( it was started on her recommendation) but I am now in a total state of confusion. Am I right in thinking it would be a seriously mistake to stop or back track?

Go with your instinct. You know your baby best. I weaned DD at 20 weeks and she is fine. There was some talk of them changing the recommendation back to 4 months though I'm not sure what happened with that.

How much milk is she having?

You've started now, and if she's coping ok then there probably wouldn't be much gained in stopping. Just go slowly and stick with rice, fruit and veg til 6 months. Bear in mind milk is still the most important source of nutrition for the time being.

20 years ago the same body (World Health Organisation) guidelines said wean at 10 weeks. So we all weaned our babies at 10 weeks. 10 years ago WHO said wean at 16 weeks. So we all weaned our babies at 16 weeks.
I have never read so much hysteria inducing hyperbole as I have just read on Mumsnet weaning guidelines. I am weaning my 14 week old son now as there just aren't enough hours in the day for him to drink all the milk he needs. It is going very well. For the last month he has been having 5 x 7floz bottles per day. He now has 4 x 7 oz bottles plus half a jar of 4 month baby food in 2 sittings - mid morning and mid afternoon. And he sleeps 13 hours at night :-)

so, no, you have not weaned too early. Good luck :-)

gripping on- just for good information's sake- the weaning guidelines have been 6 months for 8 years. Before this they were 4-6 months for 20 years. So for nearly 30 years the earliest recommended weaning age has been a minimum of 17 weeks. Not 10 weeks, not 16 weeks.

The guidelines are based on good research and while you can be led by your baby (hence the reason they say 'around 6 months' and 'about 26 weeks'), I don't think wilfully ignoring the 'NEVER before 17 weeks suggestion' is that wise tbh.

I think if your child is sitting up, has lost the tongue thrust reflex and can accurately reach out to pick up and put things in its mouth then you are probably safe to allow it to happen. These are the signs that the gut is ready for more than milk. In fact you're following your baby's developmental cues. This all happens somewhere nearing 6 months, sometimes a bit before.

sleepingrosy, the guidelines are quite fair tbh, based on a lot of research and have not changed much at all (once, only slightly in nearly 30yrs). They are also very clear that you should take medical guidance if anything out of the ordinary is happening. So your child has reduced its milk intake and you are concerned so you've spoken to somebody about it. How much milk is/was your baby taking? Was it causing a problem? Hydration? Growth? Happiness?

Can your child sit up mostly unaided? Has she lost the tongue thrust reflex? Is she able to grab food and bring it to his mouth unaided? If you can answer yes to these then she's ready for weaning. Give her a banana (whole) and let her play with it and figure it out herself.
Weaning isn't an age thing, it's developmental thing. Most early baby food is similar to diet food anyway.
Weaning also has f-all to do with sleeping habits. There is a growth spurt someetime between 16-22 weeks when sleep regression and night waking kicks in. Some mums mistake this for hunger/readiness for weaning but it's not, it's just a growth spurt.
Yes guidelines change but it's not because the powers that be want to cause hassle, it's because new research comes to light which changes the guidelines. So new evidence shows weaning before 16 weeks for any child is potentially very harmful, new guidelines get issues. Alas not all HVs and GPs are up to date with the latest information though.

Well the guidelines changed because of up to date research, not because of some whim. Decades ago they thought that smoking was good for our health... So should we keep that up?

As long as you don't wean before 17 weeks and your baby is showing signs, then you should be fine. Before 17 weeks is not a good idea because scientific research shows that babies cannot digest solids properly. After 6 months almost all can, so if you read the guidelines, it implies between 17 weeks and 6 months.

WHO guidelines were 10 weeks? When I was weaned 25 years ago guidelines were 4 months - I'd be surprised if they were ever 10 weeks.

Weaning a 14 week old because you can't be bothered to give him more milk feeds is about the most ridiculous reason for weaning early I've ever heard.

14 weeks

The infant gut just is not ready for solid foods before about 26 weeks. So if you give solid food then you increase their risk of allergies and gut problems. There is also good evidence to suggest that nutrients are not effectively absorbed.

Of course we used to wean much earlier .... and have one of the highest rates of allergies a d gut problems as a result. So grippingon your baby might well be okay but any problems in the future (including adulthood) may well be as a result of food being given too early for the gut to cope with it.