Friend started 15 wk old on baby rice. I'm a bit shocked.

[pipoca]

I have a 20 week old DD who is ebf (much to my surprise after failing miserably to bf DS). She's doing great and will be on milk alone til 6 months and then hope to do BLW again as it was great with DS (after a false start with purees before I knew about BLW)

A friend of mine has just started her 15 wk old on baby rice...she "loved it" apparently . Hopes it will help her sleep at night . Don't know her well enough to tell her she's out of her tiny mind explain the reasons for waiting til 6 months to wean so feel a bit sad about the whole thing in general. She's a bit netmumsy in general so in a way I'm not surprised but she bfed her DS to 13 months and is bfing this one so I'm a bit shocked, maybe unreasonably. Just thought if you knew about the benefits of bf and bfed to a yr you'd know not to wean so early?? AIBU?

I can't even begin to fathom why she's bothering to faff about with baby rice at 15 months, never mind the health aspects. Why do people do it?

[catinboots]

With DS1 the guidelines were 4 months.

With DS" the guidelines were 6 months.

FWIW, the guidelines set by the WHO are mainly aimed at developing countries where water, food and feeding equipment is harder to sterilise.

[wannaBe]

"the guidelines don't change "all the time" they have been 6 months for many years." They were four months when my ds was a baby and he will be nine in November. In fact I remember vividly hearing the article on the news saying that guidelines were changing to six months and thinking that there's no way I would have been able to wait until six months.

Personally I think that parents who rigidly stick to such guidelines and who would rather starve their babies in the name of the guidelines are far worse.

[Bugsy2]

It does seem quite shocking in this day & age, but most of us would have had far, far worse & lived to tell the tale. My HV notes from when I was a baby show I was being given rusk mushed with milk by 12 weeks & I had a spoonful of sugar in my formula milk!!!! Haven't got an allergy to my name.

[pipoca]

OK, I apologise for any perceived smugness or rudeness in my OP. I apologise for the netmums comment but I still think 15 weeks when the guidelines are 26 weeks is waaaay too early when there are no medical reasons to do it. I admit I judged.
Wannabe, I see your point about bf but DS was born small and early in a traumatic birth and wouldn't latch, he was my first I was in a foreign country and he was given formula within the 1st 24 hrs in hospital. I tried mix feeding til 8 wks when it all sort of fell apart. I think that's different to merely waiting a bit longer to introduce solids.
Anyhoo, I am sorry for any offence caused and will leave this thread to remove the large judgypants wedged up my arse and think about smuggery as I'm not, I'm nice really but I seem to have come across as a right twat here. Sorry.

[AyeWhySWIM]

I think a lot of people here are just on a wind up mission - a quick look round the weaning topic shows the very same posters advising people against early weaning and in fact, if I re posted under a different name saying I was thinking of early weaning I can pretty much guarantee I'd get no support whatsoever.

And if being 'a bit netmums-y' infers advising huns mums that they know their babby baby best then this thread is full of that, including you BecauseI'mWorthIt!

[TheBride]

WHO are not always right. If they were, we'd all have AIDS by now.

Maybe they've got it wrong again. It's not like kids with multiple allergies are getting fewer in number.

[dreamingbohemian]

Ah sorry OP, I don't think you're a twat

I just hate to see us mums judging one another all the time, I know it's natural but I think at least we should save it for stuff that's really harmful and not just unnecesssary.

[coraltoes]

Well stone me, A lt of you have changed your tunes!! On other topics where it is mentioned ipassing that someone is weaning earlier than 6 months a lot of you freak out, ignore the real question and harp on about the dangers, and now, where someone is challenging early weaning you all jump down her throat!

I don't think i will ever fully grasp the bitchiness on this website. It does fascinate me though.

[TheBride]

Maybe it's different people "freaking out" on this thread to the other one though.

MNers are not a cohesive mass and people tend to post on threads where they disagree with the OP more than when they agree

[BecauseImWorthIt]

AyeWhySWIM

I didn't make any such connection. I was merely pointing out that using the phrase 'a bit netmumsy' was judgemental.

I don't go on netmums weaning threads so I have no idea what goes on there.

I am, though, aware that there is a whole cultural thing on MN that NM is somehow inferior and downmarket by comparison with 'us' over here - despite the fact that very many MNetters (including myself) also belong to NM.

And, for your information, I don't normally post on weaning threads, given that things are different now from when my DC were little. But this thread title popped up in Active Convos and piqued my interest.

[dreamingbohemian]

Who's 'you all'?

No tune changing here

[Maisiethemorningsidecat]

No tune changing here. Hardly bitchy to disagree with the OP when, by her own admission, she's being a 'twat'

[DuelingFanjo]

I think it's awful to wean early but I tend to keep my opinion to myself when it comes to friends.

[OneHandFlapping]

"I'm nice really but I seem to have come across as a right twat here. Sorry."

That made me laugh. I'm sure I have been guilty of the same, er under my old posting name.

[Maisiethemorningsidecat]

Agree OneHand - I know I've been guilty of twattishness on MN, but I don't think I've ever been big enough to acknowledge my twattishness, so good on Pipoca

[HumptyDumpty1]

My bil and mrs weaned with baby rice at 3 weeks....their child now cannot put weight on and although is 20 months old weighs less than my 6 month old and is still in 6-9 clothes.

15 weeks isn't too bad is it?

[addictedtofrazzles]

Humpty - how do you know that the poor growth is due to baby rice!!!??? Pretty unlikely although 3 weeks sounds a bit bonkers!

[HumptyDumpty1]

I don't know that it is due to baby rice. I would hazard a guess though that the poor growth is due to digestive system damage giving baby rice at 3 weeks old.

Not saying it's the babyrice just the fact she was given anything at 3 weeks

[Maisiethemorningsidecat]

It could be anything though. What are the paediatricians saying? Are they linking it to the baby rice?

[BecauseImWorthIt]

@ pipoca

[TitaniaP]

Well I've just come back from the hospital where the paediatrician has told me to early wean (with baby rice) to encourage my DS to gain weight. I wanted to wait to 6 months but can't ignore the fact that my DS is very small. Where does that sit with all the advice? Will I be similarly judged be other friends waiting until 6 months?

[Bugsy2]

So hard to know TitaniaP. Baby rice contains fewer calories & has almost no nutritional content compared to breast milk or formula. Doesn't seem to make alot of sense. Its not for me to question the wisdom of a paediatrician but it does seem weird advice to me & I don't have a big issue at all with early weaning - given the guidance at the time mine were little was 3 months.

[TitaniaP]

Sorry slight thread hijack there. My point was that when peads are recommending early weaning in some cases its hardly surprising that Mums are confused. I certainly am! My DS is 16wks btw.

[Maisiethemorningsidecat]

You mix baby rice with breast milk or formula, so not no nutritional content

[bigkidsdidit]

I'm not a doctor but I would imagine that a) it is meant o be in addition to milk not in place of - ie feeding after milk and b) the earlier you start weaning the earlier you get to eg avocado which is calorie dense. My friend has been advised to wean her prem twins at 16 weeks too.