"99% of babies weaned before 6 months"? is this true?

[HeidiHole]

My health visitor has just booked to come in three weeks time for my DS's 12 week check. (so he's currently 9 weeks)

She said "and I"ll be talking to you about weaning" I expressed surprise as I said that I thought babies weren't weaned until 6 months. She said that the guidelines are 6 months but "research shows that only 1% of mothers wait until then so if people may wean from 4 months onwards they at least like us to have the knowledge and do's and donts from 3 months ready for when baby hits 4 months"

I said oh Ok... but seeing as there is a history of IBD in my family (including me) and its even more recommended to wait until 6 months if thats the case, we'd definitely not be weaning before then.

She smiled and said well only 1% get to 6 months because mothers normally have this really powerful urge where they just KNOW that baby is ready and then they start.

So tell me, am I really that unlikely to "get to" 6 months? I thought it was black and white! What can possibly happen before then that 99% chance will alter that? Enlighten me!

I can only think of one reason and that is "baby seems hungry" but if he seems hungry I'd bet that more calorie rich milk (he's formula fed) is going to fill him more than half a pureed carrot! So that doesn't seem like a compelling reason to start early???

We are amongst the 99% not ebf at 6 months but only because dd grabbed food off my plate and ate it at 25 weeks (just as I was defending my decision to wait to my mother again). I can't see that one week makes a massive difference but I still felt disappointed that we hadn't got to 6 months properly. I was definitely the last of my friends to start weaning though, everyone else seemed to be starting at some point between 4 and 5 months.

We did blw too and it was great. I found it reassuring to think that nature wouldn't make her physically able to eat by herself if her insides weren't ready for it.

When I had dd1 12 years ago the advice was officially 4 months, but my hv started telling me to think about weaning from about 11 weeks because dd had doubled her birth weight and was a very hungry baby. I can only assume that that was the guidance when she did her training/had her own children so she hadn't bothered updating to the more recent guidelines.

I weaned dd at four and a half months due to serious weight loss because she was refusing milk feeds. I took her to the doctor because I was worried and she took one look at her and told me to start baby rice. My DD was showing all of the signs that she was ready for food but I ignored them because I was told to wait until 6 months. My GP, however, told me that her weight was a more pressing concern and to get some food into her! As a mother you can only go on the advice you are given. Next time around I will hopefully be able to bf and things will be different so I will wait until the baby is ready to wean unless medical professional tell me differently. I couldnt care less what percentage that puts me into

DD is 25 weeks today and still EBF. I'm confident we'll make the 1%

OK ladies so next question, when she comes over and tells me these statistics again and tells me its not the end of the world if i crack open the baby rice at 4 months do I gently explain that the 99% is for those noe exclusively breastfeeding or do I let her be mistaken?

I don't want to be a know it all but I also don't like how she is so dismissive of the idea that I may wait until 6 months. Every other baby is our tiny community has been weened at 4 months and I suspect its because they're all told that she doesn't expect them to "get to" 6 months.

Last week at baby clinic I overheard her speaking to a mum of a 16 week old (I know the mum). The mum said that she'd given her baby the first puree meal and that night the baby was crying and scrunching legs with a tummy ache.

I was waiting for HV to say OK well leave it another few weeks or another few months but she said oh maybe she's teething I wouldn't worry, at 4 months she should be ready for the food so I doubt its that.

Now I don't know if it was the food or not obviously but surely the HV should have repeated the party line about waiting till 6 months in this case?

So do I show her the survey? She's very nice, I just think she has me pegged as a goody goody who is too keen to do things by the book which I admit I am because its my PFB! I don't want her to think I'm one of "those" people. But i'm itching to put her right!

Waited to six months, then BLW for both babies.

You could always show her and see what she says? If she continues to push the 4 months then you could discuss with your local PCT as I don't think she should be doing this or of course nod and smile and then just do what you want! Tbh that was usually my response to unwanted 'advice' from well meaning individuals!

I wanted to wait for 6 months, but she started actually stealing the food from en route to my mouth at 25 weeks..... I had to stop having her on my lap when I was eating!

I didn't actually start giving her food purposely until over 6 months.....

I didn't start weaning DS until he reached 6 months actual age. I would have preferred to wait until he was nearer 6 months corrected (he was premature), but we were advised to go by his actual age.

I admit to being a bit half hearted about it at first too, and only giving him tiny bits of puree to begin with. DS helped me with this by being very unwilling to allow anyone other than himself to put a spoon in his mouth

He didn't show all the weaning readiness signs (as described in the NHS birth to 5 book the HV gave me) until he was 6 months corrected. Full speed ahead with BLW after that

And we didn't reach 6 months exclusively breastfeeding either. Even if we'd managed to get the breastfeeding established properly, the formula he got in SCBU before my milk came in would have knocked us out of that 1%.

Can I ask a stupid question? not having children!
I was looking at some baby food packets in a supermarket (they were reduced and I thought a friend might want some) and looking at ages on the packet
If you aren't meant to wean until 6 months, why do some of the packets say 4 months + ?
Only asking as not having children, and if I didn't loiter on here, I would see that and think oh baby is 4 months, I can use that

Waited till just short of 6 months for DD, she was ff on demand from 2 weeks. At the moment (28 weeks) she just gnaws at fruit and toast washed down with yoghurt for breakfast, sucks on a few veg or a bit of quiche for lunch and makes chewing motions with a bit of meat/fish and two veg for supper. I can safely say (just by looking at the mess she leaves) she is still reliant 100% on milk for her nutrition. For the time being "food is fun". clearing up not so much but grateful for the dogs!

Interestingly for me she won't touch anything puréed/smooth. Even the yoghurt has to have lumps.

It's a personal choice, weaning time. I know people feel very strongly about it. It must be very hard to wait if you really feel your baby is hungry and you're getting pressure from well meaning relatives about giving the baby some food.

Yes it's 'the guidelines' but that means very little to some who might perceive them as being interfering.

I also see here a lot 'my HV/GP doesn't know the guidelines' - they probably do! But that is all they are, guidelines, to help aid decision making. They are not the law and HCP are currently allowed to express an opinion on the personal situation of a family.

My belief is that when weaning age was 4 months a fair proportion of babies were being given solids at 8-12 weeks and by moving it to 6 months more are likely to wean in the 4-5 month period which is better (but not as good) as around the 6 month mark. It will take a generation for certain health messages to come through and hopefully slowly things will change.

In my own group of patients and friends breast feeding is more common but they do find it hard around the 4 month period when you might have a growth spurt and it's hard to keep up. There is so little support at this stage other than 'just keep giving milk' and not considering the impact on the mother and her family/sleep/health etc.

I suppose what I'm saying is I don't blame families if they don't wait until exactly 6 months though any day is likely to be helpful.

The allergies and iron question is ongoing though and I am watching this space for new evidence!

Delay! Not day!

HeidiHole personally I would complain about her, particularly about what you overheard in the clinic.

Who knows how much harm she's doing.

Yes, show her the survey.

But she must have access to medical data and information, and she's obviously chosen to ignore it, so I wouldn't hold out much hope she'll actually take it on board.

Personally, I know very few people who have waited until six months. There is a huge pressure to wean around four months in our culture especially if your baby is not sleeping well.

With DS so many people told me that baby rice would help him to sleep so I gave him some for a couple of days at four and a half months in desperation. Although I regretted it after doing some more reading on the matter and it made no difference to his sleep. He wasn't interested in solids really until about 8 or nine months.

With DD (my second child) I planned on waiting to six months but at five and a half months she snatched some banana off my husband and shoved it into her month so we started with some BLW and she took to food very readily. It would have been difficult to hold out for an extra two weeks as she was some interested in food.

brighthair, I might be wrong about this, but my understanding is, that when the recommended weaning age was 4 months, legislation was passed banning baby food companies from saying baby food was suitable before 4 months.

The recommended weaning age was then changed to 6 months, but the legislation wasn't updated. So baby food companies say that their first stage baby food is suitable from 4 months because legally they can, and if people start weaning at 4 months, then they sell more baby food and make more money.

Although most baby food labelled as suitable from 4 months does include small print along the lines of "the department of health recommends weaning from 6 months".

I also had IBD, so it was important to me to wait until 6 months (I would hate to think, if DD developed it, that it might be my fault in some way for being impatient - not blaming other people, like my mum for weaning me early, just have problem with guilt sometimes).

I was a little disappointed to get to the big day and have her just lick things for a couple of weeks!

One thing I do think is a problem is holding the weaning class at 5 months here, so the HV is put on the spot trying not to criticise people who have started before the class. In that sense it makes sense to have it early, like your HV suggested. There were two people in my class who had weaned at 12-ish weeks because the baby was hungry and they didn't want to introduce formula, which I think is a problem with the ante-natal feeding advice (mixed feeding less contra-indicated than early weaning, message too anti-formula - although that is a different issue).

I was all set to wait till 6 months, but I also had food stealer (and once he got a taste of banana there was no stopping him - it was like the terminator I tell you!)

On the other hand, we were very lazy about meals (BLW mainly) until he was about 10 months and seemed to hit his stride with them, and he's still BF a couple of times a day at 23 months so I don't feel so bad.

The first time he had lentils though.... that night will stay with me forever, as will the mental picture of his nappy the following morning.

Most people I know started around five months. We started at 23 weeks to try get ds eating fruit and veg because he was so constipated. Worked immediately! we were worried about allergies so he only had baby rice, fruit and veg until 26 weeks. No bread, wheat, protein or dairy.

I'm in Ireland and pretty much no one waits until 6 months here. I actually think you'd be more frowned upon for waiting that long than for weaning early. It's a huge huge cultural issue. Fewer people breastfeed too so it will all take at least another generation to work itself out.
Started DD at 23.5 weeks; she'd been showing all of The Signs for quite a while and it felt wrong to keep putting her off.

How do other European countries compare, does anyone know?

Both mine were weaned at 6 months but I have to admitt I'm the only person I know who waited!

I don't know anyone who waited till 6 months. And I'm including EBF babies in that.

most people i know started between 4 and 5 months because their baby was waking up more. i am also considered odd for waiting till 6 months (give or take a couple of days, it was a weekend before i went back to work.)

i just see it as a possible risk (DH has bowel problems already ) versus no actual benefit starting earlier. also less messing about as i am lazy

i had to bite my tongue too when i overheard the HVs doing the weaning talk at the baby group when DS1 was younger. they were happily repeating lots of myths about waking up etc. I'm not brave enough to stand up and shout YOU'RE TALKING PANTS AND WORRYING PEOPLE FOR NO REASON.

also when i heard an HV advising someone at the bf group to eat more steak and cheese because they thought her baby was gaining weight too slowly. she's a friend now and i still feel a bit bad that i just sat going

My HV has given me information about weaning (LO is 15 weeks), but said that most of her mums wait until 6 months. But she also said that if I think he needs weaning earlier, then go for it.