Is 18 weeks to early to wean?

[koalabear]

she's not grabbing at food, but is consuming 7 ounces of milk every 2.5 hours during the day

I don't quite understand why people advise to trust your instincts on this. The WHO guidelines are based on scientific studies and research that weaning earlier than 6 months can be detrimental for a baby's health. If your 'instinct' is to wean earlier than that, then your 'instinct' is not what is best for your baby.

I think saying 'trust your instinct' is another way of saying 'do what you want and f* them if they think they can tell us it's wrong.'

''WHO guidelines are based on scientific studies and research that weaning earlier than 6 months can be detrimental for a baby's health''

GUIDELINES

NOT

RULES

pleased you can be so trusting of someone thats never meet YOUR child.....that changed its 'guidlines' from 4 to 6 mth.

not all of us are in a situation where our baby is contented, no need of anything than milk....glad you were.

i done what was best for my babies. and 'they' cant tell me any different.

Yeah, I'm bewildered by talk of "instincts" on this stuff. People's instincts tell them to do all sorts of stuff, like not bother with car seats, give their children coke in bottles, etc etc.

(And yeah, instincts are interesting, but I don't think we evolved, complete with instincts, in a world full of Nestle and little bottles of egg custard for babies!)

I'm sure everyone does their best with the information they've got. Nobody weans their child early because they want to see how much damage they can do. (DS1 weaned at 16 weeks, seems ok. DS2, weaned at 6 months also seems fine.)

I wouldn't trust anything they say, the government was putting crap in the baby food years ago and expecting us to feed it too our babies(thats what I call detrimental to your babies health)

Huh? When did the government start making baby food?

Ummm .... well if it were rules or law then they would have to lock a lot of mothers up! Imagine the "weaning police" under-cover at NCT gatherings seeking out mothers breaking the law ... Of course they are guidelines not law !

What annoys me about all this is the lack of a clear message. HVs say something different to the gov and WHO, and babyfood is still allowed to be labelled "from 4 months". No wonder few people take the "guidelines" seriously.

i think red37 meanse 'allowing' manufacturers to put crap in baby food

The government were allowing the old offal to be used in baby food products

The government don't do well at passing food legislation, period. They also took ages to start recommending 6 months exclusive bf, when the WHO had been recommending it for years.

But this sounds to me like a reason to avoid giving your kids solids early, rather than a reason to rush into it, surely?

sorry i think you all know what i meant

I honestly didn't, there have been so many problems with jar food, picking out any one is difficult.

But the gov't not regulating jar food enough is another example of them not standing up to corporate interests, imo. Postponing weaning to 6 months is going to hurt companies, not help them, so I do trust them in that goal.

Yes NQC - that was my point. I expect not smoking whilst pregnant is technically a "guideline" and no-one advocates that.

But I was trying to sympathise with those that don't take the guidelines seriously considering the number of HV out there recommending early weaning. Mine told me to wean ds2 at 5 months because he was waking lots a night and seeming hungry after feeds but ignored her and "starved" my poor baby. What a witch I am.

the straight answer is yes
wait as long as you can
I see no reason at all to distrust the WHO recommendations.
I find this attitude of "distrust anything told to you by someone in authority" just as wrongheaded and naive as believing everything you're told.

I weaned my boys with homemade purees, frozen (if making a big batch) or free. baby food 'jars' etc never made a penny out of me.

I don't want to get started on HVs. We have one locally that advised a friend of mine to wean at 14 weeks. Because her child was unsettled. He had a cold! Grrr.

(He also told a friend of mine that she was an ideal candidate for PND. Also recommended bottlefeeding to her, for no apparent reason!)

Another local friend of mine was told by an HV that she should give formula because her baby's head was growing disproportionately to his body. Honestly, I know there are some great HVs out there, but there are also some real turnips.

The WHO could come up with something different tommorow.

Well, they don't actually come out with new guidelines very often, or solely for their own amusement. They work on the basis of published scientific research.

By going to 6 months, I think they're going back to what was probably normal when we were hunter-gatherers, frankly, which is the environment we evolved in. It's not as random as it looks.

well that's certainly possible, but surely it's better to go with the advice that's based on scientific studies rather than ignore it?

I don't really understand this rush to give solids anyway.
it's an almighty PITA ime.

I weaned ds2 at 4 and half months and he has never been happier, my instinct has always worked for me, but I still listen to the professionals when need be.

My baby was fairly unsettled at this age and wanted more milk, more often. I gave it to him. He also did not sleep through and I was advised to wean him early as this was a 'sign' he needed it. I waited until 24 weeks. He still didn't sleep through.

This is not an attempt to convince people of the WHo guidelines by anecdotal evidence, just a reply to Carly's assumptions about me and my baby :)

koalabear,

how is your dd?

cx

glad you felt empowered by waiting frannyzooey.

i felt i was doing the right thing by feeding my baby some pear/rice and having a happier, settled baby.

p.s. it had nothing to do with sleeping through the night for me, they both were by 8wks, thats down to routine.

Yeah, my babies were sometimes cranky. DS1 was still cranky after having been given solids. Babies are cranky people. It's just how they are.

I think all the "signs" are b***ks. How does the fact that a baby can sit up prove that his gut is mature enough to handle solids ?