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

Your babies, even....

Seriously, just have a quick google - dont take my word for it.

Nah, mine are better HC

and thank you ladies (like i was going anywhere )

You weren't threatening to parp, HC. You generally need no encouragement at all.

because you dont have a clue about mt children, and i trust her.

my boys are now 1.5 and 2.5yrs old......so as to 'y i dont give them milk when they are hungry..' doesnt really apply now!!...as for 'y i didnt' because they were not happy and content, and that is all all of us ever want for our children and i see no reason to let a baby be so unsettled because a 'guidline' doesnt recommend it.....

pmsl FAZ.......

Although, you are making sound like i was going to flounce or something........

oh,i get it....'please stay your soooo special...' LMFAO

None of us are saying you should have left your babies to be miserable, Carla, but I don't understand how giving rice and pear would make them settled and contented when it contains fewer calories than milk. If your babies are hungry, feed them. But don't give solid foods till 6 months when your baby is mature enough to digest them.

well the reason why you wouldn't give these foods is the risk of causing allergies afaik
the WHO aren't making this up to promote greater sales of, er, breastmilk

Guidelines dont recommend you leave a baby unsettled i agree

But, you have hit the nail on the head really. Your babies - you do whatever you think - i hardly think it appropriate to apply the same rules for someone else's baby who you dont know - in which information on worldwide well researched guidelines is appropriate.

awww dont be sore carly........

if you had read allthe posts vvvv(whatever) then youd have seen that i said what i had done, and said go with what you feel is right and spk to hv.

i dont agree with the ppl saying 'no way...' as you just said....''i hardly think it appropriate to apply the same rules for someone else's baby who you dont know''

sums up quite nicely i think.

Ruth - I did not wean my babies early. I followed the advice of the HV at the time and when I had my second 16.5 months earlier I did exactly the same because he was a very hungry child. My point about instincts is exactly that!!!! What did the human race do before the advent of scientific research - they followed their instincts like all animals and hey we seemed to have survived. I think the very differing opinions in this thread clearly demonstrate that mothers tie themselves in knots about what to do and when because there is sooo much different advice given. I did not tie myself in knots about anything like this because I hardly looked at a baby/parenting book and did what I felt was natural. This works for me but everyone is different and entitled to be so!

I suspect they b/fed for a lot longer pagan. No formula milk about then. And probably didnt use baby rice or purees either. Mad fools.

My word these weaning threads get heated.
Does anyone genuinely feel bad about weaning early?
I introduced solids at 4 months because I never knew there was any advice to say not to, and our hvs were saying 4 to 6 months. I feel a bit daft but not bad about it.
HC you are so right, solids is a giant faff. That should be enough to persuade people to wait.

Pruni, I introduced solids at 4 months and feel neither daft nor bad - not daft because I didn't consider it a faff (novelty value - won't apply to next one!) and I have yet to see any really convincing evidence that giving a baby pear and baby rice at 4 months is likely to harm the average baby (as distinct from evidence that babies under 6 months don't need anything other than breastmilk - this part was totally convincing).
Next time I would probably wean later because as many people have said here, it is simpler if you leave it later, and I'll be busy looking after a toddler as well, but I certainly don't worry that I might have harmed my daughter - it was baby rice FFS, not steak, and she was 4 months, not 4 weeks.
[runs for cover]

dont feel bad for weaning early. i done what they needed.

Correct me if I am wrong, but has this been covered before?

Once or twice oliveoil .

i knew this would kick off.

as for consulting with your hv and doctor and making an 'informed' decision, hang around long enough and you'll find out how many loons are out there giving health advice.

When I hear phrases like 'well it did my baby no harm. look s/he us x yrs old and the picture of health!'

It makes me wonder about Chrohns disease, IBS and diviculitis, wheat intolerance etc. that people suffer as adults. One day may google up on it.

All you can do is look at the information around you including WHO guidelines, your baby, speaking to Doctors and HV - they do sometimes give good advice! Then decide what is best for your baby based on this.

Unless I see a longitudinal study showing a significant link between IBS/Crohns etc and feeding a baby at 4 months on baby rice/puree instead of 6, with all other factors - homelife, parents health etc taken into account, I am sceptical that this is the cause of the majority of these illnesses. In fact, just googled this:

What causes Crohn's disease?
The exact cause is not known, but it is thought that the body's immune system overreacts to a virus or bacterium, causing ongoing inflammation in the bowel. Inflammatory bowel disease tends to run in families.

Smoking increases the risk of Crohn's disease, and it is more likely in people who eat a high-sugar, low-fibre diet.

gegs sorry but that is inaccurate re the crohns disease

one of the reasons people are on a high fat/sugar diet is because they cannot digest fibre, it makes it worse tbh.
it is not the cause of crohns at all
as for the smoking
it doesnt cause it
it can worsen crohns in most individuals
in some people smoking is encouraged as it stops stress which can affect thr bowel

Agree DSW.

Too much fibre can also be an irritant in Diverticulosis also, contributing to flare ups of Diverticulitis.

Agree VVVwhatever

sick of hearing the scaremongering and inaccurate facts associated with bowel diseases and early weaning issue

if that is the case 99% of the population would have bowels problems as weaning early was encouraged in the black and white days

Im not saying its not connected, just that there should be more detailed/available research into it.

I happen to think there is a likelyhood based on some things that i have seen. I just dont like misquoting/misrepresentation of the facts that do exist.

Crohns and other bowel conditions are not exclusive to early weaning though.