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Weaning

Find weaning advice from other Mumsnetters on our Weaning forum. Use our child development calendar for more information.

Original poster

Did anyone put their baby on solids 'earlier'??

78 replies

Helenemjay · 01/04/2006 15:16

Im curious to see if anyone got their baby eating solids earlier than the usual 4 months or 6 months? my sister put her ds on solids at 13 weeks, and then her dd on them a 12 weeks - her ds is now 3 and absolutley fine and her dd is almost 1 and she too is fine - no allergies, never had problems with digesting things etc.... what is is thats so taboo about early weaning? - dont shoot me down - just curious! Smile

OP posts:
suzywong · 01/04/2006 15:20

yes I did
put ds1 on solids, well the slurry that is baby ric - can't see the point of it now - at 13 weeks as he was a big hefty BF baby but was chewing his hands and I wanted to have a crack at feeding, it all looked so cute.

Absolutely no adverse effects, he's now a strapping 5 year old with a healthy appetite and no allergies. He still took a lot of BFs and didnt' go on to bottle milk til 12 months.

The only downside was that I used to get my knickers in a twist at how little he ate which wound me up and goes to show that babies of that age don't need solids at all.

I don't know what the fuss is all about either as long as you're not giving them gravey and wotists

I started ds2 on solids at 19 weeks but I really really wish I'd held out to 26 months as hte guidelines had only just come in at that time

edam · 01/04/2006 15:22

Because babies aren't designed to eat solids. Some may survive early weaning with no adverse effects that are noticeable in infancy. Doesn't mean it's a good thing though. Smoking isn't safe just because half of all smokers don't get lung cancer. (NOT comparing early weaning to smoking, just illustrating risk).

Small babies are designed to drink milk. They have an 'open' gut to help them absorb nutrients from milk. If you feed a small baby solids, large particles of food will pass directly through the walls of the gut into their bloodstream, rather than being properly digested. This creates a much higher risk of food allergies. By six months the gut will have closed to become more like an adult's ie designed to digest solid food as well as liquid.

Early weaning is also associated with obesity in later life.

Apart from anything else, early weaning is such a faff - all that pureeing. If you hang on to six months you can skip that stage entirely.

suzywong · 01/04/2006 15:23

edam he love his Rothmans and all

edam · 01/04/2006 15:25

Ah, I find mini-babybel much prefers Consulate...

suzywong · 01/04/2006 15:25

they make you sterile
have you had your baby yet?

edam · 01/04/2006 15:26

PS am a smoker, stupidly.

edam · 01/04/2006 15:27

Think you've confused me with someone else- ds is rising three and haven't been pg since. Honest.

fairyjay · 01/04/2006 15:28

My ds went onto solids at 3 months on the advice of the specialist feeding advisor, who said that babies with a cleft sometimes need weaning earlier. He's now 14, strong, fit and healthy - and towering over me!

suzywong · 01/04/2006 15:28

oh sorry
oh it's enid who's up the duff

come on you do share a four letter name, two of which are the same and it is well past wine o'clock here

edam · 01/04/2006 15:31

OK, you are forgiven (do I really sound like Enid? Blimey. Not sure who should be more offended, me or her!).

magnolia1 · 01/04/2006 15:33

All of mine were weaned early, dd1 was not through my choice though Angry dh's nan fed her when I was out and she slept through the night for the 1st time so it continued and she slept every night since.

The twins were fed early on the advice of the doctor and health visitor due to awful reflux and it really helped.

dd4 was because..... well just because I wanted to and it wasn't that early Blush

Original poster
Helenemjay · 01/04/2006 17:25

Well my mum weaned me at 11 weeks and im fine, im not overweight i have never had any allergies, and as far as i know it only made life easier for my mum when she put me on solids - apparently i was a right little squawker and i stopped and slept through everynight after!! If i am honest i weaned my ds1 and ds2 when they were 12 and 13 weeks and ds1 is now nearly 6 and very healthy with no problems at all and ds2 is a very healthy and very active little toe-rag with no allergies or anything either, i am sure health proffesionals have good reasons for things but im really unsure as to how weaning at 3 months makes SUCH a difference, although edam - you are right in as much as not all smokers get cancer but it doesnt make it right - i understand your comparison, but i have known alot of my friends have weaned there kids very very early and they have also said they have had no probs at all if anything it made life easier! My aunty cut a hole in my cousins bottle when he was 5 weeks and mixed baby rice to the milk enough that a large hole had to be cut as it was so thick! and fed him the lot ( i have to say at this point i STRONGLY disagree with this!) and she did this many many times he is now 30 and very tall and healthy with no probs! - like i said i dont condone that in anyway but it shows that maybe they arent as 'fragile' in these areas as people think??!!

OP posts:
charmkin · 01/04/2006 18:06

this is like ground hog day. Why is this such a big issue?

bubblerock · 01/04/2006 18:44

Both mine were weaned at about 12-14 weeks might have been earlier, they wouldn't touch baby rice. Both have no allergies, asthma, ezcema etc... (7.5 & 2.5 year old boys)

Bugsy2 · 01/04/2006 18:51

This one is always like groundhog day. Bit like the Gina versus attachment routiney stuff!
Seems to be fairly well known that babies bodies can grow just fine on milk until they are 6 months old. But loads of us grew up ok having been given rusk & other horrors in my case at 8 wks.
Early weaning seems like crime of the century nowadays, but its not as bad as putting gin in their bottles! Grin

expatinscotland · 01/04/2006 18:54

ugh, NO. why make a rod for your own back? leave 'em on the boob as long as you can.

tortoise · 01/04/2006 19:03

My friend started her ds2 on baby rice at 5 weeks Shock.She said he was always hungry and woke to many times at night! He still woke at night so didnt help with that.He's nearly 3 now and not over weight yet but who knows what problems he may have when he's an adult.

Tatties · 01/04/2006 19:23

Early weaning doesn't necessarily lead to allergies or digestive problems, but of course it might. Just because the child is ok now doesn't mean problems won't occur later on in life. Should such problems present themselves in adulthood, you would never know whether it was down to the early weaning or not. Of course a a baby weaned at 26 wks may still have allergies, etc.. but why take the risk?

(BTW I weaned ds a bit too early - 21 wks - I wasn't fully informed about why waiting was so important. If he develops any digestive problems or allergies I will feel at fault. Had I waited until 26 wks at least I could be sure I did all I could to prevent it.)

MaloryTowers · 01/04/2006 19:49

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

edam · 01/04/2006 19:56

Ten months?! You are kidding, aren't you?

MaloryTowers · 01/04/2006 19:57

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

kid · 01/04/2006 19:57

I weaned both of mine early. DD was weaned early as advised by the HV, as she just wouldn't drink milk. She was still only taking 2oz at 4 months old and was small. She preferred food and gained weight much better.

DS was weaned early because DD was! He was a terrible sleeper, the solids didn't make much difference with his sleep though.

Both are fine now, DD (7) had mild exzema but grew out of it. She is petite unlike DS (4) who is tall but not overweight.

MaloryTowers · 01/04/2006 19:57

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Blandmum · 01/04/2006 19:58

When my two were little the guidance was 4 months anyway.

I was advised to start ds 2 weeks earlier than that to help with his projectile vomiting of milk. I did help.

Modern guidance is for 6 months minimum

threebob · 01/04/2006 20:01

Okay I'm going to be the first one to say it - I was weaned early and I'm not fine. As I get older it gets worse and the list of things I can't eat (because I become faecally incontinent) keeps increasing. I was probably okay ish until my mid twenties and then things got worse and worse. I've had stool samples tested, biopsies, several specialists, and all they have come up with is that my gut flora is not normal. Of course I can't prove that it was early weaning, but it would seem likely.

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