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Weaning

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

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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!

OP posts:

lockets · 02/04/2006 00:04

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

lanismum · 02/04/2006 00:07

yeah there is, my aunts response to me pointing this out was 'iv had 6 babies, and done this with every one of them and they never choked' my dd seemed to like it, but i didnt carry it on as the bloody rusks used to block the holes in the teats.

dramaqueen72 · 02/04/2006 00:08

thye keep changing the guidelines i agree, but alittle research shows up LOTS of times, that at least four moths pref six is the best option. they simply dont have the digestive system before that. And agree with whats the rush? all the faffing about,all the mess, all the cost.....they are babies such a short time anyway, I'm in no hurry to get mine all grown up.
baby number four will be 6mths or thereabout before i even approach her with a spoon.

heymissymum · 02/04/2006 02:35

Haven't read all of this but my dd started tasting solids at 4 months - technically she was born prem at just under 3 weeks - so this counts as earlier than 4 months. Our consultant at the hospital agreed this was absolutely fine (she had regular checks up in her first year because she arrived before 36 weeks). In fact our consultant told us all three of his kiddies started solids at 3 months, they were all fine and all just love their food. Hope that helps

Eulalia · 02/04/2006 09:12

Regarding breastfeeding its funny how people don't trust their own bodies or are unbelieving of breastmilk as if it isn't 'real' food somehow.

dd had her first taste of solids at exactly 6 months and she was 17lbs by then. And of course she can chew properly (?!) ds2 just started solids recently also at 6 months.

Isn't bowel cancer the 2nd biggest killer? - I know this is a lot to do with eating practices in later life but how do we know how much of it starts of at the beginning of life? At the end of the day its onlya few months and if it does make a big difference then better to wait and be safe than sorry...

Blu · 02/04/2006 09:27

I started DS on solids at 4 months because that was the advuce at the time, and he's absolutely fine.

I don't undertand the point of all these scaremongering safety dictats - yesterday I put DS in his booster seat in the car, and then forgot to do up the seat belt. When we got home, he was fine - so what's the problem???

Bugsy2 · 02/04/2006 09:40

Come on Blu - that's bonkers. There wasn't a problem because you didn't have an accident. If you had, your DS would have hurtled through your windscreen or into the back of your head at whatever speed the accident happened! I dislike scaremongering too, but I'm not sure your seatbelt argument is valid!

red37 · 02/04/2006 09:45

haven't read all the thread......
If your baby can manage on baby milk for 6 months, great.
The WHO encourages exclusive BF for first 6 months, but all babies are different.
Wanted to BF, but unfortunately ds2 wouldn't latch on. I was so upset, I thought I had let him down, had no choice to introduce formula.
tbh every mother knows their own babies and should follow their instincts.
I am not saying ignore what the health professionals advise, take them as guide rather than literal.
dd1-weaned at around 3 months, advised by HV,12 oz bottles, 2 hourly
ds1- weaned at around 4 months, guidelines were 4-6 months then.
ds2- weaned at 4 and half months, 10 oz bottles were not filling him up at all, waking in night for more milk.

ruthydd · 02/04/2006 10:08

I think Blu's seat belt argument is very relevant....as an example of why none of us should buy the "I weaned early and everything is fine" argument. The fact is that it is a risk, and the risk may or may not materialise, but it is a risk nonetheless. If you take that risk its your decision, but you shouldn't recommend that others take the risk as well.

Blu - I'm sure you wouldn't now recommend that none of us wear seatbelts on the basis of your accident-free trip ?

Elf1981 · 02/04/2006 10:15

I fine the earlier you wean them, the more you leave yourself open to people feeding your child crap.
My DD is six months. We started weaning at five months, but it was a little haphazard. As in a taste of fruit one day, nothing for a couple of days, then some veggies etc. Not that I was trying to space it out, but I got a bit lazy! Anyway, she's six months, she now has a brekkie on weekdays because she's now with a CM so at least I know she's eating something (kind of goes on a milk strike when I'm away, I'm lucky now if she has 6oz between 8:00-4:00). Weekends we dont bother. I only give breastmilk usually on the weekends.

Though I do get people wanting to give her crisps and biscuits etc because they know that we have started weaning. It's hard to put across the point that yes, they are being weaned, but no, a malted milk is not the thing you want them to have.

God knows what she is going to get fed in May when she spends a day with my FIL & MIL. I think maybe if I hadn't weaned early, people wouldn't be pushing crap on her.

red37 · 02/04/2006 10:20

Elf- do a lunch bag with pots of food and insist that they only feed her the food you have given them, thats what I do with MIL.
She has ds2 every wednesday while I go to work.

Elf1981 · 02/04/2006 10:32

threebob - I have a few food intolerances such as dairy. I was weaned at 7months and now there are lots of foods that I eat that upset my stomach and almost right afterwards I need the loo. You are right, it is hard to say what the cause is. Maybe it was because I was formula fed. Maybe it was because my mum didnt know she was pregnant and took the pill for another four months. Maybe I was still not ready for solids at seven months.

Elf1981 · 02/04/2006 10:33

red37 - I posted a thread about this before, they take the stand that if their grandkids are at their house, they can have whatever they want!

edam · 02/04/2006 11:06

Think Blu's post was ironic rather than literally true...

red37 · 02/04/2006 11:21

OMGelf

VeniVidiVickiQV · 02/04/2006 11:24

My DP was weaned/teethed on Bonio's. YES, the dog biscuits.

Did it do him any harm?

Well, it didnt do him any good. His teeth arent fantastic and he certainly doesnt have a shiny coat

Seriously though, he was weaned early and has bowel problems.

From here onwards, i'll just say PARP.

Blu · 02/04/2006 12:04

Ruthydd is spot on.

I did accidentally 9for the first time ever)forget to do up the seatbelt - and luckily, on this occasion, no harm came of it. In fact in the hundres and hundreds of car journeys i have made with DS, never once would ha have come to harm because I haven't had a crash. But that's statistics -of course I do up his belt all the time, because SOMEONE, sadly, has to be the person who makes up the statostcis of where it does go wrong.

My example is exactly relevant because increased risks over earlier weaning or whatever else people use these 'oh so-and-so did this and is fine' arguments are failing to understand that there will be someone else - a minority, obviously, just like road accidents, who DO have a bad reaction.

misstee · 02/04/2006 12:09

When I had ds1 the advice was 3months + and as I went back to work when he was 10 weeks (mat leave different too!) my HV advised me to start giving him a bit of rice. Although intially he seemed fine and I was wary of giving him gluten, eggs etc and no cows milk products - he developed green diarrheoa and I know think I sensitised him too early. He still has tummy problems (nothing severe) and i think they are as a result of that.

Other kids were fine but I think he was the exception that proved the rule.

desperateSCOUSEwife · 03/04/2006 12:49

dd2 was weaned at 6 weeks and had a full xmas dinner when she was 8 weeks old as she was and still is a gannet
mushed up of course

all the other children were weaned at 3 months old too.

moondog · 03/04/2006 12:49

You're barking Scouser.

desperateSCOUSEwife · 03/04/2006 12:51

woof woof moondog

moondog · 03/04/2006 12:53

BelleFleur · 08/04/2006 22:50

Hello. I just read all the messages posted here and today I fed my 4month old ds (big baby according to the HV) some mashed banana. I was in the car, had BFed him but he was still crying. He was also chewing his fists. So I gave him some mashed banana. He seemed to love it! I did the same thing with dd (born in 2003, small baby) at 4 months. She got baby jars and loved them! She was BF until 12 months and has no known allergies.

mumfor1standfinaltime · 08/04/2006 23:01

Not this old chestnut again.
IMO weaning should be done when the time is right for the baby, depending on many factors - weight of baby, how much they feed, whether they sleep through the night, how long they sleep for, how active they are, whether there are serious allergies in the family...the list is endless.
You have to do what feels right, if it doesnt feel right then dont wean yet. I learnt that it isnt a race, and to enjoy not having to worry about fussing around preparing meals!

I started to wean ds at 5 months (now 15m), I started very slowly on 1 'meal' a day. He was a big baby at birth and used to feed every 2 or 3 hours. He also slept through from 7 weeks so he was always hungry during the day!

Bozza · 08/04/2006 23:19

It's strange how many big babies there are. And the vast quantities of milk they all managed to consume.....

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