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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

when did the w.h.o change the age of weaning

47 replies

Xena · 13/07/2006 13:47

because when DS1 was born definatly the advice was 4mths and so I did the same for DD1&2 but since finding mumsnet I have realised the advice is different now, but my very supportive health visitor hasn't said anything. Also I was looking in the supermarket and the baby food still says from 4mths??? What to do with DS2

OP posts:
Hattie05 · 13/07/2006 13:50

When my dd was born 3 and a half years ago, it was just becoming talked about more ( i think WHO had been advising it for some time longer).

You will still be advised by HV's and baby jars that babies should be weaned at 4mths. But WHO always stand by the 6mths.

WigWamBam · 13/07/2006 13:50

It was changed years ago; HVs tend not to be very up-to-date and give the same advice they've been pushing for years. Baby food says from 4 months simply because that's the earliest they can get away with saying it's for.

wherethewildthingsare · 14/07/2006 08:01

The really interesting thing is that although exclusive breastfeeding until 6 months has been advocated for some time, the Government has only been able to promote this since they changed maternity leave. The Department of Health could hardly push exclusive bf until 6 months while the Department of Work and Pensions (or whoever...) were forcing mums back to work at 3/4 months, which used to be the case until very recently. When I had ds1 (12 1/2) I had to take 6 weeks maternity leave before my due date. He was then 2 weeks late so I ended up going back to work when he was 10 weeks old (statutory mat leave was only 18 weeks in total then!).

LeahE · 14/07/2006 08:36

Our HVs did push the 6 months but I think were in a difficult position because they know a lot of people are going to wean earlier whatever they say -- so it was very much "wait until 6 months if you possibly can [with supporting anecdotes of whopping great big huge babies they've known who've been just fine ebf to 6 months] but IF you can't then absolutely on no account even consider starting solids before 17 weeks, and please be honest with us about whether you have started or not rather than telling us you're waiting to 6 months just because you think that's what we want to hear." So the message does get diluted a bit.

hunkermunker · 14/07/2006 08:40

Don't get these women who start early.

Think they're just bored and want something else to do with their babies.

harpsichordcarrier · 14/07/2006 08:41

hi there
the WHO changed it's official guidance in 2001, following a massive review of the scientific evidence (looking at 3000 sources).
so pretty conclusive
the manufacturer's of baby food are allowed to say "from" 4 months, but the recommendation is to wait till six months.

hunkermunker · 14/07/2006 08:42

They can put 3+ months on weaning spoons though.

Arses.

harpsichordcarrier · 14/07/2006 08:43

blimey you're feeling combative this morning hunker .

hunkermunker · 14/07/2006 08:44

Oh, you know me. Can't resist a good weaning debate. Even a bad one will do me.

It's on my mind, you see. DS2 is 26wo next Wednesday.

aragon · 14/07/2006 08:47

It changed ages ago - 2001. Not all HVs are up to date with this (I'm a HV so I know the out of date ones are still saying 4 months).

The current recommendation is 6 months for weaning.
Baby food manufacturers are now "discussing" the changing of their labels. It's confusing if the HV says one thing and the baby food people say another.

I find that getting some people to wait for six months is a problem. If they're determined to wean (which they will probably do regardless of any advice I give) then I suggest not before 17 weeks and to start very slowly. I still get some Mums telling me that their baby of 5 months is on " 3 meals a day" and often they've been pressured by their own family and friends. My Mum couldn't wait for my DS to wean - kept on and on from when he was 13 weeks.

aragon · 14/07/2006 08:48

HM - do they REALLY put that on weaning spoons? Must go and look as I didn't know that. Grrrrrr!

harpsichordcarrier · 14/07/2006 08:49

oh aragon don't encourage her
soon everyone will be on here saying, oh well you oculd use it to spoon feed them weasel milk, or something
are you a hv? I didn't know that.

alex8 · 14/07/2006 08:50

I remember chatting to a bunch of mothers of 3 months all babies whos hvs were persuading them to wait till at least 15 weeks! This was only a year ago. So I did my speil about how I started early and regretted is as it didn't help with the problems the hv had said it would (reflux, weight gain, sleeping through again) and he got excema. And the sneers from these women were unbelievable. All their babies slept through and they kept saying they had read a lot in favour of early weaning when I mentioned the WHO advice.

CaptainFlameSparrow · 14/07/2006 08:53

I will admit in part to doing it early for my own reasons. DD was displaying the classic "signs" at 15 weeks (1 month overdue, she had the body & development of a 19 week old iyswim). I was going to be returning to work.

So I weaned. She loved it, so not like trying to forcefeed her.

This time round - no job to return to, all the time in the world. DS is also displaying the "signs" (to the extent of swiping food out of my hands), but I keep thinking "get to 26 weeks and start him on finger foods"... sooo much easier

So I guess weaning is to suit me both times - firstly because I wanted to do it, and secondly cos I want to do as little as possible

CaptainFlameSparrow · 14/07/2006 08:54

I will admit in part to doing it early for my own reasons. DD was displaying the classic "signs" at 15 weeks (1 month overdue, she had the body & development of a 19 week old iyswim). I was going to be returning to work.

So I weaned. She loved it, so not like trying to forcefeed her.

This time round - no job to return to, all the time in the world. DS is also displaying the "signs" (to the extent of swiping food out of my hands), but I keep thinking "get to 26 weeks and start him on finger foods"... sooo much easier

So I guess weaning is to suit me both times - firstly because I wanted to do it, and secondly cos I want to do as little as possible

LeahE · 14/07/2006 09:02

I do actually know someone who uses a spoon to feed her DS frozen breastmilk (in an attempt to con him into thinking he's getting solids, because he's doing the "grabbing food off the plate" thing. Suspect that's not what the spoon manufacturers are thinking of though.

Original poster
Xena · 14/07/2006 09:44

DS1 was born in 1997 so obv before new advice will try to hold out with DS2. Can not imagine this BLW giving him finger food straight off would give me kittens.

OP posts:
hunkermunker · 14/07/2006 09:48

Why, Xena?

It makes so much sense.

You don't "start your child on walking" on a day of your choosing, do you?

But to say "I'm going to start my child on solids tomorrow" is perfectly accepted as sensible, when it has no basis in logic.

Logically, you allow your child access to food (with obvious precautions taken about safety - so no bags of mixed nuts...!), they learn to pick it up and eat it.

tiktok · 14/07/2006 12:31

The guidance in the UK has never been 4 months - it was 4-6 months until 2003, so 6 months was always 'allowed' in the guidance. HVs who said '4 mths' were getting it wrong - maybe not always their fault as the training in this area has been woeful and still is.

In the guidance, provision is made for invidual needs, because no baby wakes up at 6 mths exactly desperate for solids.

It's a developmental stage, which most babies will reach at some time close to 6 mths.

Reaching for food is not a sign of needing solids. It's a sign of being old enough to see something and grab it. Babies do this with anything, and they may well put it to their mouths.

I can understand aragon's problem - early solids are culturally the norm in some places and people do what they want in the end. I see the guidance not so much as telling indivdual mothers what to do with their babies, as guidance for healthcare workers and others to support solids from about 6 mths and to enable mothers to continue with excl milk feeding until then, and using the guidance as a way of educating parents about babies' needs.

CaptainFlameSparrow · 14/07/2006 12:35

What is it that you do TikTok - I know you know lots of baby feeding stuff, but not what you do

compo · 14/07/2006 12:36

so hunkermunker, if a 16 week old grabs a piece of food and chews it is it okay to let them then??? Or do you wait til 26 weeks and then let then grab it, thus choosing a certain day that they are ready?

coppertop · 14/07/2006 12:48

I can understand why people are confused about the age issue. When the HV came to do dd's 6wk checks she told me that although a lot of parents like to start weaning at 4mths the recommendation is to wait until 6 months. Then when dd was 3 months old I got a letter inviting me to go to the weaning clinic because "now is the time to start thinking about weaning your baby". Eh??

LeahE · 14/07/2006 12:57

compo AFAIK studies have shown that babies are unlikely to grab, bite, chew [b]and[/b] swallow food until they are about 6 months. In fact Baby Led Weaning operates on that principle so long as you resist the temptation to "help" your baby, you can let them grab food as soon as they feel like grabbing it, then they'll move on to biting it, then to chewing it and then to swallowing it.

hunkermunker · 14/07/2006 12:59

Yes, I'd let them.

Providing they were sitting up straight.

There's almost no chance of them actually swallowing anything as they're not developed enough to do it. The tongue thrust reflex would probably mean it just got pushed out of their mouth.

I honestly do not get the obsession with spooning pap into babies' mouths. People seem so keen to constantly be doing things to their babies. I don't get it.

hunkermunker · 14/07/2006 13:01

I did find a study the other day (think I linked to it) that (in very basic terms) the "stupider" you were, the earlier you weaned your baby.