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

[Xena]

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

I weaned ds at 3 and a half months (year 2000) because of the advice of the health visitor. Her reckoning was that it would help him become more settled (it didn't). I did continue to breastfeed till he was 18 months but I wish I had left the weaning till he was 6 months at least.

I don't think it's really a case of being stupid though, hunker. OK, so some mothers seem to turn weaning into some kind of competition to see who can get it all over and done with first, and maybe that comes from ignorance, but others do it because they trust their HVs and don't know that they aren't always as up-to-date with their information as they should be.

When I weaned my dd I didn't have internet access, hadn't discovered MN and hadn't been able to research weaning very far. I trusted my HV - after all, if she didn't know what was best then who would? - and all of the literature that I was given gave 16 weeks as "the" time to start weaning. I had leaflets and brochures, all of which came from either the hospital or the HV, and every single one said 16 weeks. I bought books on weaning, recipe books and so on, and every single one said to start from 16 weeks. I had no reason to doubt that, and neither did any of the women (all bright, intelligent people) from my NCT classes ... which had also given 16 weeks as "the" time to wean.

What do you do when everything around you is giving the same information? Not having access to other sources of information didn't make me stupid ... although if I'd known then what I know now, I would have done things differently.

When I had him I was the first of all my friends and family. I knew no one with a baby who's opinion I could trust and in my naivety I had no one to trust but this HV. I had no MUmsnet then.

"In the UK, 2% of babies are given solids by 4 weeks of age, 13% by 8 weeks, 56% by 3 months and 91% by 4 months (Foster et al., 1995). Higher birth weight, lower social class of husband or partner and maternal smoking habits are associated with the earlier introduction of solid food (White et al., 1992; Foster et al., 1995). Recent Canadian research has suggested that the age of weaning is increasing, but there is still a significant proportion of babies who receive solid food before 4 months of age (Kwavnick et al., 1999)."

There you go. Knew I'd found it. OK, not stupider exactly, but heck, smoking's not bright

It's out of date though.

I'm going to get torn apart for this, I just know it.

Hey ho.

I have my weaning spoons to defend me.

see it's not being stupid ourselves, it's having a partner with a 'lower social class' (see your mother was right all along about who you should marry )

From here

It's very interesting. SO many women just seem to want to get their babies on steak and chips asap!

If I'd trusted my mother, dd would have been on formula milk, having a rusk crumbled into her bottle at 6 weeks, and on solids by two months. If I'd trusted my sister, dd would have been formula fed and eating sausage and chips by three months. If I'd trusted my MIL, dd would have been on formula milk, with honey and whisky in from three weeks to help her sleep, and on solids by three months.

Maybe someone less strong or less bright would have gone along with that, so I can see your point to a certain extent, hunker. I think the HV was the lesser of the evils really ... even if her advice was just as bad as the other well-meaning suggestions that my family made. But the point really is that not everyone has access to the kind of information that we do now - and not everyone has the support of their partner to go against what their mother says ... cos Mother Knows Best, doesn't she ...

Captain, I am a breastfeeding counsellor with NCT.

I'd prefer not to say what else I do , just to keep my real ID a secret

I find it extraordinary that doctors/HV etc. record things like 'social class' (whatever that may mean)

FWIW, I had two v allergic babies (unexpectedly - although we had some family history of hayf, eczmea, asthma we didn't think it would affect food) and dd ended up only being properly weaned at around 7 months and ds 6 months. This was about 5 years ago and we had all sorts of pressure from medical professionals telling us that they wouldn't get used to food texture because we were leaving it late etc.

Advice for weaning has changed a lot over the years (esp if you consider a lot of us as babies were given rusks in our bottles!).

WigWam, I will eat my NCT badge if you were told 16 weeks at an NCT class, truly. We have always echoed official guidance, which was 4-6 mths until 2003, though a few years before we might have shared with mothers the WHO stuff about 6 mths. I know I did.

It was never 16 weeks anywhere officially, but HVs did often tell mothers 16 weeks as a totally non-evidence based interpretation of 4 mths - ok a week will not make much difference to most babies, but weaning is a hassle, most babies really don't need more than milk until about 6 mths, and for some babies, a week will make a difference.

One problem has always been that some of HVs' training has been based on 'sitting next to Nellie' ie the approach whereby you learn your trade by watching what the experienced person is doing. Now, if Nellie is good and up to date, you will learn good and up to date practice. If Nellie spouts a barrel-load of cr*p about feeding and weaning, then sadly, you will do, too, unless you are able to challenge her because you have read some of the text books you are supposed to have read.

Occasionally, I am with a mother when the HV comes round, with or without a student, and I hear her say a load of nonsense and my heart sinks.

agree completly with WWB (including if I'd followed my mother and m-i-l) everything that I read and was told with DS1 said 4 months and when they discussed weaning at my postnatal group (and it wasn't in 'a lower class' area) they advocated 3 meals a day by six months. The baby food books and jars/packets agreed so I had no reason to think otherwise.

hunkermunker- why no finger food straight away? I fed the other 3 'mush' and I feel safer with no choking hazard! incidentaly the others all eat proper food with no hassle now, so I can't see why them eating 'chunks' of food earlier makes any difference please feel free to correct me if I am wrong

you can correct my spellings as well if you like

Honestly, I was told 16 weeks by my NCT tutor. I wouldn't say so if it wasn't true - and if I had been told 4 - 6 months I would have waited longer ... and would certainly have tried to look further into the six month thing. The first I heard of the six months recommendation was here on MN.

So what's the official WHO guidance on the eating of NCT badges?

Choking is very possible if you feed mush though. People spooning puree into a semi-reclined baby is Not A Good Idea, IMO.

Ah, WigWam....she was not the NCT bfc, then, but the antenatal teacher? That makes it possible - to be honest, we do have some issues occasionally with teachers who talk about feeding issues and do not check they are up to date Sorry about that.

If it was a bfc, then all I can say is grrrrrrrrr.

Badge is fine to eat for a baby over 6 mths, Leah

It was the teacher, tiktok - the area didn't have a bfc at the time, only a trainee, who they wouldn't let loose on us in the classes! If we'd had one we might have been better informed.

When I had ds 6.5 years ago the advice was 4 months

Hunker.....walk away from the weaning spoon....I can see your Blood Pressure rising from here!

I read a lot on a German attachment parenting board and looking at babies there it seems that the majority of babies who are breastfed on demand are not actually that keen on solids until they are close to about 1 year of age. This was certainly true for my dd's. Both dd's very good eaters now though!
I think that whole stuff about babies needing to start by 6 months at the latest because of developmental problems otherwise is a pile of cr*p.

At least you don't have the ludicrous situation which we have in NZ, where the baby clinics' information sheet on weaning is SPONSORED BY THE MAKERS OF BABY FOOD.

Scuse my shouting but this makes me so angry. Unsurprisingly, the advice is to wean from 4 months and that is exactly what most people in our antenatal group did.

I raised this issue with the clinic nurse and pointed out in no uncertain terms that the WHO advice was the best available and asked why on earth weren't they following it, and got some sort of vague "your comment has been noted" brush-off, so clearly there was a vested interest somewhere.

Presumably there is some sponsorship deal with the parent training session on weaning too - I think Threebob said that Watties sponsored the training video - anyway, I was pestered like mad to attend it.

dd1 was 3 months old at the time.

I despair, i really do.

DS is o0nly 2.4 and I was told 4-6 months & to "try & hold out as along as possible but as long as they are 16 weeks it's fine" by my HV team (note I say team, not just one individual).

We also had a session on weaning at my post natal group which was from when DS was 5-10 weeks - again advocating same message.

I hadn;t found MN then & several "helpful" friends had stuffed THAT book under my nose too which also suggests 16 weeks...

so I started at 16 weeks...

God I probably was stupid and the most stupidist thing was mushing up all that stuff day after day - what a waste of time!

When ds1 was little we were definitely told '16 weeks or 16 pounds (weight)' by the health visitors. I went to the 'weaning' talk when he was about 6 weeks old and came back home very excited at the prospect of shovelling mush into his mouth. This was even with a baby with food intolerances. I can't remember how old he was when we worked out about the food intolerances, but I do remember asking a paediatrician who I really respected whether it was okay to start ds1 on solids at 4 months, and he said as long as it was just fruit and veg, yes, go ahead. In retrospect I really wish we hadn't. There was certainly no mention of WHO guidelines or any use of the term 'complementary foods'. The whole implication was that you were getting the child used to eating 'real' food rather than just having milk.

With ds2, as WWB pointed out, I had far more access to information, mainly via the internet (and LLL was helpful too), so my attitude to breastfeeding and other feeding has really changed heaps. But I was still given misinformed advice from HVs and doctors about giving him baby rice before 6 months - this was because it was supposed to help with his reflux - and when he was in hospital at about 7 months old the nurses really pressurised me to start giving him solids again, despite him being only days out of special care and having only just about started to eat anything other than breastmilk before he went into hospital. I was determined to stick it out despite the pressure and having read about baby-led-weaning, let him take food off my plate if he really wanted to rather than forcing him to eat anything. I loved missing out the silly puree stage and I've never been a fan of cooking separate meals for babies or children anyway. He went quickly on to finger foods and although at 2yo he still doesn't eat lots in one go, and is still very keen on breastmilk, he's certainly not fussy about other foods.

oh yes, and welliemum, it's not just in NZ that branded info is handed out. I went to see an NHS dietitian when I was pg with ds2 and she handed me a leaflet about weaning written by the Dairy Council or something similar. And we have cow's milk intolerances in the family

I have some very conventional friends who've just had their first son and requested the well-known book about baby and toddler foods as a present. So I bought it but with a Lucy Burney one to adjust the balance slightly. She still says there's no nutritional benefit to breastmilk after 1 year old, but at least her recipes are a bit healthier and for the whole family too.