Totally disagree with friend over weaning her 11 week old - what to do!!!!

[liath]

A very good friend is BF her baby but recently her ds has been fighting the breast a bit - according to her HV this is "a classic sign of hunger" and he needs something more "calorie dense" than breast milk!!!!

She's tried giving baby rice and not surprisingly it wouldn't go in due to tongue thrust. I think she's mad and dangerously misinformed by the HV - I've said to her about WHO guidelines and also said I don't agree with the calorie dense thing but she's a good friend and I don't want to make too big a deal and tell her what to do with her own child. Should I keep my nose out do you think??

Liath I think the comments just came across as a little rude and weren't meant to be upsetting. I don't know if you are familiar with Custy and Malory but they both have 'unique' posting styles and can sound rather, ahem, blunt.

I think you've had a good mix of advice and opinions here. Has it helped you to decide what you want to do?

Sorry, am in that early pregnancy "don't be horrid to me or I'll CRY" stage!

Not sure what to do but will not bring it up with her. If she brings it up will probably just say that I don't think very early weaning is a terribly good idea but leave it at that. She's a really good friend & parenting is such a potentially touchy subject.

agree with wordsmith

Liath i started a thread about early weaning that you might be interested in (last post 6th)
I was been told left right and centre that ds needed solids, including from GP, who said totally out the blue at his 8 week jabs that i will have to start baby rice soon as he is a good size baby.
She might be better speaking to a bf counselor to find out if there is a problem with the way he is feeding.

OMG I'm in a clique! 1st time for everything. Liath, couldn't agree more with your last post. Good luck with your pregnancy!

I weaned DS onto solids at 13 weeks and tbh if anyone had given me advice not to I wouldn't have listened - I was at the end of my tether and on a mission ...
Having said that, if your friend has a problem with breastfeeding and wants to give up then surely moving to formula would be better than solids? My DS was already on formula when I introduce solids.
BTW ... it is a myth that big babies need formula/solids early just because they are big - I gave up bfing early and weaned early but that was NOTHING to do with his size (he was 10lbs at birth and stayed big). It was all to do with what was going on in my head. DD was even bigger (10lbs 10oz) and breastfed happily for 5 and a bit months which is when I introduced solids. I breastfed her until she was 11 months when she weaned herself off the boob.

\lin{http://www.mumsnet.com/Talk?topicid=2400&threadid=202368&stamp=060814193026\discussion on WHO guidelines}

11 weeks does seem early but I wouldn't cite the WHO recommendations as they look at other factors. You have probably seen this thread anyway. Some of the Gill Rapley stuff is interesting, but she does say it was based on a 'small study' so difficult to know if its statistically okay. The general concensus on the thread seems to be that there is no clinical reason to have to start before 6 months, but posters seem to have anecdotal evidence it has right for their individual babies. Shouldn;t replace milk feeds though, just complement (although again on thread you'll seem some exceptional circumstances).

Hope your friend can try to cover off all the possible bf problems before she stops bf, or as aitch says, maybe formula is a better compromise.

Too things it could be - baby not hungry (!) or baby has wind (even bf babies get wind!)? Sounds obvious but is she sure it isn't one of these things - as baby gets older they generally get more efficient at feeding so often don't need as long. Has she tried writing down the daily routine to see if theres a pattern? At the end of the day if babies weight gain is okay she is probably getting plenty of milk - you don't mention any weight gain issues?

discussion on WHO guidelines

sorry heres the link

discussion on WHO guidelines

sorry heres the link

grrr, day is not starting well!