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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

Anyone else weaning at 14 wks?

270 replies

sleepfinder · 13/12/2006 17:08

My DS has been taking milk only during daytime hours since week 9 - and recently he has been guzzling so much I think that he's going to explode with so much fluid.

So going on the advice of my mother, I tried a little mashed banana after his morning bottle and he absolutely shrieked with joy. After a few days of this, he is now opening his mouth to accept the spoon and swiping at the spoon with his fist (he's not getting it yet though).

No adverse effects poop wise, sleep wise, mood wise etc. Sleeping well through the nights, napping normally and not guzzling huge quantities of milk before bed.

Anyone else on a similar route?

OP posts:
merrylissiemas · 13/12/2006 18:47

twiglett, i looked at all of the advice, i spoke to 3 hv's and did independant research. i spoke to other mothers from various generations and made an informed decision. i don't think thats stupid. i love my son and want what is best for him. if dh and i have another child i will wean when i feel that they are ready, whether it's at 6 weeks or 6 months. motherhood is hard enough without being attacked for making choices that others don't agree with.

VeniVidiVickiQV · 13/12/2006 18:52

Of course its not the law! If a doctor recommends you lose 20lb to reduce the risk of heart disease - well - thats not the law either, and its your choice to not follow that advice too. It doesnt mean that telling other people to neglect that advice is right though, does it?

No-one said you were a bad mother lissiemas - I certainly wouldnt call someone who acted with best interests "bad". It still doesnt mean I wont re-inforce the current advice that has been developed over some 20 years of research, and has been in place for at least 10 years.

If you feel bad at the correct advice being re-inforced - well - thats your choice too.

DumbledoresFairy · 13/12/2006 18:53

Sleepfinder, if you still want advice, I can offer some as my ds1 was weaned at 13 weeks. I am not bothered by what anyone thinks about this. When he was a baby, the recommendation for weaning had just changed from 13 weeks to 16 weeks but my HV suggested I weaned him as he was not gaining sufficient weight.

I kept a record of what he ate so I can tell you he started off with baby rice for a couple of weeks, then, over the next 6 weeks, had banana, strawberries, apple, carrot, aprsnip, cauliflower, leeks, potato, orange juice (I am sure that is not recommended these days though), prunes, cheese, a variety of meat, cabbage, marrow, peaches, swede, fish, pear, broccoli, aubergine. Basically, you name it, he had it, as long as it was within the recommendations.

He is now 10 and as skinny as a rake. He has always been the healthiest of boys, and of all my children, he is my best eater.

I am not sure you should do what you are doing without the HV's advice, but if you do, I also don't think you will harm your son.

VeniVidiVickiQV · 13/12/2006 18:54

Sorry - if she wants cheerleaders then she's come to the wrong place.

If she wants advice and support - well - we are all here.

DumbledoresFairy · 13/12/2006 18:55

Oh, I wasn't meaning to be a cheerleader.

Just telling her what my experience of this is.

VeniVidiVickiQV · 13/12/2006 18:56

DG - that post wasnt intended for you!!!!!!

It was aimed at noddy.

You are quite right to recommend that she seek professional advice.

merrylissiemas · 13/12/2006 18:57

i agree with dumbledoris, before you proceed speak to your hv for advice. we can all tell you our stories but what works for 1 may not for another. just coz early weaning worked for us that doesn't set it in stone

lornaloo · 13/12/2006 18:58

No one is being attacked
Sorry if it feels like that.
I'm sure alot of babys that were weaned early are fine and visa versa. My point is why risk it when all the information and reserch is there to prove that it really is not a good idea. It is bad for a child to be weaned so early. I also think in some situations it can be used as a last. Say if a prem baby wont drink milk and has to be fed through a tube, sometimes they will be put on abit of baby rice just to get the baby to take something by mouth.

Twiglett · 13/12/2006 19:21

you have no idea if early weaning worked for your child .. and won't until s/he's an adult

should your child go on to develop any of the diseases they say currently are linked to weaning before 26 weeks then you will have no idea whether it would have / could have been avoided if you'd followed the advice

I don't give a toss when you wean tbh .. I know I did the best I possibly could for my own kids given the available advice at the time (and as I said one of them was weaned at 14 weeks) ... and I will always know that

oh and merryliesmass I wasn't aware of when you weaned until you took my post personally ... so I can assure you it wasn't directed at you

CorrieDale · 13/12/2006 19:43

A woman I know developed Crohn's in her 30s when she fell pregnant. She was weaned, as was the norm then, at about 13 weeks. There may be no connection. The two events may on the other hand be directly linked. But I'll bet you anything you like that 3 years ago (before the Crohn's was triggered) her mother would have been on here saying "well I weaned DD at 13 weeks and she's just fine".

Why take the risk for the sake of 3 months. Not a long time when you're looking at an average life span of 70 odd.

DumbledoresFairy · 13/12/2006 19:51

I find this sort of argument utterly pointless. How can you know that any disease you get in your adult life is down to when you were weaned? I have never heard of anyone being told there is a direct link. And, as many of us were weaned just as early when we were babies, are you telling me, we are now going to see a sudden rise in the health of current babies when they become adults? Seems to me, there are far more allergies around amongst children than ever there were in my childhood. What is causing that if we are weaning later now? You might just as well argue that because a mother desperately fought on to solely breastfeed her child to 6 months, she suffered extreme sleep deprivation, walked out one day and got run over by a bus.

I don't find it helpful to be told by mothers that what I did with all good intentions and with the support of my HV might have endangered my children's future lives.

DumbledoresFairy · 13/12/2006 19:52

Sorry, dreadful grammar. Please put it down to extreme head cold, not the age at which I was weaned!

Twiglett · 13/12/2006 19:52

no you're right its not helpful .. but it is the current medical thinking .. and you can't sugar-coat it or change it I'm afraid

Twiglett · 13/12/2006 19:53

oh I developed Asthma at 37 ... have no idea when I was weaned ... but know mother talks about rusk in bottles at 6 weeks

I blame her for everything else in my life .. she can have this one too

DizzyBinterWonderland · 13/12/2006 19:53

no one wants to hear that what they did endangered their child's health, especially when it was done under the most up to date information.

that's why it's all 'well it never did me any harm' etc etc.

Dottydotthehalls · 13/12/2006 19:58

Haven't read all the thread but can guess there are passionate postings for and against 14 weeks/under 6 months old.

Ds2 was weaned at 14 weeks. We knew the guidance was 6 months but felt, knew, whatever that it was right for ds2. We weaned ds1 at 16 weeks when that was the guidance, but ds2 was a very hungry baby who was inconsolable until he started on solids - he screamed and howled through the first 14 weeks, and then out came this happy, contented baby! It was wonderful knowing he'd got what he needed. Will never think it was the wrong decision!

VeniVidiVickiQV · 13/12/2006 19:59

I agree DG - but for different reasons.

The advice given out is there for a darned good reason - what is there to argue about? The "it never did me/mine any harm" quotes are of no real benefit at all, are they?

So yes, it is pointless. As I said - the advice is there for a reason - what IS there to argue about?

beansprout · 13/12/2006 20:01

Please don't wean your baby at 14 weeks. The facts are that it is not good for them. Just because something isn't evident, it doesn't mean it is not happening. I know a lot of people who seem to be unaffected by smoking but I wouldn't want their lungs. And no, I am not comparing weaning a baby at 14weeks to smoking but ignoring a huge body of evidence because you think something is alright is never very wise.

merrylissiemas · 13/12/2006 20:50

i think what it comes down to is if you want to wean early and you think that you are dong the right thing noone can stop you, but you need to arm yourself with the facts. if (god forbid) my son were to have digestive problems later on i will never forgive myself, but who's to say that he wouldn't develop them anyway. i stand by what i did because it was right for us and if you feel that weaning is right for you now just avoid gluten, dairy, eggs, etc, and speak to your hv. and twiglett, i know you didn't babe

RanToTheHills · 13/12/2006 20:52

why?? It's not healthy to do so, weaning is incredibly messy and the novelty will really soon wear off so don't, really, don't.

xmasstocking · 13/12/2006 20:59

Sorry to barge in on this thread but I have read most of the posts and the Kellymom's link.

I started weaning my Ds last week when he was 21 weeks old but he started reducing his milk intake quite drastically and over the last couple of days has been burping for England and thrown up 2 of his bottles today - having read the Kellymoms link, it says that if you do it too early, it can lead to digestive upset and gas - do you think I should stop and go back to solely milk and try again in a couple of weeks?

Any advice would be welcome - it could just be a tummy upset but the excessive burping makes me think maybe not.

RanToTheHills · 13/12/2006 21:01

not an expert and you'tr only 4 weeks of the recommendation, but yes, IMO you should go back to milk only. can you talk to yr hv/GP?

DizzyBinterWonderland · 13/12/2006 21:01

yes. milk should still be his main food so no need to reduce it.

xmasstocking · 13/12/2006 21:03

Not really - seems a bit trivial to bother the GP with and it was the HV who encouraged me to start weaning even though DS not showing any signs of wanting so I don't suppose she will be much help either

xmasstocking · 13/12/2006 21:04

Dizzy - I wasn't deliberately reducing it but DS just wasn't interested in drinking it even at the mealtimes when I was just giving him his bottle without any solids.