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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 · 14/12/2006 16:25

fgs how many more times, i am not supporting it, i am saying that if she wants to, fine, but take it easy, and speak to a hv. much more responsible than villifying someone for not having the same ideas as you

noddyholder · 14/12/2006 16:26

I don't think merry is supporting early weaning as I wasn't but we are just ACCEPTING that that is how the op has decided to go and recognising that she doesn't want advice just to chat to others who have decided to go the same way

merrylissiemas · 14/12/2006 16:29

thank you noddy

hotmulledwinemama · 14/12/2006 16:31

Quote - "if she wants to fine" so how is this not condoning then?

CouldEquallyHaveBeenAnAardvark · 14/12/2006 16:32

See, I see early weaning as more harmful than those happy to go "ah, she's made her choice" re the OP - I still feel I might sway her from her path, hence my repeated posting - and I am posting repeatedly from concern for her baby, not because I want to Make Anyone Feel Bad or other such driveltastic new-agery.

merrylissiemas · 14/12/2006 16:35

so just because i didn't jump on her and tried to give PRACTICAL advice on a route that she had already decided on that is irresponsible and to my mind condoning it would be saying "go for it, ignore all the advice given, it's rubbish" "fine" can convey a lot of things i should have put

gegs73 · 14/12/2006 16:36

From a scientific perspective, this makes interesting reading though it is now four years old. All I could find with scientific studies included though!

Interesting

noddyholder · 14/12/2006 16:37

It is not condoning it sounds more like resignation to me!I don't know what you would make of my bf's mum who advised me to give ds watered down gin for colic!!!!!!!

hotmulledwinemama · 14/12/2006 16:40

Ah yes - but was the watered gin for yourself!

merrylissiemas · 14/12/2006 16:42

lol, my mum always tells me that my gramps used to put a shot of whiskey in my night bottle, 1 for me, 1 for him

VeniVidiVickiQV · 14/12/2006 16:47

Ah, well that explains it then

You know where I am going with the folic acid thing then, so, whats the difference between the research that proves that early weaning increases risks of blah blah, and the research that proves that taking folic reduces the risk of blah blah?

I am genuinely interested. More so because taking folic acid means going out of your way to do so. Not weaning is really no trouble at all.

VeniVidiVickiQV · 14/12/2006 16:49

(blah blah = insert relevant medical/physiological condition as appropriate)

TwinkleInSantasEye · 14/12/2006 16:54

I do think Merrylissiemas has a point to some extent. I think there is a danger with the new advice that people who choose to wean earlier than six months, or a lot earlier, may not get enough advice about appropriate foods at that young age. So I do think there is a place for posts that accept Sleepfinder's decision but go on to advise that perhaps banana isn't the best first food and suggesting some others. At least then any harm to the baby (if there is any) can be minimised.

VeniVidiVickiQV · 14/12/2006 16:59

Twinkle - why would someone who ignored advise to leave weaning until later, pay any attention to advice on whats best to start with?

If they need to wean earlier, then they will already have sought advice from a healthcare professional who could have told them this - surely?

VeniVidiVickiQV · 14/12/2006 17:00

advice

TwinkleInSantasEye · 14/12/2006 17:04

Yep, that's a good point too. I'm sitting on the fence on this one I'm afraid. I do think 8 weeks, 14 weeks etc. is too early but since I'm also weaning before six months, for reasons below, I don't feel I'm in a position to comment (pots and kettles ). To an extent I'm ignoring the advice, though DS is older than 17 weeks I hasten to add, but I am most definitely being very careful in what foods I give and giving very small amounts.

merrylissiemas · 14/12/2006 17:07

the difference is, until birth all babies have the same requirements, and i have said that 8 weeks was prob too early, but i didn't know what else to do, i researched my options and at the time weaning seemed the most viable. as we already know all babies develop and progress at different rates and i think that having ablanket age of 6m is too general, it doesn't take external factors into account. the guideline is just that, a guideline, and with lo2 i will put off weaning as long as i can, but if i feel that he/she is not getting enough from milk then i will wean because i know my child better than some "expert"

DumbledoresFairy · 14/12/2006 17:09

All of you - please go into the nearest primary school and take a look at all the junior aged children. The vast majority of them were weaned, (if their parents followed guidelines) at 4 months. Are they all ill? Are they all detined to have allergies, Crohns disease, IBS, whatever else you can think of? God help the nation and the NHS if they are!

I am not saying parents shouldn't follow current guidelines, and if are current guidelines are 6 months of milk, then that is obviously best, but please stop implying that early weaning must lead to problems later in life. The nations children and adults are proof that it does not.

CarolinePhillips · 14/12/2006 17:10

and there you have it. that's why your argument is kinda dumb, merrylissmas. with all due respect, you are not an expert in your child's gastro-intestinal system, unless you've been down there with a camera to have a look. i can see that you are taking a bit of a pasting here, but i have always thought that the 'first-time-mother-as-expert' thesis is bogus in the extreme.

CarolinePhillips · 14/12/2006 17:12

no-one is implying any such thing, DF. although god help the NHS having to deal with sky-rocketing Crohn's figures. no-one really knows why they are going up... it may be changes in food production, contaminants, pesticides etc... so why introduce your child to these things any earlier than you have to when they can have BM or formula?

VeniVidiVickiQV · 14/12/2006 17:15

What is the difference from being inside to going outisde of the womb?

Guidelines are there for a good reason - yes - they are designed with room for some flexibility, but I think the very fact that they have extended the time with which you wait before weaning is worth taking serious note of.

merrylissiemas · 14/12/2006 17:18

for all you know, the increase could be down to late weaning. i am aware that i am not an expert thank you very much and i don't pretend to be, but are you? do you know what my ds's nappies look like? whether he has any allergies? what his sick is like? df and i are offering advice on a course of action that has already been taken. and i have learnt from my mistakes and will try to wean later wlth lo2, but i think that maybe intolerances are down to our recent obsession with foods to give our children when to give what etc. i may be wrong, or i may not. only time will tell

merrylissiemas · 14/12/2006 17:19

right i have to go ds's dinner would you believe thank you very much ladies you have made some good points

VeniVidiVickiQV · 14/12/2006 17:20

No-one said that early weaning must lead to problems in later life DG.

The same way that health professionals dont say to you that not taking Folic Acid will mean your baby will get Spina Bifida, early weaning doesnt mean they baby will grow up with digestive problems.

What has been said, over and over again actually, is that research indicates that children who are weaned early are at more risk of developing digestive disorders etc etc. The same way that research shows that taking folic acid reduces the risk of Spina bifida.

Neither is a sure bet - but, like with anything - when it comes to your children - you take the best odds you can.

MerryPiffmas · 14/12/2006 17:20

Well then look at it as a gamble with your childrens health and future wellbeing, it's not guarantee they'll end up with something.
Personally, with my kids, I'd rather not risk it.
And if that makes me an uber mother or whatever term you need to use to dismiss or belittle our opinions and the facts, then so be it.

I'd don't mind a gamble on the Grand National, Derby or even the lottery, but not with my kids thanks all the same. I'm sure there are 1001 ways in which I could f**k up their lives, I'm just trying to eliminate as many as I can.

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