Early Weaning - HELP!

[Danielle09]

Hey everyone,

I have a 15 week old little boy who my partner and I have decided we would like to begin early weaning. We are both totally new to the whole world of parenting and we both haven't really been around babies to learn this ourselves.

We've done more research in the past couple days then we both could have done but together in our school days about weaning but I still feel nervous about weaning my baby.

I was hoping for any hints or tips from yourselves that could maybe help me learn abit more about when and how to feed our little boy his solid foods. We decided to buy some cow and gate jars to see what his favourite tastes are but we aren't sure when to let him try this before,during or after his bottles?

I tried to speak to my health visitor about this but because he's only 15 weeks old we were advised to weight, I feel I know my baby is ready.

Would appreciate any help or advice.

Thanks :D xx

How would "too much" milk give him a high temperature?? A high temperature indicates infection/an immune response. It sounds like he had a virus, not too much milk!

Babies who take in too much milk generally either a) puke it up (harmless, if messy) b) jump up the weight centiles. What did the doctors actually tell you? Are you even doing paced feeding, winding regularly, and being careful you don't ignore any cues he's full? Does he have a dummy so he can relieve sucking needs without taking in milk?

If you listened to the doctors then, listen to them now. People do a lot of stupid things with their babies. Follow the advice toivt had. It's there for a reason.

I think you have seriously misunderstood and misinterpreted the medical advice you have been given. You should sit down with your HV and discuss what happened and what to do next to meet his needs for milk.

Agree with Queen, it makes no sense for you to suddenly feel the HV isn't giving correct info when you rigidly stuck to it initially. Arrange a visit with your HV, discuss your concerns & make a plan. Be prepared for her to bawl you out for putting rusk in a bottle too

if you cannot up the milk as his stomach would not cope then how is his stomach coping with milk with rusks in it? that's much tougher on their stomach's.
as a parent of twins with major gastro issues just don't do it.

Wait until 6 months. Trust me the baby stage will pass by in the blink of an eye and he will be 6 months before you know it.

If you wean early you run the risk of creating lifelong gut problems / allergies / intolerances.

Evidence may not be conclusive but is it worth the risk with your babies health when you could just wait?

I have 2 friends with severe IBS - they were both weaned at 3 months.
All my friends who have children with allergies weaned them before 6 months.

It may be coincidence or it may be due to early weaning but in my opinion, it is just not worth the risk. Milk is enough food for a 4 month old baby and the wait is not long at all.

Please reach out to your local Health Visitor’s office- if you don’t want to deal with your original HV, they should be able to send someone else out. My own HV is very approachable and gives good advice without being patronising- in this situation I wouldn’t hesitate in asking for support.

You’ve had some very aggressive posts here, but that’s because a number of the things youve mentioned are big no-no’s for young babies. For example, putting a rusk in a bottle is a choking risk, as is trying to feed solids to a baby who can’t sit upright on their own yet.

I would wait till 6 months for weaning. Also babies should not have water before 6 months, they have no need for it. Excess water can cause less absorption of essential nutrients from milk and can cause water intoxication which is very dangerous! The only baby I've known that was weaned early (4 months) was on medical advice as she was losing a lot of weight and had allergies to several milks. Please discuss this with your HV, you need to go from medical and health professionals advice, not your friends/family's experience.

NHS guidelines say 6 months. 15 weeks is far too early IMO. Their gut and digestive systems are not mature enough to cope with solid food. If he's hungry give him more milk - it's much more nutritious and filling for them than a puréed carrot or a jar.