Weaning at 4 months

[Motherhippo]

Hi all,
My DD was 4 months old on Xmas day. Me and my partner have been toying with the idea of weaning. I currently exclusively BF. I was going to start with the jars (purée) and move onto solids (Baby led weaning) when she's 6 months old. I know the NHS guidelines say wait until 6 months. But just wanted any (constructive) advice/opinions on early weaning. LO has excellent neck control, and can sit up when supported. She is big for her age... 98 percentile at her last weigh in a month ago (due to be weighed again on Tuesday). She's a hungry baby and think she'd enjoy moving on to something more tasty than milk. My mum started weaning my brother at 8 weeks, and he's turned out fine. I know opinions are mixed but let me know what you think.
TIA

I guess there isn't really 1 reason why I'm looking at weaning early. She is a hungry baby and I'm pretty sure would spend all her time attached to my nipple if she could She's very interested in food, to the point of where she will try to snatch it from your plate/out of your hand
Thank you all for your feedback/comments. I don't want to upset her little stomach so will hold off until she is 6 months. I don't have any mums in my friends circle, so any advice around this has been given by my mum/aunties/grandparents. All of whom began weaning much earlier than the recommended timescale. I love breastfeeding anyway so I'm not overly fussed about waiting til later. I've got my LO's best interest at heart.

At the moment it’s 6 months as there’s lots of ew discoveries around gut health been made, babies guts just aren’t developed enough until around 6 months
Where is this supposed research from? Because nobody on MN has every been able to produce it.

Society for Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition
"The available data suggest that both renal
function and gastrointestinal function are sufficiently
mature to metabolise nutrients from complementary
foods by the age of 4 months (12). With respect to
gastrointestinal function, it is known that exposure
to solids and the transition from a high-fat to a
high-carbohydrate diet is associated with hormonal
responses (eg, insulin, adrenal hormones) that result
in adaptation of digestive functions to the nature of the
ingested foods, by increasing the maturation rate of
some enzymatic functions and/or activities (13,14).
Thus, to a large degree gastrointestinal maturation is
driven by the foods ingested."

Timing of Introduction. "Exclusive or full breast-feeding should be promoted for at least 4 months (17 weeks, beginning of the fifth month of life) and exclusive or predominant breast-feeding for around 6 months (26 weeks, beginning of the seventh month) is a desirable goal," the Committee writes. Complementary foods should not be started before four months but should not be delayed beyond six months. Breast-feeding should continue as complementary foods are introduced; whole cow's milk should not be used as the infant's main drink before twelve months of age.

this is the updated paper

Apologies to those who have highlighted my comment, that’ll teach me to type whilst multitasking - you are correct and I meant no damage, I was merely trying to highlight that recommendations had changed (with good reason) since OPs mum weaned.

That’s good to hear that you’re planning to hold off - BFing is much less hassle!

Waited til 6 mo with my big 98 centile boy. DIdn't bother with purees at all. He's now 2 and a half, growing like stink and eats nearly everything.
BF is enough. They will not get more calories from puree. And your milk is plenty tasty (and not always the same either!)

4 months is the recommended guideline in the US, Australia, Canada and new Zealand. There is some research that suggests the rise in allergies is due to delays in introducing allergens into children's diets so late.

Very much accurate.

There's a group on FB called Evidence Based Feeding I highly recommend it.

My paediatrician OKed weaning my DD (now 9) and she has no allergies something her dad does

I earned my now 8 yr old at 4 months. He was FF and was over feeding on milk, showed all the signs of interest, could hold his head up etc and it seemed like the right thing to do. He was taking over 30oz milk per 24hrs at that point and just never seemed satisfied.

I started with formula and baby rice, and went very slowly. Just rice or porridge at breakfast to begin with, then some in the evening as well. I then introduced blended veg, then fruit, then added meat last at about 7 months.

It was absolutely the right thing to do for my DS. He's always eaten big portions, even at nursery and school. He's very active and just seems to need more than average.

Smeerf I ordered "Baby Food Matters" it arrived today. Hopefully get a chance to read it when DD isn't demanding all my attention I'm sticking to erring on the side of caution and not weaning til 6 months. Despite DH wanting to start now as well as MIL and mum. Although I did discover today that despite having little/no interest in toys - a bag of wotsits kept LO occupied whilst I washed up. The bag wasn't open and she didn't get to eat any of the wotsits but she gave opening the bag a really good go think she's going to hit the ground running with food once she hits 6 months

Your milk has grown your baby from birth to the big happy baby he is now. Probably doubled his birthweight on 'just' milk. He'll never grow this fast again in his whole life.

Weaning at 4 months can lead to baby having lower calorie food (carrot puree etc) displacing the higher calorie milk which can lead to weight plateau / weight loss. Going straight from full breastfeeding to BLW at 6 months means baby can go straight onto real food like roasted chicken and roast potatoes rather than puree stage. A few generations back babies were weaned at 7 months. The studies do show far better outcomes in so many things for waiting until 6 months

Have you read the BLW book by Gill Ripley? British health visitor. Explains it all really well and handy to pass onto grandparents who may be asking why you're not starting solids yet

Saying your brother is fine means nothing. Plenty of people play chicken across the road and are fine that’s doesn’t mean it’s not risky or a good idea.

Yes, we started very gently weaning from 4 months, OP and my little one seems to have taken to it with gusto. He had met all of the 'signs to look for' nice and early though and was a strong little thing. He mastered swallowing puree very quickly too and want pushing it back out.

There's no rush but since it's not like a baby won't be ready the day before they're 6 months and suddenly ready the day after, I expect it's more to do with when they show the signs various medical bodies recommend (within reason and not before 17 weeks!).

The studies do show far better outcomes in so many things for waiting until 6 months.

Actually, they do not. Gil Ripley's book just reflects one person's rather biased view.

Here is a comprehensive overview of all studies and research on age of weaning available up until the middle of 2019:

efsa.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.2903/j.efsa.2019.5780

In summary, as long as the baby is introduced to solids between 4 to 6 months, the most notable outcomes (e.g risk of obesity, BMI, iron levels, etc) should be very similar. However, there is some consistent but not entirely conclusive evidence that early weaning reduces risk of allergies later in life. This argument was compelling enough for me to wean DD at 17 weeks.

There has been one additional piece of research published recently (after the release of the EFSA paper). It was a large cohort study and it has resulted in a very unpopular conclusion - EBF healthy babies (who do to have eczema) appear to run a significantly higher risk of allergies in comparison to their formula fed peers:

www.allergologyinternational.com/article/S1323-8930(19)30136-4/fulltext

The authors of the Japanese study hypothesised that exclusive breastfeeding is often correlated with delayed introduction of solids (which does appear to have statistically significant impact on risk of allergies). I personally blame the "food before one..." mantra. People keep repeating and believing it even though it is completely wrong.

Lovely baby, do what you think is best.

I earned one at 4 months a long time ago and one weaned herself at 23 weeks.

Having done both OP, I'd just wait.

Your baby seems to be thriving and the jars contain a large amount of water. You'd be effectively putting her on a diet by filling up her tummy with the jars at a tune when she needs the milk to grow and develop.

Add to that the huge faff and time In actually weaning then, it is so much easier if you just wait.

Wean your baby at some point between 17 weeks and 6 months. There is evidence that weaning prior to 17 weeks can be harmful and evidence that introducing all the major allergens by 6 months is beneficial. Some babies take a while to get going with weaning so most people I know have started slowly at around 5 months.

If you actually look at the EAT study weaning started at 12 weeks

EAT study

EAT study babies were all breastfed alongside weaning so may not be comparable for formula fed babies

We went down the middle with our DS at 5 months he was showing all signs and he had bad reflux. Now a picky 2 year old as they do.