Why are people so keen to wean their babies before six months?

[bluejelly]

I just wondered, don't want to start a row. It's just it comes up all the time, and I know it's been a while since my dd was that age, but I never remember it being something I was keen to get started.

I haven't read the whole thread so sorry if I am repeating. I many women want to wean their babies themselves. A lot of them go back to work before the LO is six months so they want to make a start before then.

I know this to be the case for a couple of my friends.

It's a guideline not a law.

Women dont need to go back to work for 9 months now.

It is interesting though. Most babies, if appear hungry, will be satiated with extra feeds/greater volume feeds. This is because milk - formula or b/milk is more calorific.

In any case I always prefer to err on the side of caution and advise people on current Government guidelines rather than anecdotal stuff. Simply because holding off and waiting with a healthy thriving baby does no harm at all.

vvv - they do if they can't survive on smp - most occupational plans only go up to 6 months still

"Um wannbe - did you roast it first? Much easier to cut then..... "
NL, are you telling me you stick the whole squash in the oven, roast it and then cut it? I can't believe I spent hours peeling the damn thing!

errrr yes i did - sort of scoop it out really - is that wrong? v v nervous now!

But they're huge
I have no idea, I didn't know what they were before DS
Make good 'chips' for finger food though

tmmj - why do you think having a larger baby makes a difference?

I think the bigger baby thing is a red herring. DD was huge and there was no problem 'waiting'

(inverted commas because I actually forgot to start at 6 months, so no actual waiting was involved IYSWIM)

Well, yes, Tellus, same here, but I just wondered why tmmj thought that way.

And just out of curiosity, how huge was huge?

Always on 99.7th centile line for weight.

it is apparently one of the signs, isn;t it. doubling birth weight? DD was almost one before she managed it !? > but not far off

Mine too... (tellus, not lulu)

No vilification going on here though. I agree tmmj - if a baby can hold on to a bit of grub and munch it, then I'd say there were okay.

sorry if I am being thick and lazy not reading the whole thread but what is the argument against weaning at 4 months now? As I said when dd was a baby they said 4 months

VVVQV -
some of us still needed to go back to work sooner than 9 months, as SMP is not enough to keep a roof over our heads .

I weaned at 5.5mo as I was returning to work imminently. And yes, DD could shovel in the toast soldiers by herself at that point. If she couldn't, I'm not sure whether or not I would have done.

oh absolutely. SMP isnt enough to sustain most of us working mothers.

I weaned my ds 4 years ago at 4 months because my hv advised it and also because I was going back to work before he was 6 months and was concerned about starting to wean whilst ds was settling into nursery.

conker - I'm still puzzled - why would a babies weight have anything to do with solids? Weight has no bearing on a gut's readiness to process foods other than milk just as it has no bearing on when a child starts to crawl, walk or talk. Where/who is this information from?...it it very very out of date I fear.

er...because they want to? get over it, move on etc etc

For me there were several reasons.
I was going back to work but wanted to ensure she was weaned my way.
My dd was drinking 6 9oz bottles per day and wanted more a couple of hours after a feed ( so not full for long).
At 4mths she was the average height and weight of a 6mth old due to dh being very tall not over feeding .

Funny you should ask though because I have since learned through becoming a CM that baby led weaning is all the rage and was something I knew nothing about. Within the network there are 3 children who all started this at 6mths and who were still taking up to 2 bottles per night . For me personally this is a sign that they require meals as opposed to constant snacks.

These children also were very fussy eaters, refused spoons in their mouths and generally spilled most of their meals on the floor.
On the other hand my dd was finger feeding full meals and eating most of it by 8mths, will try anything and could use a fork at 13mths and spoon cleanly by 15mths. This makes me glad that I chose 4 mths and traditional style weaning.

At 6mths babies get a sense of taste and so its difficult to tell if its texture or taste that they don't like, where as at 4mths I knew it was the texture putting her off a food so kept giving it until she got used to it.

The advice re weaning at 4 months & 6 months switched between having my two children, and it was if my two had read the guidance lol.

DS, a windy & puky baby, was very keen to get on to solids (well puree) at 17 weeks and was a more contented baby for it. DD started weaning at 28 weeks having shown no interest until then & tbh I think I could have left it later & just introduced proper food.

terramum 'what has weight got anything to do with when you wean' err lots actually. Its about the physics of how much energy in calories a baby needs to do xy or z. This depends on the baby and its activity levels. By this age dd was actively playing and pressing buttons sitting supported upright. Lots of babies at this age are still lying and watching the world go by. If a baby is heavy it takes more calories to move its muscles than a less heavy child. Therefore weaning as well as milk provide extra calories.