Weaning 4 month old

[04hollie]

So I've started to wean my 4 month old.
She is a big baby & a hungry baby, currently on 8 ounce!
Sometimes she's cries for more food as this could only be the reason, she is clean, fed & comfortable. She will suck the bottle but spit out the milk hence why I started weaning.

I am a first time mum, I have started to give her porridge with a bit of purée mixed in in the morning & also evening bottle around tea time as this is when she seems most hungry.
So far she seems pretty satisfied and has taken to the purées very well. She doesn't cry for more and is very happy in herself. She is a machine, no spitting out & no upset stomach or green nappies.

Any other mums weaned early & if so how has it affected your child later on down the line ?

I started weaning at 4 months as recommended by a consultant paediatric gastroenterologist and supported by a paediatric dietician, paediatric speech therapist and paediatric surgeon specialising in bowel issues (all at a large teaching hospital). That was advised for medical reasons but honestly not one of them ever mentioned that it could be harmful or that it might cause digestive issues and these are people who really do know what they are doing. It seems to me therefore that the standard guidance is just that guidance and it doesn’t mean it is absolutely the only way ever to wean your baby. I would not worry too much about some of the outraged comments!

I've seen so many threads like this. You've ignored the guidance OP, it doesn't mean your child will definitely have outcomes like allergies later on, but he'll be at higher risk.

Probably he'll be fine but I don't understand why you think you know better than the experts who study this stuff on a huge scale, more than a few mums on here saying it seemed ok when they did it.

All babies are hungry. People come on here to justify their baby being weaned because they are either a) big or b) small. Maybe it's only the ones bang on 50th percentile who follow the rules.

Just to say I am in the UK.

I can't see the practicalities of weaning at 12 weeks, I have a 12 week old baby and he's not anywhere able to sit up enough to be fed solids!

@tashx

I will make a statement and then shut up My children are 27 25 22 and 16

All perfectly fine and healthy adults

So yes @mummyh2016 I know 100%
I have done them NO harm

And the rest of you
Come back once you been a mum for 27 years

@tashx 27 years ago I think the advice was to put babies down to sleep on their fronts, do you recommend that too?

Canada seems to recommend 6 months still from the resources I have. When did the change to 5 months happen?

Tash, nobody will convince you otherwise. I remember you from a few other threads and I know that you don't take kindly to genuine concern about the choices you've made or those which have been made for you. I think if you don't believe we have brains, your GP and local health teams should be relied upon instead.

Wanting to suck doesn't mean she's hungry, if she was hungry - she wouldn't spit the milk out.
She didn't know other foods other than milk exist, so it's not like she spat the milk out to get solids.
Honestly, there's so much guidance on why it's important to wait until 6 months.
It doesn't matter if you've been a parent for 50 years or 50 minutes, whether you have 1 baby or 20 - guidance changes, and it's not there for fun.
Remember when everyone used cot bumpers as it was "safer" and stopped babies bumping their heads? Or when parents were told to put newborns to sleep on their fronts?
That changed because it's bloody dangerous. Use your common sense.

@TheLovleyChebbyMcGee
My baby has given me all the signs he is ready for solids
He even tries to grab my food I'm eating
So I listened to him and gave him what he wants
He opens his mouth as soon as he sees the spoon

Neither a GP or health visitors are qualified to recommend early weaning! In fact neither is a paediatrician. The only medical expert qualified is a paediatric dietitian, and then it’s typically for Faltering growth babies with complex allergies or health problems.

Unless you’ve seen a paediatric dietitian, please stop. There is no value in doing it.

3 months was the guidance back when I had dd. After decades of issues she was diagnosed with Chrone's at 32...
Lots of guidelines have changed since then. SIDS stats dropped after we stopped allowing them to sleep on their fronts for example.. Rushing weaning will bite back ime.

@Rosesareyellow

Weaning at 4 months is actually standard advice in many other countries and there is consistent evidence that it reduces the risk of allergies later on in life. It is possible that in the future, weaning advice will change in the UK as well.

In which countries? I’d find it quite interesting to know how the advice varies.

It's the advice in the Netherlands where I'm from, but I made the decision to wean at 6 months. DC1 was EBF until then.

@GrendelsGrandma
Lots of people put their babies to sleep on their front
Just look at tick tok

I don't advise anyone to do anything
I was sticking up for the OP
Who was getting attacked

@ShowOfHands
I think you were one of the people
Who told me to abort my baby because we were older parents

I don't need your advice or concern
I have children that are adults and perfectly healthy

[quote tashx]@ShowOfHands
I think you were one of the people
Who told me to abort my baby because we were older parents

I don't need your advice or concern
I have children that are adults and perfectly healthy

[/quote]
Whuuuuuuttttt? @tashx, someone told you to abort your baby because you were ‘older’. Jeeeeeeez

Sorry for the derail but I can’t believe someone would say that

All of mine were weaned between 17 and 26 weeks of age. There is no strong evidence of any risks to weaning after 17 weeks. Many many countries recommend weaning between 17 and 26 weeks.

[quote tashx]@TheLovleyChebbyMcGee
My baby has given me all the signs he is ready for solids
He even tries to grab my food I'm eating
So I listened to him and gave him what he wants
He opens his mouth as soon as he sees the spoon
[/quote]
My baby showed all the signs she was ready to eat Lego as she’d always try and put it in her mouth and would grab it out my hand if I had it. Does this mean I should start giving her small amounts of Lego to eat?

Grabbing a spoon isn't a sign. They grab car keys as well. It isn't time for them to drive.

The other signs are sitting up with good head control, loss of tongue thrust and able to pick up food, put it in their mouths, chew and swallow. I've never met a 12wk old doing the above.

But you think what people do on tiktok is parenting advice so I suspect you're taking the piss.

🍿

Some of these comments make me laugh....how do you think you were weaned and when? I have had a lot of kids. Advice for first was 3 months but before that it was 12 weeks. By the time I had child number 5 it was 6 months. I am oldish and my mum told me that when I was weaning that she chewed up the food and gave it to me because there were no such things as blenders! Eeeek!! The majority of a babies calories needs to come from milk. When you wean a baby it's about textures as much as anything. A friend of mine is a paediatrician and says he doesn't think there's enough evidence to promote weaning at 6 months. He also thinks that weaning at 6 months can cause problems because parents/carers are not progressing to lumpy/textured food quickly enough. BUT I am just a person on the internet and it would be a good idea to chat to someone like a HV who could support you, as much as anything. Helping you to create a safe environment

[quote tashx]@ShowOfHands
I think you were one of the people
Who told me to abort my baby because we were older parents

I don't need your advice or concern
I have children that are adults and perfectly healthy

[/quote]
I did no such thing and didn't even comment on that thread. Please don't throw around such baseless accusations or misrepresent support you were offered.

The thread to which tash is referring is here: www.mumsnet.com/Talk/pregnancy/4266548-ashamed

Please read into it more. You shouldn't be weaning until 6 months unless advised by a professional. It can cause stomach problems for life and they do not need anything but milk until 6 months

I let my child have some solid foods (as well as milk) from age four months because she was so keen to try solids.

She now has a very annoying food intolerance, for life. Not life threatening, but there has been a LOT of diarrhoea in our lives.

I can see you think you know best because “you were weaned at 8 weeks and you’re fine” - but do consider the possibility that waiting another two months would be wise. I once fell down the stairs and I’m fine, but that doesn’t mean falling downstairs works out well for everyone.

Assuming you choose to ignore this advice, then if in future you find your baby often has tummy aches and/or diarrhoea, please consider the possibility of a food intolerance and experiment with changing your chikd’s diet to see if that helps.

France also currents’ly advices to start weaning at 4 months. The current thinking is that starting at 4months actually reduces risk of developing allegies. It’s definitely more of a tiny-spoons-to-taste-new-things rather than a fill-them
-up-with-porridge approach though.

FWIW, I have a relative who works at a childrens hospital and says the allergy specialist there advocates that babies should be exposed to all the allergenic foods before 6 months. Thats what I did, starting from 21 weeks when tongue thrust reflex had disappeared and DS was able to sit up straight with support.

Also just to say I’m 33 and the guidance then was to wean at 6 months.

Also because I’m an arse, it’s not weaning anymore as weaning literally means weaning them off and reducing their milk. Milk is still the main source of nutrition until 1, it’s introducing solids as it’s introducing a child to a new array of tastes and textures whilst they develop the skills needed to eat.