Weaning at 4 months

[Newandlearningmumma]

Hello, I have started weaning my 4.5 month old as he seemed ready. At the moment I am offering purees at one mealtime a day. He currently has between 5/6 feeds a day. Once he seems finished I then offer a bottle of formula.
At what point do I start offering purées at more than one mealtime? And when should be start eating more food and have less formula?

kind and helpful responses would be greatly appreciated ☺️

thank you!

Please, please, request a new HV. You’ve been given terrible advice and I feel for you.

Millions of babies have been weaned from 4 months and are still alive. It would be quite difficult to prove a link between weaning at 4 months and adult gastric problems- there are so many variables to consider. There are certainly more allergies in children now than previously, the reasons for which aren't clear.

The WHO recommendation to delay weaning until 6 months was primarily to discourage too early stopping of breastfeeding and introduction of poor quality food and unhygienic practices in less developed countries. This was then taken as standard advice for all countries.

I am not trying to rush. My baby is showing all the signs of being ready and I was acting on advice I was given from a healthcare professional…
I do have a record and have avoided giving any allergens so far as I waiting until they were 6 months to introduce these.
They literally are 5 months this week and I only started a week ago.

Yes that is the reason my health visitor explained too.

https://stemcellres.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13287-023-03293-9#:~:text=Previous%20studies%20have%20shown%20that,be%20concerned%20in%20further%20research.

You can also find the unicef baby friendly weaning leaflet on their site and yhr current UK guidance.

To safely swallow your baby needs to showing the signs of readiness however weaning before 6 months comes with an increased risk of gastrointestinal issues, asthma, eczema and allergies later in life.

Sorry you lost me at a study conducted on MICE.

There's going to be a vast array of difference between different babies at 6 months- some are crawling at that age, some can barely sit up. Every baby is individual. 6 months isn't some magical number- it's a guideline. "About" 6 months will be earlier for some and later for others- as long as they show all the signs of readiness and the foods are introduced slowly, and with gentle foods and not junk, and applying common sense, really don't think OP is causing harm here.

https://www.madeformums.com/news/weaning-from-four-months-or-six-latest-research-questions-current-guidelines/

I would report the health visitor for ignorant and stupid, potentially dangerous advice.

And stop following the blatantly stupid advice to wean so early. For goodness sake

Weaning earlier was quite normal when my kids were small - baby rice with breast milk was recommended from three months, and mixed feeding by six months. One of mine started on mashed bananas, and the youngest just got whatever we’d had for the last family meal puréed. Oddly enough, they all survived this mistreatment and are now healthy adults.

Yes, you’ll always get a lot of the “never did me any harm” brigade, but we know better now. So why not follow current advice?

This study uses the normal definition of weaning as the cessation of breastfeeding. It is well known that formula feeding increases the incidence of gastrointestinal infection, asthma, eczema and allergies. This study attempts to elucidate the mechanism of this however it has nothing to do with early introduction of solids

I find it interesting that people are so devoted to six months as a rigid rule when neither the WHO guidance nor NHS guidance is quite so rigid.

The WHO guidance clarified that introduction of solid foods for babies under 17 weeks of age carried risks and that introducing solid foods before six months was unnecessary and for exclusively breastfed babies delaying until six months may carry some benefits in reduction of gastrointestinal infection.

The benefits of delaying after 17 weeks are less clear cut for formula fed babies however there is still no need or benefit to solid food at this age.

Basically the OP is doing something unnecessary but not as far as we know dangerous and certainly not something proven to cause long term gastrointestinal issues like IBS. Would be different if she was feeding cereal to her 12 week old.

Personally I'd not bother feeding purées to a four month old as it's pointless but it's not a crime or likely to cause him any long term harm,

OP if you wish to continue I'd stick at one meal a day as it's unlikely to replace much more important milk then, offer only simple fruit and vegetable purees or fruit and veg as finger foods if he able to eat them, stepping up rapidly at six months to finger foods with iron and zinc which is after all the point of solids to offer these nutrients which are scarcer in milk to babies who are beginning to need them.

The WHO report never advised all countries to wait until 6 months. The fact that the NHS and RCM decided otherwise was probably to encourage more women to breastfeed for longer. Hopefully they read the full report.

There's nothing 'ignorant' 'stupid' or 'dangerous' in informing yourself a bit more widely, or in taking cues from your own baby when they're showing obvious interest in more than milk. There is speculation that the increase in allergies may be because they're not exposed early enough to new foods.

The other theory is that the rise in allergy is due to the rise in prescriptions for PPIs like lansoprazole and omeprazole (and so many babies are on these now!) although early introduction of allergenic foods to high risk breastfed infants has been shown to reduce the incidence of allergy.

It may be that breastfeeding while introducing allergens is part of the picture so it may not be the same with formula. We know for example breastfeeding while introducing gluten reduces the risk of coealiac disease.

Theres still so much we don’t know.

Do not introduce any more meals until atleast 6 months

Your 4 month old does not need two meals.

2 meals is normally around 8 /9 months
But every baby is different

Actually the latest research is linking the increase in allergies to late weaning and suggesting that babies should have smooth peanut butter between 4-6 months so I expect the recommendations will change again. (Sorry this dinosaur is technologically challenged so cannot do a link but Google the LEAP study kings college 2023 if interested/or don't believe me). My three breast fed babies all started weaning by 3 months and were swiping food out of my hands, I've got photos of 16 week old stealing my biscuit and gnawing on a banana, there is no way they would have waited till 6 months🤷‍♀️ all strapping young men now with no gut issues.

The HV should not be advising early weaning. A paediatric dietician is the only person who can do this under limited circumstances. There is no "age appropriate" purees for a baby under 6 mths, the baby food companies are legally not allowed to market food to under 4 mth olds so they label their sachets "4 mths+". They don't care about your baby's health.

The whole purpose of weaning is to get your baby used to eating actual food. Research has shown that it’s safe to wean from six months, at which time you can introduce actual food rather than purée.

You don’t need to and shouldn’t wean from six months, follow the guidance. Your baby isn’t showing signs of being ready.. you just fancy weaning them?

He has allergies but not gastro issues.

Hmm I wouldn't wean at 4 month's, I did wait until the recommendation of 6 months. It's based upon fears and there will be multiple factors to consider..

I would NEVER wean at 4 month's on pouches, have you checked the ingredients and sugar content? Honestly most pouches are full of sugar!

It is a bit of a minefield out there I agree! But I also agree that purees aren’t the best to start with weaning at 4.5 months. Your baby will be perfectly fine on their milk for another few months. Plus they contain a lot more calories that a bit of pureed fruit or veg etc. Has their tongue thrust gone yet? I’d also wait until 6 months and just give them whole foods not pouches etc.

Ok, some unhelpful comments.

There are a number of reasons guidelines say 6 months including gut maturity and access to clean water. You'll find some items labelled 4 months in the supermarket and these are designed for this age group. However, there is a push to make the labelling 6 months because whilst weaning early (eg at 4 or 5 months) might be appropriate for some babies they want to avoid over keen parents weaning at 2 or 3 months as this would not be okay.

I was also advised by a GP and HV to wean early and I weaned my 96th and 99th centile, post term babies at 5.5 and 5 months. I used purée (single veg made myself) until 6 months. With my first I didn't offer at mealtimes and did it twice a day and with my second I did it at our mealtimes. Things change so quickly I don't think there's a right or wrong just do what you can, not what you can't. I didn't formula feed and continued to breastfeed on demand until 12.5 and 11.5 months. They both self weaned off the breast and were showing more interest in food than me from about 9/10 months.

@Newandlearningmumma upi replied Tommy question that they could sit in a high chair. They need to be able to sit unaided without any pillows or propping or a high chair.
You also replied to people saying don’t give solids that you were giving pureees. It’s a bit misleading but solids means basically anything other than milk.

It’s not too late to stop and go back to just milk. It’s not the solid lumps it’s the being not milk. It affects future function of the bowel and will change their gut microbiome.

My SIL followed old fashioned advice and stayed at 16weeks and the baby was in pain and she kept going.

Purees are counted as solid food. And the first ones that are fruit are basically just sugar

Also giving them purée when they are due their feed and topping them up means they are hungry and feisty rested and actually getting in less as they won’t take as much milk. Stick to regular milk and then tastes and tries in between In the future when you restart