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Weaning

Find weaning advice from other Mumsnetters on our Weaning forum. Use our child development calendar for more information.

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Original poster

Weaning at 14 weeks?

70 replies

loopielou · 13/05/2008 21:40

Hi, does anyone have any advice on weaning my son who is showing great interest and has done for a month or so now to what we eat? I have read all the stuff about being 'advised' not to do it before 4 months but I just wanted to hear from other people on what their experience of weaning at this age was like? Other mums including mine have told me to put rusks in his milk. His weight gain is fine, its just he is so interested in watching us eat and at times not always is not interested in his bottle.

OP posts:

clarinsgirl · 15/05/2008 17:34

Wait. I resisted pressure from HV to wean DS early;
HV: "He's a big baby he will need more than milk"
Clarinsgirl: "But if he's big then he must be gaining weight so not need anything else"
HV: "He'll start waking in the night"
Clarinsgirl: "But he's sleeping though, I'll wait until he starts waking"
HV: "You should start to introduce solids by now"
Claringirl: "Why, he seems contented and is still gaining weight"

and so on

DS was almost 10lb when born and stayed between 75th and 98th centile in weight and length.

Babies are all different but I can think of very few reasons why anyone would want to wean early.

He started waking in the night for food at 28 weeks so I began weaning then.

hunkermunker · 15/05/2008 17:43

Some HVs like to know how many ice cubes/jars your baby's having so they can tell you they should be having more or less. Same with oz of formula.

Control freaks.

NoBiggy · 15/05/2008 22:45

Ha. The nursery nurse that hangs around with our HVs asked how much DD1 was eating. I said about 3 spoons, and she seemed content with that answer.

I didn't say what size of spoons. The fool!

fannybanjo · 16/05/2008 10:23

DD2 only just started to show a big interest in food at 8 months and we celebrated last night because she ate a WHOLE ice cube of homemade cauliflower cheese!

To the OP, don't do it, it really isn't worth the risks. My brother has Crohn's disease and I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy. This (I think) is one of the many illnesses which can occur because of early weaning. Ironically he wasn't weaned until 6 months though.

wasabipeanut · 16/05/2008 10:28

Oh not again. Please don't even think about weaning yet. It won't help your dc sleep. At best it will just cause constipation and at worst damage the digestive system.

edam · 16/05/2008 10:40

loopie, as many people have said, early weaning carries very real health risks.

When babies are born, they have 'open' guts. Unlike the adult guts, the cell walls allow large particles to pass straight through to the bloodstream. This is just how it should be for getting everything they need from a milk diet. As they develop, by around six months, the gut closes so they can take solid food.

If you feed a young baby with an open gut solid food, particles will pass straight into their blood stream, This can cause allergies and all sorts of other health problems. Unless you have an endoscope and can peer inside your baby's gut, you don't know whether it is open or closed and ready for solids. But it's jolly unlikely at 14 weeks.

That's why the guidelines say six months - because by then, your baby's gut will have closed and they can digest solid food.

fannybanjo · 16/05/2008 11:08

edam, thanks for that info, I will pass it to a mum at school who was feeding her 13 week old chocolate ice cream the other day.

lljkk · 16/05/2008 18:06

Good point about the smellier poo, cazzy. The wee stinks lots more too after they start solids, too (ime).

tiktok · 16/05/2008 23:30

Housemum - the guidelines in that early 90s red book are out of step with what the nat. guidelines were at that time.

dibdobs · 17/05/2008 19:19

hi am new here and have a 14 wk baby (no i am not thinking of weaning him don't worry hes fine as he is lol) but i keep seeing that now they say wait until 6 months? With my 5 and 3 yr old i was told to start at 4 months was just wondering why it is now 6 months, can't find any info when i google it and worried about health risks someone mentioned?

VictorianSqualor · 17/05/2008 19:37

dibdobs, basically it is known that babies guts/kidneys are not physically ready for solid food until 17weeks at the earliest.
Many babies will not be ready at 17 weeks, but all babies will become ready between 17-26weeks. As there is no way (grabbing things is a developmental milestone, not anything to do with how ready their insides are!!!!) to tell if your child is one of the early ones or one of the later ones so to avoid risks it is reccommended to wait til 26weeks.
HTH.

Snoopy99 · 18/05/2008 01:46

LavendersBlueDillyDilly, God almighty, stop guilt-tripping yourself! Your child is perfectly fine, you never did anything to harm him and please stop beating yourself up about not breastfeeding and weaning at x weeks. He's fine!

solo · 18/05/2008 02:22

Guidelines change from time to time. It was recommended to wean at 16 weeks when I had my Ds in 1998, and because I was going back to work then, I weaned him at 14 weeks. When having Dd in 2006, I was amazed that it had been changed to 26 weeks, but really pleased too. Weaned from totally breast milk to baby rice at 25 weeks and it was much better IME. Don't wean too early, milk is just fine for a considerable time.

tiktok · 18/05/2008 12:39

See my post below about guidelines changing. What women were told by their HVs was often out of step with what the guidelines told them to say - in 1998, guidelines were '4-6 mths', solo, I promise you! What you heard in 2006 was just the health visitor telling you the correct information - 26 weeks. There was not a 10 week change at all.

AitchTwoCiao · 18/05/2008 13:01

solo, i think the 'i was going back to work' thing probably hits the nail on the head. imo a lot of this advice had more to do with politics than research, although it'll be interesting to see how things change now that women have nine months.

snoopy, are you lavenderblue's RL mate? do you know her son? (and is he well over 30 for you to pronounce that he's fine?)

if so, and if she feels the way she does as she posted previously, your total dismissal of her right to feel the way that she does is probably completely counter-productive. this is a highly complex area emotionally, best not to rubbish it as 'guilt tripping yourself' (ie once again putting the blame on the woman for not being, what, tough enough? reading too much? etc etc etc).

solo · 18/05/2008 13:27

Aitch, if I'd have had info re 26 week weaning, I'd certainly have gone with that, even though I went back to work so early. I was expressing for England, so it wouldn't have been an issue at all...
Incidentally, my HV from 98 is the same one I have now and I trust her very much. She did say that it had changed, rather than it had always been that way...I'm quite controversial in some of my approaches and always question everything.

40+ years ago when they kept new mums in hospital for 2 weeks!, the nurses on the ward fed my brother solids(!!!!)as he was a hungry baby! ermmmm!? brother has IBS.
My brother then went on to feed his very hungry son weetabix at 3 weeks old. I just wouldn't.

tiktok what post?

AitchTwoCiao · 18/05/2008 13:32

i had the same, some farex in a bottle at 2 weeks cos the midwives couldn't be bothered with my greedy guts milk intake when my mum got sick after the birth. i have IBS too.

have you ever read the info the HVs are given now, solo? it's a piece of work, TOTALLY vague and undermining. basically says the WHO's on for 26, as is the NHS, british govt, whatever, but on no account are babies to be weaned before 17 weeks. soooo, a midwife disinclined to change her practices can easily justify giving our the wrong advice and with pretty much of a clear conscience. i'm sure that the advice would have been equally opaque in 98, but that doesn't mean that it was 'official' iykwim?

tiktok · 18/05/2008 13:47

solo - my post on Wednesday about guidelines (search for my name on this thread to find it).

Your HV was wrong to say 16 weeks in 1998. Sounds like she has updated herself, which is a good thing.

The UK guidelines have never been 16 weeks, though this was indeed a widespread misinterpretation, reflecting the 'chinese whispers' sort of training that was/is all too common - HVs learning poor practice from listening or shadowing other HVs in a 'sitting next to Nellie' style, rather than combining this practical observation with a more formal, evidence-based training.

26 weeks would have been fine in 1998, too, as it was the other end of the '4-6 mths' window.

Tege · 19/05/2008 13:38

Hi All...
First post virgin here....
A few months ago, my HV told me that its recommended to wait until 6 months ( i know we know that bit...) and that although weaning at 4 months would be OK, she'd be really happy if I could wait until at least 5 months.
DD1 was weaned at 4 months in 2003, DD2 is 18 weeks at the moment and seems quite content with her milk so will probably wait until 6 months.

3littlebears · 19/05/2008 21:19

I discussed this with my paediatric consultant the other day. Govt guidelines have differed with each of my children. His advice (and I respect this man a lot as he has saved my baby's life) is that weaning before 3 months or after 7 months is not advisable. If your baby doesn't like solids, stop and try again a week or so later. Despite what b*llocks HVs etc spout, you will not do any harm. It's wicked that mothers are beating themselves up over this issue. Relax.

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