Did early weaning (21 weeks) help settle your very unsettled baby?

[Babyisaac]

DS has been very very tricky since birth. It wasn't an easy decision to make and I have desperately tried to hold off until 26 weeks, but this morning I started him on baby rice.

I'm aware weaning might not help his behaviour one iota and I'm also aware of the controversial decision to start weaning early, but have any of you out there experienced a change, i.e. a more settled baby and better sleeping at night as a result of weaning?

Success stories please!

no weaning didn't help settle my dd1 at all, who was a baby who cried a lot. Weaning was far more hassle then it was worth.

No. Giving up dairy from my diet (breastfed) made a huge difference though.

Made no difference at all. In fact, because they're not usually ready for solids at that age it can upset them and make them worse. but you probably didn't want to hear that

The consensus is that if a child has slept through the night but then suddenly wakes then weaning might help, but if they've never slept through then it's unlikely to make any difference.

Sympathies, too - I have a very unsettled DS (in fact he's more of an S than a DS at the moment ) and it's really hard, I know. Hang in there!

Sorry to buck the trend, but I weaned my DS very early (18 weeks) because he was taking a 15oz bottle at 7pm, then waking up at 10, 1, 3, 4, 4:30, 5, 5:20, 5:40, 6am when our day would start. At each waking he would feed, taking at least 6oz until 4am. This had gone on for nearly two weeks.

I tried him on some banana, he ate 3/4 of a banana on his first sitting, and over the course of the next three nights went from waking up to 15 times a night, to waking up once a night.

Two weeks on, he is on 3 solid meals a day, 4 milk meals a day, with one at between 2 and 5am.

I am now human again!

I appreciate this doesn't work for everyone, but it worked for my DS. It has also made a world of difference for him during the day, he has so much more energy now that he's getting a decent sleep at night, and is much happier for it.

For anyone poo-pooing my decision to wean when I did, I challenge you to try and function as a human being with 3 hours sleep a night for two weeks.

lol Naethea - I functioned on 3-4 hours sleep a night for 4 months, until dd's milk intolerance was diagnosed, so doing it for just a couple of weeks sounds like a dream!

Naetha, sounds just like my DS! I know people do it for months, but quite honestly 3 hours sleep a night for 3 weeks was making me very snappy, very zombified and on the brink of impatience having to deal with the day ahead. I don't poo-poo your decision to wean early - sounds like he was ready for it and only a mother knows when to do it

"only a mother knows when to do it" - that's complete tosh.

mine slept worse than ever after early weaning.

Can'tSleepWon'tSleep - maybe you can function on that little sleep, but I can't. I guess we're just built differently.

As an aside, if DS hadn't been showing other signs of being interested in food (always smacking his lips and going frantic when he smelled food or saw us eating, excellent head and upper body control, doubled birth weight and putting anything and everything in his mouth (he tried chewing on the cat's tail once...)) I wouldn't have tried it. If he hadn't been interested in the food I gave him as well, then I would have left it for another week.

I know this isn't what some people want to hear as well, but I was exclusively breastfed until 7 months, then weaned, while DH was formula fed and weaned at 3 months. Guess which one of us has all the allergies. Everyone's different, and I think guidelines should be taken as just that - guidelines. You just have to remember your own common sense as well, and listen to your baby whent they're telling you what they are and aren't ready for.

Babyissac I would exercise caution here both with the early weaning and this thread!

I weaned by ds at between 23 and 24 weeks which actually I sort of regret slightly now - holding off for 2 weeks wouldn't have been that difficult. I felt the time was right and whilst I don't think I did any harm I have come to think that holding off until 26 weeks would have been a better idea.

He started very, very slowly and tbh it made no difference to sleep patterns. He only settled fairly consistently when he was established on 3 meals a day which was around 7 months.

Naetha - I feel like I am repeating what has been said a billion times already on mumsnet. You are knocking the research of large numbers of babies done by the WHO based on your own experiences and then advise other mothers to go with it as they know when their babies are ready. Unless you can see into their guts, you simply dont know.

Please read this.

Can someone actually post a link to the research btw?

All I've seen is anecdotal reference to "the research" but no proper reference.

Look on the WHO website.

I'm backing out now. Naetha - I'm with you on this

Hercules1 - you could try to be less insulting

"only a mother knows when to do it" - that's complete tosh.

But it's true - of course it's rubbish.

i totally agree with hercules!

why be so aggressive? she is giving the correct peer reviewed and researched advice and yet that is seen as a bad thing

you cannot see inside your babies gut to see if he is physically ready for food

if he has been tricky since birth, why would food help?

did you have a difficutl birth? it might be that cranial osteopathy could be a benefit to him

good post lulumama.

i find it totally bizarre that seemingly huge swathes of mothers have no problem at all with ignoring the department of health, the NHS and world health organisation, when it comes to weaning

agree lulumama, its very odd, why take the risk?

This weaning before 6 months is a very touchy subject but no mother should be shot in the face if they choose to wean before 6 months. Every baby is different and whilst I am sitting on the fence regarding weaning before 6 months, I do hold the view that none of us can look inside our babies to establish whether the digestive process needed to process solids has taken place. For some babies it is right for them to be weaned early and as in naetha's case it eased the problems she had. It just seems bizarre to me that the authorities change the advice after zillions of mothers wean their babies at 4 months and then get guilt ridden because of the results of various research.

As much as I like MN it saddens me when it becomes a playground, people shouldn't be judged on their parenting skills!! it's difficult business.

The only other thing I am going to say on the matter, is that the WHO/UNICEF information on the subject of weaning states:

"Health experts agree that around six months is the best age for introducing solids. Before this, your baby?s digestive system is still developing and weaning too soon may increase the risk of infections and allergies. Weaning is also easier at six months. If your baby seems hungrier at any time before six months, they may be having a growth spurt, and extra breast or formula milk will be enough to meet their needs."

I would like to highlight the use of the word may.

Nowhere in an hour's search on the internet on NHS websites (which incidentally have lots of out of date info, so many people can be forgiven for having the wrong idea, and may explain why there is so much ambiguity on the matter), the WHO site, UNICEF and many other websites does it emphasise (with the same degree of importance as is implied on mumsnet and other more anecdotal websites) the apparent dangers of introducing non-milk foods between 4 and 6 months.

Also I cannot find a single reference to a peer-reviewed scientific article on the matter, other than one minor reference to a Canadian study of 14,000 infants that showed that levels of allergies and food intolerances are not related to length of time spent breastfeeding.

Like I said - if you can refer me directly to these I will be very grateful!

I don't mean to play devil's advocate in all this, but without substantiated evidence (which nobody has referred, just quoted sites like netmums, and referred generally to NHS and WHO guidelines which are no more specific) people being evangelical about not weaning until 6 months (and by doing so emotionally blackmailing for whatever reason those that can't or don't wait until 6 months) are as bad as the old wives that started this in the first place.

Also, I take all official guidance (and it is guidance, it isn't law) with a pinch of salt, due to its changing nature, and its tendency to dumb everything down (e.g. what you can and can't eat during pregnancy, in particular alcohol).

To finish, all I'm going to say is what I said before: Use common sense, and listen to your child, don't use what I've written above as an excuse to start early weaning if it's non appropriate. And if you have a child that is prepared to wait until 6 months, be grateful.

"And if you have a child that is prepared to wait until 6 months, be grateful"

i don't think my dd 5.5mths is paricularly "prepared to wait" - but I am!

ok we are just a week or so away and i might be tempted to let her try some bits and bobs now - but her sleep has been horrific since abuot 15 weeks and there is no way i would have given her solids that early - because i have read the information that explains why we shouldn't!

I know that some babies weaned earlier might be fine - but i just don't get why you would take the risk? i don't mean that to be cheeky but am geniunely puzzled - why would you risk your baby's health?

i weaned dd at 18 weeks in hope of getting more sleep, waste of time, she is now nearly 7 months and waking up every hour on a bad night every 3 on a good night (guess which we have more often) I'm a terrible sleeper and really think that its genetic predisposition, my mamgu tells me that my father was 2 before he slept through. I am lucky as I can function with little sleep (if I get 4 hours I feel amazing) but dh is shattered. Hope it gets better for you, my dd is otherwise happy, but if your lo is 'difficult' I would really recommend cranial osteopathy, friend did it and she said she felt she came home with a different baby, can have amazing results.