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Weaning

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

Original poster

Do you know anyone in real life who has held off weaning until 6 months?

161 replies

pgwithnumber3 · 01/10/2008 07:19

I don't. Are the guidelines a load of twaddle then?

I waited until 6 months and I put that mainly down to information received from Mumsnet but not one of my friends have done the same. All their DC were on 3 meals a day by 5/6 months.

OP posts:
Smithagain · 01/10/2008 08:32

Me and two of my friends.

BellaBear · 01/10/2008 08:35

Me and three of my friends. ALl the other people I have spoken to about it (about 15 - 20 people?) started by 20 weeks latest. I don't know anyone who started before 17 weeks.

egypt · 01/10/2008 08:37

me, many people i know

except my 'friend' that i spoke to on the phone the other day whilst she was 'feeding her 3.5 month old cauliflower cheese'

grr

SheSellsSeashellsByTheSeashore · 01/10/2008 08:40

i weaned dd1 at 4 months due to pressure from my mum i dont know what the guidelines were then they were never discussed with me and i hadnt discovered mumsnet at that point.

dd2 i waited untill 6 months bfore attempting weaning properly, depsite protestations from mil that i was starving her. sil weaned at 4 months she did at 3 months. babies need food to grow. milk is not enough at that age dd2 did have a couple of tastes of baby rice at 5 and half months as dh began to listen to mil.

my sister follows guilelines down to the letter with everything she does with her dc. though a hv did tell her that she should stop breastfeeding and switch to formula and start weaning her ds when he was four months as he was failing to thrive. she ignored her and held out untill the 6 months and carried on breast feeding.

silverfrog · 01/10/2008 08:42

i did, with both dds, and I think one friend of mine has (lives overseas, don't see her much), but everyone else i know (toddler group friends) didn't.

One mum I know started her 2 year old on baby rice at 10 weeks. Another was proud to have "held off" until 14 weeks. Even amongst those who are not very early weaners, I think all had started weaning their babies by 5 months.

and I live in a very middle class, middle england town.

SaintRiven · 01/10/2008 08:44

me with numbers 2, 3 and 4. Nukmber 1 wanted food earlier.

peachsmuggler · 01/10/2008 08:51

Me and two friends. Know someone who started at 4 months in the hope her baby would sleep better. After 2 days he was sleeping worse so she stopped

Miaou · 01/10/2008 08:51

I don't know anyone who waited until six months. They all thought I was mad for not giving ds2 any food because he is v. small. But he didn't even sit up unaided until he was nearly 8 months (and not confidently until 11 months) so I was reluctant to try. OT slightly but neither do I know anyone who breastfed for more than a couple of months either (apart from one woman I know at playgroup who happened to tell me last week that she b/f until her ds was almost two, I nearly hugged her! First RL person I have met who b/f for that long!)

ScottishMummy · 01/10/2008 08:59

I weaned at 7 months.followed NICE guidelines, read all the literature.

all my friends weaned 6mth+

knew 1 mum determined to pursue early weaning because baby looked hungry

ilovemyghds · 01/10/2008 09:06

I did with DC2. Started DC1 - reluctantly, but under the HVs advice - at 4-5 months. He wasn't ready and I wish I had waited. But the HV kept on at me! Starting DC2 on solids was much less stressful. She was BLW and liked everything she was given. Will definitely wait with 10 week old DC3. Life is so much easier when just being BF and not eating solids - I am in no rush to begin!

HollyGoHeavily · 01/10/2008 09:06

I waited till 6 months as did many of my friends - it's not twaddle.

JulesJules · 01/10/2008 09:08

I waited until 6 months with both dc, but I think I was the only one in my nct class. Several people were following their Mum's advice rather than the HV's and there was one terrible HV in our area who was sticking to the 3 - 4 months rule come hell or high water. And if you wanted any advice on feeding, she would only talk about how many ounces every 4 hours...

whoopsididitagain · 01/10/2008 09:10

i did am so glad too

OMaLittle · 01/10/2008 09:14

I started solids at 22 weeks with DD1 on advice of nutritionist who said it would be too much starting solids and nursery at the same time . DD2 is 23.5 weeks and I will offer something at 26 weeks, prob steamed veg sticks. She has been sitting up unaided for a long time and does seem very interested in food - she will grab for anything edible particularly. Like someone (AnarchyA?) pointed out, though, she is also very interested in cups of coffee! I think I'll wait until 9 months or so to introduce those...

I have just ignored everybody the people who have been encouraging me to start solids (mainly family up one generation, haven't seen an HV as have only been to baby clinic once [NSC emoticon]). It's not as if I have anything to lose by waiting. My baby is still feeding twice overnight - I have definitely spoken to a lot of people who have had babies sleeping through who have started waking up at 4ish months and have started solids because of this. Much more likely to be a developmental stage thing IMO but of course as with everything to do with children, if the phase ends around the same time they will attribute their 'success' to the introduction of solids.

I was wondering yesterday if exclusive bf does tend to make one a bit more precious/conscious of what goes into your baby? Or if the causation is the other way and people who are very conscious of what goes into their baby are therefore more likely to exclusively bf/less likely to introduce formula by choice (of course I understand some people find bf impossible/don't get the required support)?

Original poster
pgwithnumber3 · 01/10/2008 09:20

The thing that baffles me is that the guidelines say 6 months BUT the HV told the majority of my friends that is was okay from 4 months onwards. Very conflicting information which totally surprised me as I thought the HV would be pretty strict with regard to weaning before 6 months.

I mention this because my friend told me yesterday that her DD who is 19 weeks is on 3 meals a day. Fair enough, not my worry but I was just a bit intrigued as to who really does leave it until 6 months.

I know it is not twaddle, that is the reason I left DD2 until 6 months!

OP posts:
Original poster
pgwithnumber3 · 01/10/2008 09:21

DD3 is going to have rusk in a bottle (with tea as well) from 6 weeks onwards!

OP posts:
gingerninja · 01/10/2008 09:23

Yes, pretty much everyone I know.

Notyummy · 01/10/2008 09:29

I waited until about 22 weeks, although I don't know how I would have felt if I had had a baby that was waking every couple of hours at 4 months...perhaps early weaning would have sounded good to me at that point!

Nearly all my friends weaned a bit earlier than that, including the ones I met at NCT and were fairly middle class 'doing it by the book' people. It almost seemed like some of them were doing it as something to do IYSWIM, i.e they were on maternity leave and wanted to look busy and give themselves something to talk about with their mates.

I did have one mate that did the whole rusk in the bottle thing, about 5 years ago and said I should give a go with dd as it had worked a treat....I listened, said nothing and ignored

TarkaLiotta · 01/10/2008 09:33

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

shoedweller · 01/10/2008 09:34

I held off until 6 months with dd1 &2. With dd1 we went on holiday to the states when she was 51/2 months and she was watching our food in the restaurants - well yeah it's colourful and interesting to look at. We had so many comments about being cruel to her because she was so keen to eat! With dd2 I had an exam when she turned 6 months and decided I could really do without all the mess of weaning so delayed it to 6 1/2 which I really regretted as she started waking at night again! dd1 was mixed fed and dd2 bottle fed by the way. Although in theory I am very pro breastfeeding so your point about caring more what goes into them might still stand.

I know very few women who waited amongst my highly educated middle class friends. One mum who did wait and whose baby then piled on the pounds after 6 months having been very scrawny and became much more settled, said she'd do it at 3 months next time

WhereTheWildThingsWere · 01/10/2008 09:39

I waited until 6 months with both of mine, dd is 7+ months but still really ebf, we ahve a 'play and taste' twice a day and that's it really.

Worried loads with ds 'is he getting enough?' 'when should he have proper meals?' 'should he be having puddings and a meal???????????????'

This time letting dd lead the way, which is how it should be anyway imo.

AnarchyAunt · 01/10/2008 09:42

I do accept that the 'middle class' thing is a massive generalisation. But I still maintain that better educated and better supported parents are more likely to wait, and I think its because they understand why its recommended. If you don't understand something then of course you are far more likely to ignore it or feel it is not applicable to you.

HVs really should not tell people that its fine to wean before six months - so many of them do and I don't understand why. Surely they are made aware of the guidelines and reasons for them?

Are they not professionally accountable for the crap they spout or something? Or do they not understand it themselves - I can't see why though as we all seem to understand it and most of us are not trained health professionals.

OMaLittle · 01/10/2008 09:44

Echo shoedweller, was just thinking about that as I put DD2 to bed, I think actually my more middle-class friends (by no means a sample size big enough to evidence a trend) were a bit more 'but I know best' about it. We are in a SureStart area and the support is generally pretty good, the mums at DD's nursery (less middle class than my posh school friends) have been more mindful of guidelines in general.

gingerninja · 01/10/2008 10:04

AnarchyAunt, but not all working class are stupid and middle class educated. It is a generalisation. A massive one that doesn't stand up to any test. It'll more likely be advice from professionals and friends and family that will make people wean early. I don't think reading literature has got a great deal to do with it. Everyone takes calculated risks. You're told to keep babies cool and lay them on their backs too and some parents will ignore that advice. My DD would only ever sleep on her side and I took a calculated risk and did just that. Doesn't suggest anything about my class, background or whether I understand the guidelines or not.

AnarchyAunt · 01/10/2008 10:09

I said it was a generalisation! And I know working class people are not stupid . Thats not what I was trying to say. And education is not the same as intelligence anyway - I'm sure some very stupid people leave Eton for example.

Leave the middle class bit out, and just go with the better educated, better supported idea. Its known that this makes you more likely to BF, and I think if you are BF you are more likely to hold off til six months.