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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

Please reassure me that I am doing the right thing not weaning until 6mths

30 replies

pudding25 · 17/10/2008 23:17

DD is 5mth 1wk. She is mix fed. I will start weaning her at 6mth.

i was out with a friend this evening (yes, I got out the house!) who's DS is 3 wks younger than my dd. She has started weaning him already. She was hoping he would sleep through. He has not. DD has been sleeping through for 6 wks. Her DS is also mix fed.

Anyway, we were chatting and she said that she had taken her 5yr old to a specialist about some allergies and the specialist said that all the stuff about not weaning until 6mths to prevent allergies was rubbish and could not be backed up. He told her that the recomendations to wait until 6mths were based on the third world but had to be issued worldwide, and were to do with cleanliness etc and they were just to encourage those in 3rd world to bf for as long as possible but were not relevant to 1st world countries.

She also said that babies must have food by 6mths.

So I have been on mn for a while now and read all the info about why I should wait until 6mths. It seems to make sense. But why do I keep hearing professionals say that it is rubbish.

Also, her hv told her to start weaning when she mentioned about him waking during the night (her bf counsellor told her to use more formula if anything before considering weaning).

Please reassure me that it is not just for 3rd wolrd reasons and that I am doing the best thing for dd waitng until 6mths, not something detrimental.

OP posts:
ButtonMeUp · 17/10/2008 23:22

You are doing the right thing Ds is now 9 months and a fantastic little boy who trys a variety of food. The main of his nutrients still come from breast milk and should do so till he is 1 year. BLW is fab btw. Stay strong, although hard when you are pressured by others. And this 'sleeping through' crap is unfair pressure and often babies dont sleep through regularly till alot older.

theirmum · 17/10/2008 23:23

My DS is 5 months 2wks rather than wean him I have added hipps night time fomula in he is now sleeping though again (was waking at 4 in the morning chatting to tigger on his mobile (very loudly) bless him! only started two days ago and both nights slept though that way i can wait the another 2 weeks before the weaning process

AnarchyAunt · 17/10/2008 23:24

Oh sweetheart you are so doing the right thing.

HCPs have no bloody business to be advising against the guidelines like this, really it is appalling. They really should understand this guidance, it is so simple yet they persist in peddling their out-of-date ideas, based all too often on personal opinion rather than research.

RE 'third world' - thats just crap, plain and simple. The reasons for waiting are to do with gut maturity, which is the same for babies all across the world.

Babies are ready for food at around 6mths. But there is no 'weaning window' by which they have to be on solids or they never will be. Thats a myth.

The specialist your friend saw is actually talking out of his arse and should be reported. Where is his research to back up his statements?

You really are not doing anything detrimental, please have confidence in your decision

ButtonMeUp · 17/10/2008 23:25

arrggghhh this whole baby sleeping through really pirritate me and is unfair pressure. Who exaclty says a baby must sleep for 12 hours for you to be doing a good thing? I much prefer to follow the baby's cues as surely their body tells you waht it needs and it doesnt need loading up to 'make them sleep'. (sorry for rant )

TheFallenMadonna · 17/10/2008 23:25

It's just so much easier at 6 months. No need for purees (unless you feel the urge). Finger food goes down a treat.

And I forgot to give DD any food until she was 7 mo (went on holiday - camping), and she seems pretty well on it.

SharpMolarBear · 17/10/2008 23:25

I took my DS to the HV at about 19 or 20 weeks as he'd had D&V and lost weight. When I asked about weaning she said there was no need to start until he was about 6 months.
There you go - she's real and I can post a picture of her if you like !
(Only joking Doreen)
I actually started BLW at 23 weeks. He enjoyed it but it made no difference to sleep.

TheFallenMadonna · 17/10/2008 23:33

My HV was a 6 monther too.

Original poster
pudding25 · 17/10/2008 23:35

sharpmotherbear - you see, my hv told me at 4 mths to start weaning DD because she was only gaining 4oz per week. If I had not been on mn, I would have done so.

OP posts:
elkiedee · 17/10/2008 23:41

I ended up having to bottle feed but still waited to start weaning until 6 months, did buy some babyfood puree things, particularly stuff with different ingredients to what he was getting anyway, but also offered him lots of banana (slices as he already had teeth and no need for mushing), bread, cheese etc. He loves his food and eats a great variety at 17 months, still guzzles the milk (cow's milk since a year old).

I don't think weaning made any difference to him sleeping through the night, he's been through phases where he has but most of the time he cries and has a milk feed without really fully waking up once or twice in the night, but usually goes back to sleep quickly enough that we don't mind - it may go against lots of baby rearing advice but it's much easier to deal with than some of his other phases, like being wide awake for 3 hours at a time!

Original poster
pudding25 · 17/10/2008 23:51

You see, for me, she is sleeping through the night and has been for a while so that is not an issue (although it will be when she decides not to!) and she is not a hungry baby at all.

I think I am just so fed up with all the conflicting advice, especially from professionals.

Also, I have another friend with a DS the same age as DD. He is being weaned at the moment on the advice of their paedatrician (sp) as he has bad reflux. I told her about the stuff I had read on mn and that was why I was not weaning until 6mths and that i was not going to listen to my hv. She said she could not believe that i would take the advice from a website over that of a hv.

I am going to stick with not weaning until 6mths but at the back of my mind is still that worry that those professionals are right...

OP posts:
tiktok · 18/10/2008 09:51

pudding, but the website is not giving you advice! All the website is doing is reporting what the UK guidance is and what the WHO guidance is...if you need links to these, post again.

Original poster
pudding25 · 18/10/2008 10:02

Thanks tiktok. If you have the links, i would like them.

The problem is that the medical profession are saying that the UK and WHO guidance is rubbish and aimed only at the 3rd world.

My friends are highly educated people but because they are not 'medical' people, they believe what highly qualified doctors are telling them and I can't blame them. I would have started weaning dd at 4mths, lile my hv told me too, if I had not been on here.

Actually, in my Gina Ford weaning guide (yes, I love routines!), it says that babies should not be weaned before 6 mths (and cites all the guidelines) without medical advice and says that no way should a baby who does not take much milk be put on solids before 6 mths (like my hv told me too). So I would have probably queried the HV anyway but would probably have been persuaded to go with her advice. I imagine the result would have been that dd would have started refusing milk.

It is not just weaning advice, it is bf advice too, It is a joke. The same friend is giving up bf as she says she's not eating enough to make enough milk. She was told that info by a midwife.

OP posts:
Original poster
pudding25 · 18/10/2008 10:03

I just find it all so misleading and quite depressing.

OP posts:
SharpMolarBear · 18/10/2008 11:18

I know what you mean - a real life professional is so much more authoratitive.
The NHS's advice - that before 6 months babies can't cope with solid food. Obviously the NHS's advice is for the UK!

SharpMolarBear · 18/10/2008 11:18

If you are feeling brave, ask her why she's contradicting that!

TexasChainsawMoussaka · 18/10/2008 12:05

Also Food standards agency advice if it's any help.

The way I see it waiting til 6 months can't do any harm but starting earlier has the potential to cause problems.

Momma23 · 18/10/2008 12:23

I weaned DD1 early and she is a fussy eater, feeding her was a battle. Weaned DD2 after 6 months and she would eat anything going. DD3 is now 3 months and i wont be weaning her till near 6 month mark or after.If she is showing signs of wanting food.
If he is happy on the milk i would wait to wean him.

Original poster
pudding25 · 18/10/2008 12:30

Thank you for the links.

Yes, she is happy on milk. I wish she ate more actually as she is on 91st percentile for height but now below 25th for weight (was on 50th to start).

I suppose the other thing that did concern me was that if I wait until 6mths, it will take ages for her to get used to eating but momma23, you have made me feel better about that.

It is only 3 weeks anyway until she is 26 wks.

OP posts:
Original poster
pudding25 · 18/10/2008 12:33

The NHS link states that:

"Indications that your baby is ready for solids are that they remain hungry after a milk feed, they seem more hungry and are demanding food more often (perhaps starting to wake in the night to be fed having previously slept through), or may mimic your eating with great interest after six months of age. They should be able to sit up, with some support to begin with"

Everyone keeps saying that no longer sleeping through the night is not a sign...

OP posts:
SharpMolarBear · 18/10/2008 12:43

Well TBH I started BLW with vegetables at 23 weeks, didn't feel that was too far away from 6 months.
The decision, based on guidance and facts, is of course yours!

SharpMolarBear · 18/10/2008 12:44

Official guidance I meant, not SMB's expertise in childcare, based on a huge sample of one child

Original poster
pudding25 · 18/10/2008 13:19

sharpmotherbear did you just boil some veg until it was really soft and give it to your baby to hold to see what they did with it?

OP posts:
benandgerry · 18/10/2008 13:26

pudding25 you quoted the Food Standards agency which is out of date, not the NHS.

See the Dept of Health NHS weaning leaflet(Jan 2008) for current guidelines. All HVs GPs Paediatricians etc should be basing their advice on these guidelines, if they don't please complain to your local Primary Care Trust. Many HCP's are giving out of date advice, sadly they don't seem to even be aware that the Guidelines have changed (and they changed over 6 years ago).

re waking at night, (p.4 of weaning leaflet)

...It is normal for babies aged three to five months to begin waking in the night when they have previously slept through. It is not necessarily a sign of hunger and starting solids will not make your baby more likely to sleep through the night again..

Monkeytrousers · 18/10/2008 13:27

You can do what you whant but I am a bit at the 'specialists' comment 'they were just to encourage those in 3rd world to bf for as long as possible'

Women in the '3rd' world breastfeed for longer than anyone in the west - up to their children being around 6 years old.

omy · 18/10/2008 17:37

Follow your babies lead - i.e. offer a clean finger dipped in some of your food and see if they go for it. Some babies are ready to wean earlier than 6 months, some later - not all babies are the same! Can your baby sit up unaided and hold their head up well? These are signs they may be ready for weaning. There is nothing to be gained by starting earlier than 6 months anyway.

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