'6 months' - is that 24 weeks or 6 calendar months?

[Frasersmum123]

We are trying to get DD to 6 months on EBM, and we dont seem to be having many problems at the moment. She drinks 5oz every 2 hours through the day, but is sleeping through from 10pm-8am.

Just a quickie - is the magical 6 months actually 6 calendar months, or is it 24 weeks, as everyone seems to thinmk of a 'month' as 4 weeks when they talk about babies and pregnancy.

it is 26 weeks.

look for signs your baby is ready for something other than milk

sitting up unaided, loss of tongue thrust reflex, good head control..www.kellymom.com has good weaning info

Wow, what an achievement to exclusively EBF your DD. I hope you are damn proud of yourself Frasersmum

In this instance six months is usually 26 weeks.

NorktasticNinja - thanks. I am not going to lie and say that it hasnt been difficult!

Is it extremely important to start at 26 weeks if DD is not ready? 8 years ago when I had my DS. my HV was very insistant that I should start weaning when he got to 20 weeks and that I should have started earlier.

Also, how do I know if she has lost her 'tougue thrust'?

no, let your baby guide you.. tongue thrust reflex is that thing babies do, literally using their tongue to push anything out they don;t want.. so you would spoon some food in and it would be pushed back out..

also if you start around 26 weeks or when your baby is showing definite signs of readiness, you can offer finger foods from the get go. as well as puree if you like.

No, if Dd is not ready, don't worry. Some babies are not interested in food at 6 months, others are. Weaning is meant to be a gradual process over the last half of their first year.

The tongue thrust is where they automatically push anything their mouth out with their tongue. If you were to offer her food and she could pick it up, took it in her mouth, chewed and swallowed it's very liekly she is ready but at 26 weeks all baby's tummies have 'sealed' and are now mature. This is the main reason to wait until 26 weeks.

Well done on getting here! Be proud of yourself

Victoriansqualor - pls explain how do babies' tummies seal?

The reason to wait until 26 weeks is that there is some suggestion from research that introducing solids earlier may lead to an increase in the likelihood of your child getting eczema (esp if you have allergies, asthma, hayfever etc), and coz breastmilk's generally really good stuff, so give it as long as possible.

Bear in mind that 26 weeks is a humanly created time-frame, not a magic age at which babies change - a baby born at 37 weeks gestation (technically term) will be 5 weeks 'less mature' than a baby born at 42 weeks (also technically term), at the age of 26 weeks. Does this make a difference? Not really.

BTW frazermum am v jealous of 10pm to 8am sleeps! I can dream...

Before 17 weeks a baby's stomach is permeable. The cells are not yet closed, this is to allow the antibodies that are in a mother's breastmilk to filter through. This is known as an 'immature gut'.
Somewhere between 17 and 26 weeks the gut 'seals'.

It's not just 'coz breastmilk is good stuff'

Oh, meant to add, the allergies etc are thought to possibly be caused by foreign proteins traveling through the immature gut and the body fighting them off, however, there is more to do with Gastroenteritis in research provided when guidelines were introduced.

Thanks VS (must have skipped that lecture at uni )- can't find anywhere that says the process of maturation is complete between 17 & 26 weeks - most places say that it is unknown when maturation is fully complete - it is known that preterm babies have particularly permeable guts, but this seems to be less of a problem once they are post-term.

The WHO systematic review on which the DOH recommendations to introduce solids at 26 weeks are squarely based does not mention anything to do with gut maturation or permeability; the purpose of the review was to look at the evidence to ensure there were no downsides to advising 6 months exclusive breast-feeding.

One study from Belarusse showed a significant decrease in gastrointestinal infections in exclusively breastfed infants compared with those exclusively breastfed until 3 months. This may be for a variety of reasons, not least that formula feeding and giving solid food requires clean water, sterilising of equipment and good food hygiene, in addition to the subsequent lack of transfer of maternal antibodies. Gaastroenteritis is not caused by a 'leaky / immature gut', but can lead to a more permeable gut.

As far as allergies etc, to quote from the WHO systematic review with respect to 6 months exclusive breastfeeding: 'The large Belarussian study (Kramer 2000) found a significant reduction in risk of one or more episodes of gastrointestinal infection. No other significant reduction in infectious morbidity has been demonstrated, and the combined data from Finland, Australia, and Belarus do not suggest a protective effect against short- or longterm atopic outcomes.'

So while there is a hypothesis that allergies may be caused by proteins entering the more permeable immature gut (particularly cows milk protein), it remains a hypothesis.

And I stand by my point that breast milk is good stuff, it's got better things in it than formula, and the longer it's given, the better.

foozles, good post. I am very sceptical about the evidence for guts 'sealing', and we have enough evidence to support exclusive bf to six months without resorting to flaky stuff, IMO! There may be something in it, of course.

The 'fixing' of 6 mths is an artefact of the research. Readiness for solids is developmental, which is not a precise, calendar-driven point in time, but a process. There is no evidence at all that babies suffer in any way by being given solids at 6 mths, rather than 4, and plenty of evidence that breastmilk alone is adequate. There is some evidence that giving other foods earlier than this can increase risk of infection. So why the rush.....babies (most of them, anyway) are just fine on nothing but breastmilk until about 6 mths.

I was very unsure of the 26 week guideline, not as an excuse to wean early, but i was frightened of weaning dd too early even if she was 26 weeks and didnt need it iykwim. I followed dd development - waited til she could sit up and grab food and put it in her mouth and chew it, which was at about 26/27 weeks. Even then i would feel like shes just a baby and looked too young to be eating solid food, but she was obviously ready!