Not 6 months... but ready?

[ScaredOfYouLot]

My son is 17 weeks old, he has 4-5 ounces every few hours through the day, so 10ish oz every 4 hours equally.

He had slept through from 5 weeks old but now wakes at 3 am for a 5oz feed, sometimes 6.

He is very alert, likes to sit up, gets frustrated if not entertained.

He grabs at things and watches us eat, stares at plates (but does this at everything so not sure that is an indication)

Other sites I have looked at seem to be of the motto 'if they seem ready - try' MN seems to be 6 month militant.

Im confused.

Me and my siblings were weaned at 12 weeks, none of us have alergies or problems.

He seems to want more.

Would puree carrot be so bad??

I also read it was changed to 6 months as people always wean earlier than reccomended, so they say 6 months in the knowledge people will start from 4, rather than saying 4 which is totally acceptable but people then doing it from say 2!

Anyone heard that?

Unfortunatly you just cannot tell from the outside whether a baby is ready to have anything other than milk - it's all to do with their intestines maturing. This is known to happen somewhere between 16 and 26 weeks, and will be individual to each baby - so by not adding things other than milk to your babies diet until 26 weeks, you know that they will be ready.

You can't say for an individual what the effect will be on them - they may be fine, they may not. But overall, it does have an effect.

For the sake of a few weeks, why not wait and know that you have done all you can to be on the safe side ?

And it was changed from 4-6 months to 6 months because research showed that that was the best time. Not to get people to wait till 4 months

Even if the ARE ready, there is no harm in waiting.

If they are not ready and you get it wrong, you can set them up for a lifetime of problems.

Best to be safe than sorry.

But I honestly don't feel it is 'risky' to wean at this time. It has been done for years, its not like he is only 8 weeks(!!) like my father in law was when he was weaned.

Its very hard for me to type my feelings here because people can be very harsh, Non of my older children were 6 months, it seems a very long time to wait when a baby guzzles milk and still seems unsatisfied?

Like most parenting matters I think you have to take into consideration your own child, their behaviour and your instincts, if that makes sense.

'lifetime of problems'

Everyone I know that is my age was weaned at 12-16 weeks, NON of us have dietry problems. No one in my family does and the latest weaner was 5 months at most.

I don't know whether he's ready or not. Can you see his gut and tell by looking whether it's mature enough for solid food or not? If you can, they you'll know whether he's ready. If you can't, why not play safe and wait until modern guidelines suggest?

Actually, weaning before 6 months is a very recent thing - childcare books before about 1955 all talk about weaning at 6 months or much later.

Since that time the rates of allergy, asthma, obesity and diabetes have all gone up dramatically.

You can't use your instinct for this, any more than you can look at your baby and know that they have made the antibodies for chicken pox

4-5 ounces is not a massive amount at each feed

my first step would be to increase the feeds, especially if he is finishing his bottles

if he was guzzling 9 oz every couple of hours, you could say, he is a hungry baby.. but that still does not mean his gut is ready for food

just becasue your family have not got dietary issues, does not guarantee your son won't

seems to want more? then give more milk, it is the safest, most filling and nutritious thing you cna give your baby

pureed carrot is not as filling, purely in terms of volume , as a milk feed

MN is more militant about the TRUE signs of readiness for weaning, than 6 months on the dot

around 6 months your baby is most likely to be ready

17 weeks is nowhere near around 6 months

'But I honestly don't feel it is 'risky' to wean at this time.'

It doesn't matter what you 'feel' though does it. All the evidence suggests that it is.

Are you struggling with the fact that suggesting weaning before 6 months is potentially harmful brings up uncomfortable feelings about what risks you may have taken with your older children.

I know it would be an issue for me. Mine are only 21 months apart, but I feel terrible for some dodgy decisions I made wrt to my no.1.

What's the point of giving pureed carrot? If he's hungry he needs something more substantial, with calories and fat and protein, ie milk. If he's grabbing things and watching you eat he's curious about what's going on and maybe wants to have a closer look. You said he's sitting up, which is early for 17 wks. You could put some interesting pieces of veg in front of him to have a play with, as Gill Rapley did in her BLW research. Or you could just sit him at the table and give him a cup and spoon to play with while you're eating.

like someone said before 4-5 oz is not a big feed
if he is starting to week in the night have you tried giving him a bigger feed before he goes to bed?
I would try giving him bigger feeds during the day too

go, go, go but keep it simple. baby rice with usual milk to start with and you'll soon see if he wants more by how he responds. it will taste like his usual milk but make him feel a bit more content. if he likes it slowly add veg puree to it. steer away from dairy and wheat till 6 months and you'll steer away from potential allergens

but the current weaning advice is to aim to introduce solids around 26 weeks

the signs of readiness include

being able to sit unaided

loss of the tongue thrust reflex

good grip . ability to pick up food and get it to the mouth and chew

i have doubts that a 17 week old has those abilities

the theory is that the physical development ir a reflection of the development and maturity of the gut, that you cannot see .

a baby who is only taking 5 -6 oz at a feed is not a hungry baby and is not in need of food

if he is hungry and draining bottles, milk and more milk is the answer

weaning at this age might well do no harm , and the baby will be fine. BUT you definitely won;t cause any issues by waiting until the baby is showing the physical signs of readiness. there are reasons that the NHS etc are recommending weaning around 6 months

I thought my DS was ready at about 20 weeks so I gave him some babyrice which he promptly pushed right out of his mouth. So I knew that he wasnt and stopped worrying about it.

But he was (and still is) having about 8oz at a time 5 times a day sometimes more. 4-5ozs a time isnt really that much.