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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

is 15 weeks too early to start weaning??

141 replies

needsomesleepplease · 01/09/2009 17:37

Ds showing all the signs he is ready but we are going on holiday next week and was hoping to wait till we came home but now not sure what to do!!!

OP posts:
QueenOfFlamingEverything · 30/09/2009 12:46

lazydaisybaby - I can categorically state that at 8 weeks your baby does not need his tummy lining with wallpaper paste baby rice.

mamakim · 30/09/2009 13:01
Hmm
lazydaisybaby · 30/09/2009 13:34

I am disappointed the way that you all cant give someone the entitlement to their own opinion, nothing is black and white, and as the original question was asked "is 15 wks to early to wean" all i have done is given my side, you all seem to only be able to see what you want to see, and not let others make informed decisions about their babies!!!

What makes you have the right to judge me?? I have 2 gorgeous, perfectly healthy children and i am the best mother to them i can be, and no, i dont have a "window" into his tummy, but neither do you, so therefore you also have no idea what is going on in his tummy!

I thought this site was meant to give unbiassed informed information from mums who have been there done that, but i have learnt my lesson that unless its what you want to hear then its rubbish!!!!

mamakim · 30/09/2009 13:39

lazydaisybaby whilst we don't have a window to your baby son's tummy, we don't need one to know 8 weeks is simply too early for anything other than milk.

You yourself listed theadvice over the past 15 years from 12 weeks to the current advice of 26 weeks. Where and when in modern medicine was 8weeks advised then??

QueenOfFlamingEverything · 30/09/2009 14:39

Nobody is stopping you from making a decision about your own baby (though I'm afraid I do question just how well informed yours was).

However, incorrect and possibly dangerous advice tends to get challenged and corrected on MN. I'm not judging you personally, but I disagree with your decision and would like to explain why for the benefit of other readers.

I do know that a baby of 8 weeks will not have a sufficiently developed digestive system, or the necessary enzymes, to digest food. I do know that the guidance to give only milk for the first 6 months is based on research and evidence that it is what's best for nearly every baby, and that the absolute earliest at which it may be safe to introduce other foods is 17 weeks.

tiktok · 30/09/2009 15:24

daisy....you are spectacularly ill-informed. The guidelines on weaning were certainly not 12 weeks 15 years ago. It was 4-6 mths for decades (I think from the mid-70s but I'd have to check) and then in 2003 it changed to 6 mths.

You are also judgmental - your HV, you say, supports you because she knows babies are 'human beings' and may need solids early (though even she wld not say 8 weeks, surely). Are you really saying that people who prefer to look at scientifically-based evidence don't treat their babies as 'human beings' and would ignore a 'starving' baby?

Early weaners - including you, weaned at 10 weeks - may not be all ok. This sort of early weaning has been shown to have several health risks, some of them serious and some of them long term. You can't predict what will happen - as you say, we are all individual - but it is certainly possible to study large numbers of people and link their health to early nutrition and work out that risks of ill health measurably increase with this sort of extreme weaning.

This is not a matter of opinion. This is not to decry the famous supposed 'instinct' that knows a baby is crying for rice and nothing else. This is fact - and to get all irritated and offended when it's pointed out is simply daft !

lazydaisybaby · 30/09/2009 15:32

I am by no means irritated or offended as i stand by the way i choose to raise my children, i just find it frustrating that sites such as this bully down anyone that has a slightly controversial take on subjects that arent always in other peoples comfort zones, thats all.

I am not going to entertain you any further with my opinions as obviously they are not the "correct" ones in your eyes, so shall leave them for more open and friendly sites!

QueenOfFlamingEverything · 30/09/2009 15:40

Please do lazydaisy.

You have not been bullied down. You have simply been disagreed with, and had your factually incorrect statements corrected.

tiktok · 30/09/2009 15:48

No one has bullied you!

You have clearly been irritated and offended, though, and I am at a loss to know why you're now denying it...you're irritated and offended enough to leave mumsnet over it.

BelleWatling · 30/09/2009 21:04

WHY WHY WHY? Why am I addicted to lurking on early weaning threads?

Why do people keep writing them? Why do I keep reading them? It's like some blood sport or addiction.

Perhaps we should all encourage young teenagers to have sex? After all if they're probably physically ready. And the age of consent is just a guideline - what does the government know about individuals? A few years ago in the Victorian times it was thirteen and it never did them any harm did it? And there's so much pressure to do it early - it's really hard to wait. And they'll really enjoy it!

FFS.

Lulumama · 30/09/2009 21:14

why do people ask the question and then get surprised/offended when the answer is yes,it is too early...

BrokenBananaTantrum · 30/09/2009 21:26

I would say to wait as long as possible. My DD had reflux and I was encouraged to wean her (by HV) at 17 weeks as they thought it would help. It didn't it just meant that instead of bringing up her milk she brought up her milk AND smelly half digested fruit too.

Weaning was not fun. She had not lost her tongue thrust and if I had had a bit more experience (she was my first) or if I had known about MN I would not have followed my HV's advice

Ultimatley (sp) the decision is yours but I will be going to 6 months and then trying BLW with my next child

Hope this is helpful

BrokenBananaTantrum · 30/09/2009 21:27

I would say to wait as long as possible. My DD had reflux and I was encouraged to wean her (by HV) at 17 weeks as they thought it would help. It didn't it just meant that instead of bringing up her milk she brought up her milk AND smelly half digested fruit too.

Weaning was not fun. She had not lost her tongue thrust and if I had had a bit more experience (she was my first) or if I had known about MN I would not have followed my HV's advice

Ultimatley (sp) the decision is yours but I will be going to 6 months and then trying BLW with my next child

Hope this is helpful

BrokenBananaTantrum · 30/09/2009 21:28

I would say to wait as long as possible. My DD had reflux and I was encouraged to wean her (by HV) at 17 weeks as they thought it would help. It didn't it just meant that instead of bringing up her milk she brought up her milk AND smelly half digested fruit too.

Weaning was not fun. She had not lost her tongue thrust and if I had had a bit more experience (she was my first) or if I had known about MN I would not have followed my HV's advice

Ultimatley (sp) the decision is yours but I will be going to 6 months and then trying BLW with my next child

Hope this is helpful

BrokenBananaTantrum · 30/09/2009 21:29

oops sorry had a problem with my connection.....

Horton · 30/09/2009 21:59

Hahaha, Belle. I lurk on a lot of them, too, and wish I could go cold turkey. I am 40 so it's okay for me to have turkey.

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