Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

Weaning

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

Flip

1 2 3

Original poster

How much do I feed my 4 month old?

74 replies

lovemybabydoll · 04/09/2009 17:09

Dear All
My baby is 4 months today and I was so very excited to start her on her first foods - cereal. I am bf but want to quit when she's 6 months.
She is so cute trying to learn how to swallow. I made her cereal twice today and she took a few mls each time. She likes it I can tell.
I am not sure how many times a day to try or is there a routine to start working to or do they just eat whenever at this age? I am bf her every 3 hours.
Any thoughts please?
Thanks...x

OP posts:

LackaDAISYcal · 14/09/2009 14:13

ah there you go, tiktok knows more about this sort of thing. I thought they were having to change tiktok? or is that just wishful thinking on my part?

Original poster

lovemybabydoll · 14/09/2009 14:14

Ok. Until very recently, the advice in Scotland was that they can start weaning @ 4mths. Surely their babies are no different to ours?
Now they have changed it but not very much, to '4-6 months'.
Well I do know what you mean and I don't...
hmm

OP posts:

tiktok · 14/09/2009 14:20

Not sure, Daisy....are you not thinking of the 'reprieve' given to formula manufacturers to allow them to remove spurious health claims from their packs?

I don't think I have heard of impending changes to the age labelling of weaning foods

plimple · 14/09/2009 14:23

WHO says wait for signs as mentioned above, most babies show all of these by 6 months, but don't start earlier than 17 weeks.
Waiting til 6 months won't do any harm, neither will starting past 17 weeks if the signs are showing. Do what suits you and your baby.
If your question was "should I start" perhaps the answer is no.
If the question is "I'm going to start, how can I do it safely and easily" you have some good suggestions above. Teeny tiny steps and avoid certain foods altogether until 6 months.

Personally I wouldn't eat jars of baby food so wouldn't give them to my baby.

tiktok · 14/09/2009 14:24

babydoll - the advice in Scotland has been exactly the same as everywhere else in the UK.

The recommended age is 6 months.

www.readysteadybaby.org.uk/growing-together/looking-after-your-growing-baby/weaning-your-baby/index. aspx

tiktok · 14/09/2009 14:25

babydoll - not sure where you have had your info from. It was 4-6 mths for ages and ages all over the UK. Then in 2003 it became 6 mths.

Whoever is giving you info about all this is a bit confused

Original poster

lovemybabydoll · 14/09/2009 14:58

Hello Again,
Thank you all for your advice, not sure why you think I am not listening?!? If I wasn't, I would not be responding.
I am only trying to make the best decision for my baby and I am done here unless there are any other new points fron other mums?
I will continue to look into this and it may just be that my baby is 6+mths and then I wouldnt have to worry anymore..hehehe
PS: I did taste her food and it is yummy, it really is.
Best wishes to all....xoxo

OP posts:

hazeyjane · 14/09/2009 15:02

What are you giving her if it is yummy?! I thought all baby cereals were horrid!

Original poster

lovemybabydoll · 14/09/2009 15:39

Hello
It could be that my taste buds are different to yours?
Gluten free cereal for 4+ months (mixed with breastmilk and sometimes formula when I cannot express) as opposed to baby rice.
Bye byeeeeeee

OP posts:

Monkeygirl69 · 14/09/2009 21:40

Point taken.

Rhian82 · 18/09/2009 10:11

My DH was weaned at 8 weeks and is now 32, no digestive problems. He does have eczema though which started as a baby after he was weaned.

DS was almost 7 months before he could sit unaided (he's now 11 months and still can't crawl), so we had to wean him before he could. Six months is best, but every baby is different.

(And he also has bad eczema, from a few weeks old despite being exclusively BF. But since DH and I both have it, poor thing didn't really have a chance with our genes)

ShowOfHands · 18/09/2009 10:15

"My DH was weaned at 8 weeks and is now 32, no digestive problems" Quick, quick, chuck out the peer-reviewed, evidence-based research, we have a representative sample of one man, one whole man, no digestive problems. Have you notified the DoH, WHO etc? I'm sure they need to know this information.

Rhian82 · 18/09/2009 12:04

It was mostly as a response to LackaDAISYcal : "As for the 12 week old looking fine...have you always had x-ray vision? I was weaned on rusk at 10 weeks and have been told that this will have been a contributing factor to my coeliac disease.....which wasn't diagnosed until I was 35. I'm sure I looked fine at 12 weeks as well"

Anecdotal evidence is meaningless, whether it supports or contradicts your position.

FrameyMcFrame · 21/09/2009 14:57

Most people still wean their babies at 4 months despite the recommendations. Health visitors don't do much to stop it and baby food labeling encourages it. I don't see why people should get flamed by a load of judgey pants on here just for doing what the majority of mums do.
Weaning at 4 months is a cultural thing in this country! Yes, point out that that the guidelines say 6 months by all means but there is really no need to be so bloody rude to people is there?

bambipie · 21/09/2009 17:30

I love MN. Nearly everyone is sensible, can write and is generally lovely.

MoreCrackThanHarlem · 21/09/2009 17:38

Being 'excited' is not a legitimate reason to wean at 4 months.
And as for most people weaning early, I find that hard to believe with the amount of information and guidance available on the subject.

Unless specifically advised by a Doctor, OP, it is far too early to wean.

FrameyMcFrame · 21/09/2009 18:32

MooreCrack, believe it or not most people in the real world don't read the WHO website, or peer reviewed research on the subject.
It is widely accepted that it is common practice in the UK for mothers to wean babies at 4 months.

The fact that baby food is clearly marked from 4 to 6 months reinforces the practice. Most Mum's see this in the shops and think, my baby can have this food because it says 4 months on the packet.

Books like Gina Ford and Annabel Karmel all still say 4 to 6 months. These are very popular books. lots of people read them.

Health visitors still say 17 weeks

I don't understand why you would find it hard to believe un less you are living in a MN bubble

FrameyMcFrame · 21/09/2009 18:50

*unless

pooexplosions · 21/09/2009 19:01

Lots of people wean at or before 4 months. But then lots of people put coke in a baby bottle and give toddlers packets of crisps and sweets. Doesn't mean a sensible person should do the same.
Saying that, who the hell cares?

FrameyMcFrame · 21/09/2009 19:16

yes that is true poo explosion, people are often ill advised.
I am just saying that it's not surprising that people do wean early as the 'advice' is conflicting

MoreCrackThanHarlem · 21/09/2009 21:03

Framey

Some health visitors may say 17 weeks,(never heard this from an hv myself), but they are not following NHS guidelines which clearly state 6 months. I think it's misleading to infer you have to be an academic who has studied peer reviewed research to be aware of the facts.
And although I can only refer to my own experience with friends who have babies, I am almost certain they are nearly all aware of these guidelines. As far as I know, I am the only mner in my rl social circle.

MoreCrackThanHarlem · 21/09/2009 21:10

In fact, don't all pregnant women receive a copy of 'birth to five', a book which outlines those guidelines?

elliepants · 21/09/2009 21:26

Our health visitors say that the WHO recommendations were designed for babies in developing countries as well as babies in developed countries and they say not before 17weeks as is bad for the gut but waiting until 6 months is not necessary in countries with good hygene.

To be honest they push weaning at 17 weeks.

Being aware of the guidance I was determined to wait till 6 months and do baby led wean ing. However my baby was cruising between 90%ile 75%ile and has fallen down to the 50ish and had been feeding every hour. I lasted a week of breastfeeding hourly, and then started weaning at 19weeks.

I don't know if I'm doing the right thing- it feels right listening to what my baby is trying to tell me and he's not as starving and really grumpy. But in answer to your question we're having porridge once a day and some pureed fruit once a day, some days its quite abit other days its hardly any its just how much he fancies.

Best of luck with it

pooexplosions · 21/09/2009 21:47

Your HV's need a lot more training then as that is a load of rubbish.

choufleur · 21/09/2009 21:51

the advice is conflicting though. many sites say wean around or near to 6 months (how much is near to 6 months?) but wait at least until 17 weeks.

Flip

1 2 3

Swipe left for the next trending thread