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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

Weaned eary than 4 months?Only want to hear from Mums who have and dont want to have debate on not weaning before 4 months!

134 replies

MillyMaisMummy · 17/12/2009 18:33

Hiya fellow Mums!I really want to hear your experiences from Mums who weaned before 4 months please or for fellow Mums who are thinking of weaning before 4 months!

I don't want to hear from Mums who want to stick their 2 pence worth in on not doing it as its wrong and blah blah blah.... as EVERY BABY IS DIFFERENT!

My DD is coming up 12 weeks old but i started weaning her at 10 1/2 weeks old and She's doing really well and enjoys her food.

I really need some recipes to go on with,so if you got any please let me know!

I was a bit miffed when i went to my local mums and baby group and a mum told me off like a child for weaning DD before 4-6 months!I did exp[lain that i had done my research and had spoken to a few pediatric specialists and they ok'd it.....The look on her face when the other Mums told her they weaned at 10 1/2 months too...i have to say i did feel better that i wasn't the only one in the "Before-4-month-weaning-boat"!

OP posts:
Igglybuff · 18/12/2009 11:04

mrsbadger I can imagine... I was looking at the other sites and was dismayed at some of the topics... My favourite was tvs in kids' bedrooms who were under 1???!!!

kittywise · 18/12/2009 11:06

I weaned my first 4 by 12 weeks. they are now, 11, 10, 8 and 6. I say 'weaned' that means having a bit of puree. They all fine and healthy, never had any health/digestive issues.

awastingamanger · 18/12/2009 11:11

Sorry bruffin, thought I'd read it somewhere else too. Maybe someone can ref where they read it?

Arsed · 18/12/2009 11:17

It's a shame how many HCPs still suggest that 4 hourly feeds is normal.

My Ds was born at 27 weeks and came home at 36 weeks fully breasted.. When I told his neonatal outreach worker that he was feeding all the time she told me that he "really should be able to go 4hours between feeds" he was 4lb

He doesnt go 4 hours now, he's 1 in 2 weeks.

tiktok · 18/12/2009 11:19

Early weaning probably isn't a modern phenomenon, if you take the historical view over millions of years of evolution. But it's only recently - in the past few thousand years - that anyone would have any idea of how to count the days, weeks and months of a baby's life, let alone using the information to work out what the baby needed nutritionally. But this 'early weaning' would be alongside prolonged (in our view) and very frequent breastfeeding.

Even relatively 'recently' ie in medieval times in the British Isles, evidence of jaw formation and teeth in archeological sites show babies and children were predominantly breastfed until early childhood.

Evidence from societies that still exist today that give us clues about what truly ancient life might have been like show a variety of feeding practices, with in many places, very little exclusive bf (lots of bf, for a long time, but the baby's intake includes other stuff too, often from a young age). This does not mean other food from early on is a 'good thing'.

Orangesarenottheonlyfruit · 18/12/2009 11:19

My mum was weaned by 12 weeks and now has IBS. My SIL was given pureed Christmas lunch at 6 weeks and now has dreadful gut problems, that she only developed in her 40's. Although not a scientific study it is enough for me to not even think about it.

I say thank god for research and guidance and I shall continue to listen to it.

tiktok · 18/12/2009 11:23

Oranges - I agree. We know better, and understand better, and can take a clearer view of what infants are likely to need because of research.

Interesting that your mother suffers in adulthood and your SIL as an adult has gut problems. Not scientific, as you say, but there are plausible links with early feeding.

It really is pointless, even as anecdote, for people to cite their still-young-still-growing children as evidence that what they did with weaning was harmless.

We need to follow these kids for another 40 years!

awastingamanger · 18/12/2009 11:29

That's interesting Tiktok.

Pastoral fantasies of the urban elite making us hark back to 'good old days' that never were.

Early weaning from the breast is a modern phenomenon then. Presumably the condition of a breast-fed gut would help alleviate some of the problems caused by early introduction of solids?

peacocks · 18/12/2009 11:31

All the people saying they were early weaned with problems ARE saying the led to gut and immune issues.

We have a generation of children with us now that were early weaned -- by and large it doesn't have the immune issues that this generation has. And that's a fact. Or why the big debate on what's causing the immune problems of this generation?

ReindeerInaSkoda · 18/12/2009 11:35

I still want to know who these peadiatric specialists are that the OP talked to. But more importantly, I want to know why she started at 10.5 wks.

The only reason I can think of is that she was worried her baby wasn't getting enough energy - but surely there are far more calories in formula or breastmilk than pureed pear or carrots.

Might the OP be an undercover researcher or something? An HCP, or a Cow & Gate employee, testing the water?

RibenaBerry · 18/12/2009 11:36

As Tiktok has said, the evidence in connection with allergies is not that early weaning will cause problems in all babies. Many babies will be fine weaned at 17 weeks or so, but others, babies who are risk, will not. The vital thing is that you cannot tell from external examination which baby is which.

I think that this gets translated into general conversation as being allergy related and therefore as being to do with the explosion in allergies in recent years. However, that is likely to be due to a massive number of different environmental factors.

I guess what I'm saying is that the correlation between early weaning and allergies gets simplified down in popular culture and isn't necessarily reported accurately.

Also bear in mind that allergies are far more easily diagnosed now than in the past. In generations gone by, many families had 'sickly' members, and in some (not all by any means, some), that may have been undiagnosed gut or food intolerance problems.

RibenaBerry · 18/12/2009 11:38

Reindeer - she's been on other posts in the past. I don't think she's an uncover anything. I think she just has strong views and doesn't want people to disagree with her.

confuddledDOTcom · 18/12/2009 11:55

If she's saying her baby was early too then her baby isn't just 10 weeks being weaned.

I have a one year old who still prefers the breast, it seems like they don't eat much but I keep thinking and reminding myself that the stomach is the size of the fist and can double in size, so I think my LO is eating well really!

confuddledDOTcom · 18/12/2009 12:01

I forgot, people are being rather harsh on NetMums. Whilst I'm not really a fan and can see where a lot of MumsNetters are coming from they have a pinned article about early weaning and the mods to come in quick when someone posts about early weaning.

I never thought I'd say something so positive about them!

nappyaddict · 18/12/2009 12:06

OP - You say you have spoken to paediatric specialists. What medical condition does your lo have?

Reallytired · 18/12/2009 12:09

I think the OP is right. Baby trolls are ready for weaning at a different age to other baby mammals. I am sure that if you go gently with the pondweed and slugs your little one will be fine and beautifully green.

peacocks · 18/12/2009 12:12

Ribena, do disagree then that "we understand better"? Because according to you, we don't..

peacocks · 18/12/2009 12:18

and tbh it doesn't matter how you slice the cake

no, you can't tell externally which babies will be affected, but it's certain there will be more affected than there were in the middle to late years of the last century

otherwise why are we all so worried about it?

focussing on early weaning is like treating the symptoms rather than the cause..

something has made early weaning more dangerous but early weaning has got the blame for the allergy issues

for eg the nhs website page on weaning mentions NOTHING about nutrition -- instead early weaning increases infections and allergies, it says

so if you're complaining about a gap in understanding you can't blame it on popular culture or "conversation"

sweetkitty · 18/12/2009 12:23

I was weaned at 4 weeks onto mince and potatoes, not gravy and potatoes my Mother is proud of saying.

I was 6 weeks premature so weaned at -2 weeks old beat that

We all know that the more advanced your baby is the earlier you need to wean them and you must boast about it as well.

peacocks · 18/12/2009 12:23

"The reason early weaning is not recommended has really very little to do with allergies (apart from in babies with atopic tendencies anyway)...no matter what people say. It's to do with overall health and nutrition."

just read that again -- so so not true, unless you mean "no matter what the nhs says"

confuddledDOTcom · 18/12/2009 12:35

Maybe because it's not just early weaning giving our children's systems a battering anymore? Maybe formula is contributing too.

peacocks · 18/12/2009 12:36

i'm sure it's not just early weaning, late weaning, or any ways up weaning

so early weaning shouldn't get the blame, which it is

tiktok · 18/12/2009 12:45

peacocks - NHS leaflets saying not to wean early 'cos of allergies are over-stating the evidence.

there are many fine and sensible reasons why babies do not need weaning sooner than 6 mths let alone 4 mths. Allergies is not a strong contender for this.

peacocks · 18/12/2009 12:50

I completely agree with you -- said it earlier, nutritionally I see all the reasons.

My bugbear is blaming it for allergies. Not surprised the NHS is wrong and nice that you agree

RibenaBerry · 18/12/2009 13:08

peacocks - Sorry, I don't quite understand what you mean. We do know and understand more than we did in previous generations. We understand more about risk across a population. That doesn't mean that we can look at an individual baby and tell the risk to him.

RE "something has made early weaning more dangerous but early weaning has got the blame for the allergy issues"

I said in my last post that the increase in allegies was probably due to a large number of issues. However, research shows that, in some babies, early weaning can be a risk factor. I was talking about weaning and allrgies because this was a discussion about weaning and the topic had moved on to allergies. Had it been a general discussion on allergies, no, my focus would not have been solely on weaning. Like so many issues medical, it is a complex one. There are many other reasons for not weaning early, but I was responding to the discussion on that issue.

Regarding NHS leaflets, well I wouldn't necessarily take those as gospel on many things. According to the NHS website my DCs should have been sleeping through the night most nights at six months .

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