Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Protection built in.

Meet the Other Phone.
Protection built in.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Weaning

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

Original poster

is dd ready for weaning?

129 replies

gorge2003 · 10/01/2010 10:55

my 18 week old dd seems ready for weaning, she is drinking 9oz of aptamil (number 1) every 3-4 hours, she is chewing everything she canmanage to get to her mouth, chewing her tongue, she has started waking in the night to feed when she has previoously slept through til now, and whenever we eat she starts screaming...what do i do put her on hungry baby aptamil or introduce some baby rice?

OP posts:
Longtalljosie · 10/01/2010 21:50

Well, that's very odd. They work for the NHS, and the NHS guidance is that babies should not be weaned until 6 months. There are good reasons for this, including evidence the gut doesn't seal completely until 6 months, and the theory the upswing in food intolerances and allergies among our generation may be linked to early weaning in the 70s.

Of course, your baby may be fine - risks don't always turn out badly. But there's a difference between taking a risk yourself, and encouraging other people to take a similar risk. Which is probably why people are piling in - they are worried other people may take your advice.

roxy12 · 11/01/2010 11:14

well i was just giving my advice and i get slated for it!

if people want to take my advice then let them. its up to them.

its your own motherly instinct you should go by.
the mother knows there baby best!

BornToFolk · 11/01/2010 11:49

How is she after her 9oz bottle? Does she seem satisfied?

If she won't take milk more frequently than 3-4 hours then she's probably getting enough I think.

AitchTwoOhOneOh · 11/01/2010 12:15

roxy, honestly, our 'instincts' are governed by the culture we live in. yours, clearly, is one where weaning early onto sugary wheat snacks, is de rigeur, but it might interest you to know that in some places in India the medical community is having a terrible time trying to persuade women to 'ignore their motherly instincts' and wean their children before the age of two. 'but all our friends' children are fine', they counter.

roxy12 · 11/01/2010 12:51

aitchtwoohoneoh this is your opinion.

and i have stated my opinion so there is no point keep going on about it.

you know what i think and i know what you think!

my baby has reflux and i was told to wean early as it will help with his relfux.

i weaned at 3 months old, he is now 6 months old and he is off all his medication!

PROFESSIONALS did tell me to wean so i did and it has worked out for me and MY son!
he should have been on medication until he was 1 but funnily enough the solids have helped him and he is now on nothing.

Lulumama · 11/01/2010 13:16

ah, you see roxy, that makes all the difference

weaning under the advice of the medics due to reflux is a totally different ball game to weaning at 3 months coz you think your baby needs a rusk

when all the current advice goes against taht

if your had special circumstances and medical advice to wean earlier than the guidelines, then telling other women to do that is not particualrly appropriate, as on teh whole, healty babies can manage on milk perfectly well

Lulumama · 11/01/2010 13:17

also, it was hardly your mother' instinct if it was the medics who advised it, so hwo can you advise other women to do what you did ?

roxy12 · 11/01/2010 13:52

because i got advised to wean early but i didnt get advised to give my baby rusks.

i got told to wean early. not as early as 3 months but my motherly instinct was to start my son at 3 months

OK.

anyway i know my situation i really dont need to explain myself to people and let them know all my buissness an all the ins and outs

roxy12 · 11/01/2010 13:59

especially if they are just being rude.

advice is fine but the way i am reading this is people being rude.

Lulumama · 11/01/2010 14:02

well, the thing is, when you tell women your experiences, and to do something 3 months earlier than the current NHS guidelines, people do get cross and question it and there are a lot of people on this board who have researched weaning in great depth, aitch in particular is incredibly knowledgeable and has a website/blog rwe weaning, so it is not right just to say 'use your mother;s instincts'

your instincts cannot tell you if your baby is physically ready to take anything other than milk, there are signs/clues to readines you can look for, if you know what they are, but insticnt alone wont tell you

your baby has their whole life ahed of them to eat, 6 months or so on milk is not a problem for the majority of babies

this is a discussion board, so people don;t just take things at face value and people do get picked up on giving out wrong/misleading advice across the entire site

roxy12 · 11/01/2010 14:14

ok i understand what you are saying.

i would rather the advice and to say roxy, this isnt right and explain. but i have had quite a few harsh comments and that isnt fair.

if people think i am wrong then that is fine. please i would like some advice aswell as obviously i am wrong.

i just dont think it is fair to be rude to somebody's comment.

iliketobounce · 11/01/2010 14:18

Gorge - I had the same with my ds, he was eating 5 x 9oz bottles a day. The HV suggested I start weaning at 18wks which I did but ds just cried when I tried to spoon feed him. So we stopped the weaning and I just kept increasing the amount until he didn't finish the bottle. At one stage he was taking 14oz But this did decrease back to 9-10oz after a week or so, which goes with the theory of it being a growth spurt.

We then tried weaning again at 24 wks and blw this time and he is much happier and loves feeding himself!

Be careful with hungry baby formula as it made ds consipated, we just give it to him at his bedtime feed now. Although not sure it makes any difference to his sleeping...?

hth

ChristianaTheTwelfth · 11/01/2010 14:24

Message withdrawn

Lulumama · 11/01/2010 14:24

fair enough roxy.. and i don;t think there is any excuse for rudeness. i think some posters, prbably myself included, get a bit exasperated with early weaning threads, as they come up so often and people do lblithely advise women to use their instincts /ignore the guidelines as they 'change all teh time' / i was weaned at 5 weeks and i'm fine etc etc etc

if you read up about weaning, the pros and cons of weaning early/late or whatever, and make an informed choice to wean at 3 months, fair enough, but on the whole, i would err on teh side of weaning around 6 months, unless,like in your situation, you were advised to wean earlier due to health issues.

i am all fora mother's instincts when it comes to their child BUT not with weaning , as you cannot see if your baby's gut is mature enough for food

it tkaes 9 months or so for a baby to develop in utero, i think it would takemore than 3 months for that baby to be ready for anything other than milk

roxy12 · 11/01/2010 14:44

ok thankyou!

AitchTwoOhOneOh · 11/01/2010 17:01

lulu, for the record, no-one was rude to roxy.

and roxy, i'd already said that because the medics advised you to wean your son to help with his reflux, that's entirely different. that's a medical condition, you simply cannot extrapolate your experience to everyone else's.

seeker · 11/01/2010 17:11

roxy, you didn't mention your baby's medical condition when you said-

"Go with your own instinct. you no your baby better than anyone!
if she is hungry start her on a farleys rusk in the mornings. give her about a quater of a biscuit mixed with a bit of warm milk and then give the rest of the bottle after. just so she gets the taste of it.
if baby is really enjoying it then leave it a week and start giving half a rusk and carry on like that.

It is trial and error! but go for it. it wont harm!"

This is a grossly irresponsible post, and you should not have made it. It may well have caused people to make potentially damaging decisions about feeding their babies.

memoo · 11/01/2010 17:27

My 4 month old DD is taking a full bottle every few hours until midnight when she finally settles down for the night.

Its just the way it is with a young baby.

Mam do 11oz bottles so maybe you could get some of those and try giving your baby more milk, or or least try hungry baby formula as well beforebefore you jump staight onto weaning.

I know its hard work and exausting but this is your babies health!

My first 2 DC are 9 and 10 and I weaned them at 4 months because that is what the advice was at the time. Both of them developed asthma, might be coincidence but who knows.

Lulumama · 11/01/2010 17:36

ok, but roxy felt it was rude. i hope you did not take my mentioning you as, saying you were being rude, aitch, as you know i think you are the Voice of Reason i mentioned you in the context of your website x

roxy12 · 11/01/2010 17:37

seeker i have heard this all before so i really dont need to hear it from you. if you read the posts being made by other people then why is there the need for you to have a dig aswell!

there is no need!

aithchtwoohandoh- people were very harsh in the comments they were putting to me!

i compeletly understand what people were saying! i was just sharing my experience but i got rather slated for it!

anyway it is done now, i think i have got the hint dont you?

i was just putting my opinion across!
everyone is different in how they deal with there babys and i understand that people think it isnt healthy to start weaning there baby's but i was sharing my experience!

seeker- medical advice to start weaning ealry....i was not told to wean at 3 months old, i chose to do so myself! all what i have done is of my own back! yes i was advised to start early but as i said not that early!

i would have really appreciated for people to have said to me look roxy you have been given the wrong information and then advised me what to do not to to make comments like "roxy are you for real" and other comments! the way i have been reading reading these comments i have taken as people have been rude. maybe they havent but maybe its the way people have written it.

seeker · 11/01/2010 17:58

Roxy - what I don't understand is why you think it's OK to suggest that people follow your example - and even give suggestions as to how they should do it when every single medical authority says that you are wrong. I don't think you have answered this question.

roxy12 · 11/01/2010 18:24

well to be honest i didnt know i was wrong in what i was doing as i know alot of mums that have done the same as me WITHOUT MEDICAL ADVISE!

i now know that i might be wrong but i have been told by 4 health visitors that rusks were ok to give my son!

that is 4 ealth visitors.
GOD I MUST BE VERY UNLUCKY TO GET 4 HEALTH VISITORS TELLING ME THE SAME THING!

roxy12 · 11/01/2010 18:26

rusks were ok to give a 3 month old baby if i am corrected.

Ferncottage · 11/01/2010 18:34

a few years ago we were told to wean at 4 months (my children were and are both fine) and a few years before that at 3 months. How can one size possibly fit all? some babies must be starving by 6 months and possibly having their growth slowed down by not being weaned earlier - I'd go for it.

Ferncottage · 11/01/2010 18:39

I'm totally with you Roxy and yes a lot of people on Mumsnet are very rude, plus they don't have a sense of perspective - once one's children get a bit older one realises that researching weaning in great detail, like breast feeding, is not actually very important at all