is dd ready for weaning?

[gorge2003]

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?

Interestingly (well, IMO) my Grandma reckons that in the 1950 6 months was the recommended
weaning age.
And she never pureed just mashed whatever they were having.

yup, and in the 30s it was common for weaning to take place at 8 or 9 months. i think the gist is that food manufacturers in the 50s and 60s marketed to earlier babies because they are more passive and therefore can be 'fed', iykwim? plus, a few more months of jars and they're in the money.

Just checked rhe tusks in Morrisons. The all say 'any age - 4 to 6 months'

Bad enough but not as bad as the picture Roxy paints.

i have just gone back to the thread i posted a while back and i do apologies but i didnt start to wean until 4 months old.

i thought it was 3 months but it wasnt it was 4 months because i asked for advice on here before i started weaning and my son was 4 months.

sorry for the miss understanding!

tusks lol

so if my son was 4 months then would 4 health visitors be right to say that he can have rusks?

or is that still bad?

Babies should not have any food except milk until 6 months. However if you are, for whatever reason, going to give them solid food before then, then anything with wheat and sugar - like rusks - is probably not a good idea.

I'd love to know more about these 4 health visitors. I think they were imposters pretending to be health visitors.

ok!

2 of them work at my doctors, they work at the baby clinic there every wednesday!

the other one was at a clinic that my friend goes to with her baby!

and someone that i know knows a health visitor, wether this one was a health visitor i dont know!

So report them. They are giving out seriously outdated advice. Or tell me where they work and I'll report them.

I agree to report them I actually reported a HV who was banging on quite forcefully to wean ds at 4 months and he also had reflux and due to the reflux I chose not to wean early in fact put it off a bit longer as intorducing solids to a baby with reflux can (not definately will) actually make the reflux worse as it can thicken up the vomit/acis caused by the reflux and prolong the pain of the acid rising.
(this information came from my own research and the advice and discussion with a paed)

Also Roxy I generally don't get involved in these things but am genuinely shocked that 4 hv advocated weaning onto rusks.
Yes I have met the odd few that go on baby rice but a rusk is just a biscuit loaded with sugar and empty calories and despite that the information ont he box says are really not a suitable first food at all.
In fact there is probably as much if not more sugar and things in a rusk as there is in a Fromage yogurt (which was someone I knows weaning food for their baby at 3 months) and most people wouldn't think that a suitable weaning food wither.

ineedacleaner yes 4 health visitors gave me this information!

I really didnt look on the pack to see how much sugar was in rusks. i just assumed they were ok as i was given this information!

i am a first time mum to my son so i would take the advice of a health visitor straight away (especially 4 HV) so i was confident about rusks!

obviously from this thread i have learnt that this isnt such a good idea and i will be complaining about these HV, and i will also be writing to Heinz about there product (rusks)

I am very disgusted actually that i was given this information. i am very upset as my little boy has been having these from 4 months old.
My family have done this and we have all been fine but that is obviously just luck.

Through this thread i have learnt alot.

When i go onto have more children i will be thinking again and doing it different to my son.
I just pray my son will be ok in the long run as i have abviously taken a risk but as i have said previously, i didnt realise what rusks or weaning early can cause.

Oh Roxy don't be sad about it.
None of us (shhhh don't tell anyone though) are ever perfect and all we can do is the best we can with the information we have at the time. So please please don't beat yourself up about it and cause yourself endless worry god parenting is hard enough without it.

The reason these threads do get so heated and passionate though is because it can be a careless attitude to say that well my mum/gran/auntie etc did this and we are all fine while ignoring proven research and guidlines that are there for a reason.
The point being is that there are examples like my gran having my dad 60 years ago in hospital women were positively encouraged to smoke (while still on ward) because it would help ease the stress of a new baby, now my dad and others of his generation are healthy but also we would be appalled at this kind of attitude now. So people do get passionate and frustrated because science and knowledge does move on and i'm sire there are 80/90 year old women out there still going go on have a fag while you're feeding him it'll help with the stress

oh my god, really. bloody hell i would never have a fag with my baby in the room.

life is mad!

thankyou for your advice and help!

roxy - really, don't feel guilty. You were badly let down by the professionals who really have no excuse whatsoever for spouting this crap.

Parents should be able to have absolute trust and confidence that the healthcare professionals they see and rely on for advice are following the best and latest guidelines. It is a scandal that this still does not happen.

Don't be sad, Roxy. There is a 99% chance that your ds will be fine - most children are. The reason people (including me) got cross is that you started off by passing on the misinformation you had been given. I was lucky - I got good advice. You were unlucky - you got bad advice. That's the luck of the draw.But you can now be one of the people passing on good advice - and that's brilliant!

thankyou seeker! i appreciate that!

I will be passing on good advice now!

just read this ob lll website -very interesting!

Weaning as a Natural Process

I thought 6 months was just a government guideline and as everybody is different your baby may be ready. They say babies are more prone to allergies/diseases if weaned prior to this however, I was a 60s baby and them days all babies were weaned by 3 months. At school I don't remember anyone having all the allergies that children seem to be suffering from these days so I don't get where the government get their findings from.

My aunt was telling me how she gave her boys full fat cows milk as soon as the health visitor left (boiled and cooled) :O.

I don't think they just relied on your school, redboxer.

2 hrs ago my health visiter told me to start to give my 15week ds baby rice. Slightly confused by all of the conflicting advice. I weaned ds1 and dd at 4 mths and had no problems and both children love their food and will eat anything.

ds2 is now 16lbs sitting upright and from going through the night he is now waking 2 to 3 times a night. When I queried HV she said that the WHO 6 mth guidance was for 3rd World Countries only.

i was just making a point that allergies were rare back in those days compared to now that is all

The thing is, people who are happy with the idea of weaning early do tend to weigh in with the 'I was weaned early and I'm fine', 'X was weaned early and they're fine' anecdotal evidence.

My brother was weaned very early (60s baby) and has IBS. I wasn't (mum had learned to ignore HVs by then), and I'm fine. Again, it's just more anecdotal evidence. But I guess if people prefer to listen to that than official guidelines, it will be their family history they tend to follow.

apparently studies are still not conclusive

www.tripanswers.org/answer.aspx?criteria=&tagtrail=%2Fallergy%2F&qid=528&src=0

Underne ath this report are some references. I opened the No.1 which is the Department of Health report. No.4 & 5 refer to exclusively breastfeeding, there's no mention of formula feeding.

No. 10 reads:What about parents who choose not
to follow the new recommendations?
10.1 Parents should be advised of the risks
associated with weaning before the neuro
muscular co-ordination has developed
sufficiently to allow the infant to eat solids.
Solid foods should not be offered before
four months (COMA 199423). However, if an
infant is showing signs of being ready to start
solid foods before six months, for example,
sitting up, taking an interest in what the rest
of the family is eating, picking up, and tasting
finger foods then they should be encouraged.

Roxy Why don't you make some of your own rusks then you can make them healthy and sugar free. Here are some examples I found:

1 cup of oats
1 cup of ground oats (grind oats and make a coarse oat flour)
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon or ginger or cardamom (we'd try it with a mixture of all spices.)
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 overripe bananas, mashed
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 teaspoons oil of choice

Directions:

Mix dry, mix wet, add wet to dry. Drop by the spoonful onto parchment paper or greased baking sheet. Bake 12-15 min at 350F.

1 cup wholegrain rice flour (can make your own my grinding any brown rice)
1/4 cup butter (or you can use a bit more water instead)
1 cup of vegetable or fruit puree

Method:

Combine all ingredients to form a stiff dough, add a little water if needed.
Roll into 6cm fingers and place on a lined baking tray.
Cook for 20-25 minutes until lightly browned.
Leave to cool and store in an airtight container in the fridge or freezer.

For interest and information, I have my Gran in laws copy of the 17th edition Truby King "Mothercraft" MIL was born in 1950. It mentions nothing of introducing solids until 6 months, the focus actually being around 9 months.

Mind you it also says "It is of little use opening the window one or two inches only - it should be flung right up from the bottom. Do not be afraid of fresh pure night air. It is every bit as good for baby as fresh pure day air. Of course if you own a balcony or porch, baby will be far better outside all night than inside"

At least I'd get a good nights sleep!!