Did anyone wean before 4 months?

[thymes2]

Hello! This is my first post.
My baby is 14 weeks old and mainly breastfed. Because she seems to struggle to get full I give her at least one bottle of formula per day (usually at night time so she'll sleep for a longer time. She seems very interested in our meals and I'm thinking of weaning her early. I'd like to hear about peoples experiences of weaning before the recommended 6 months and any advice.

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So, on the 90 th percentile - does that not mean only 10% of babies weigh more than him now??

I said I was doing what I knew was right, I mention reserch because you seem to have alot of faith in what you were saying.

But you asked me what research I had done?? Why ask if you clearly dont want to know??

Yeah right. Why don't you people feed your own fears and leave others alone.

The recommendations of organisations change all the time, just look at what was said about SIDS ten to twenty years before and what they are talking now. Ridiculous.

What norash meant is that, in the same way kids develop different in terms of sitting, etc, also kids internal organs and organism might develop not all in the same pace.

Your kid might get eczema and neurodermitis from things you might not even consider today and are not in your control.

Anyway, recommendations are just recommendations and are not supposed to replace your own thinking and decision making.

At the end of the day mummy knows best.

BTW: Kids in Africa are weaned from about 2 months and seem to be just fine.

As I said before: Feed your own fears, not ours.

My ds3 was born 2and a half years ago and the advice then was 4 months.

ds4 is now 6 months old and the advive this time was 6 months of age.

When dd and ds1 were born it was from 12 weeks and with ds2 it changed yet again to 4 months.

Not many new mothers look up the advice of the WHO, they take advice from their HV's who (in my case) gave me the above advice or they read their baby manuals which a year or two down the line will be giving wrong advice.

Mums are in a very difficult situation to know what to do for the best without other well-meaning know-alls looking down on them for doing things differently to them. You read the advice, weigh up the pros and cons then make your choice and live with it. Everyone should be able to do that without being made to feel guilty.

Eh?? Shall we shy away from the 10 year old WHO guidelines and say they are trying to scare us???

Shall we misinform mothers and hide research?

No one said not to consider the advice, I am mearly making the point that, you and other people like you seem to think that anything that is not a guidline is wrong.

Yes, people should make their own choice but based on the correct information. It is simply wrong to say that giving correct information is done to scare people. I dont care what you do with your babies but I do think everyone should be entitled to the correct information. I'd hate someone to read something not true and believe it to be so.

Babies guts do not develop at under 16 weeks old. I cant change that fact. It is not the same as walking etc.

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No, do whatever you want. Research is accessible for everybody on the internet. Everybody who is not completely illiterate will find the research they need.

This thread was informational about who is weaning before 4 months, thats all. Its not inquisition. So back off.

Giving solids at 12 weeks goes against all medical advice. That is not scare mongering you. IF you are so confident then why stress about what I am saying.

I wasn't getting into all the WHO guidelines etc but was saying weaning is a faff why start 2 months early when you can get away with it. I fail to understand how the tiny amounts of baby rice/ veg purees babies get to start with makes any difference to them sleeping or feeling more satisfied.

Every mum does what she thinks is best for her baby, I think the best thing is to look at all the advice then make a decision based on that.

I don't understand this obsession with weaning babies like it's a race and somehow your baby is cleverer if started on solids at 3 months as opposed to say 4 or 6. It is pressurising though when friends/HVs/parents are constantly asking you from about 2 months when you are going to start solids.

Why are you getting so hung up on the sitting,walking stuff?

So, it's okay to give advice to encourage someone to go against medical advice and wean at 14 weeks but not okay to explain the other way?

I weaned dd when she hit 16 weeks as per the recommendation at the time - she loved her solids and consequently stopped bfing totally when she was 7 months .
I plan to bf my bruiser of a 10 week old ds until he is at least 6 months - he loves his grub and I love bfing him. In a way I will be sad when the time comes when I must 'pollute' his body with normal food - I love the fact that he is growing and thriving on my milk!

That seems to be problem with mothers in the western world. They don't know anything intuitively anymore.

But as said before, if you want to follow the guidelines of WHO, just do it, but leave the ones alone who give a damn sh*t about what WHO and other organisations say.

...Yes, but bear in mind, your milk production will drop when baby starts getting nutrition from elsewhere. Personally I think breastmilk is the best possible source of food, (made especially and uniquely for your baby) and should be maintained for as long as possible. Breastmilk RULES!

Because it was used as a confirmation that babies guts can be ready for solids at 12 weeks. IT is simply not a valid comparison.

Oh for heavens sake, nobody is 'making' anyone feel guilty, or 'feeding fears' or any of this unpleasant nonsense.
Early weaning has risks. You can say 'oh research' but research is how we find out things have risks.
It is normal for weight gain to slow as children get older and are more active otherwise we'd all be eleven feet high and weigh tons!
My dd is 99th centile for height and solely breastfed at five months. Yes, of course, we all have wobbles about our ability to satisfy our babies. It's totally natural, but passing on health advice that has the backing of the most important health advisors in the world is hardly scaremongering?
Do you think that when it was discovered that smoking caused lung cancer nobody should have said anything in case it frightened people???
Bizarre.
And yes, I weaned my son just before four months because I didn't know any better then.

i was waiting til 6 months to wean ds.

but at 4.5 months he started becoming unsettled at night, waking 3-4 times where he was sleeping through before.
he used to cry when he saw us eating!
he would whinge and whine all day
he cried after his bottles were finished, but refused more... or if he took it would be sick because he'd had too much.

so i weaned. he started sleeping through again. he was mroe content... he was definitely ready for it.

i am very much pro sticking to the guidleines IF YOU CAN. however, i don't see the point in having an unhappy child if you can do something to help.
if weaning at 4 months was really so terrible then most of us on here owuld have exzema, gut problems etc etc...

So are you saying when someone asks if it's okay to wean at 14 weeks, we should hide current medical research?

actually a lot of people do have excema etc and irritable bowel syndrome not to mention being obsese.......

You do what you want with your children

I know I am doing the best for my DD by having waited till 6 months, I will regret nothing in later life if she does go on to develop asthma or excema I will know I did the best for her based on the current guidelines (a decade of information from the World Health Organisation)

It is sad that you will not be able to say the same but that is your lookout unfortunately and your babies'

yes, they do. and so do a lot of children who weren't weaned until 6 months.

i'm not saying that i would actively encourage early weaning... but in SOME cases, it's better than having a hungry, unhappy baby.
i wouldn't have done it if i didn't think that ds really needed it