A thought on introducing solids...

[NoodleSnack]

It's simple really;
Introducing solids at 4 months might cause allergies and issues such as IBS.
Sticking to just milk at 4 months will not.

I know which one I chose... I'm not fully convinced either but why take the risk with someone elses well being?

It's not conclusive that waiting till 6 months WILL not raise the risk of allergy, that's the topic being studied as raised by another poster.

 

[NoodleSnack]

Who would want the mess of weaning anyway? Before solids Sophie could easily wear the same clothes 3 days running. Not a spot of mess of her. Now I'm lucky if I get 3 hours out of an outfit.

As a FTM I know I got antsy about waiting when I saw that my son had all the signs of being ready and was interested in food, I didn't want to deprive him if he was developmentally ready to experience solids and different tastes and textures. So it was a tug of war between that and the guidelines, add to it the uncertainty with the current guidelines anyway, it's not a straight forward decision as some other posters had.

Now that I've weaned him, I realise that it's not that big a deal at all, with my next child I'll wean whenever I feel they are ready.

 

[Annie77]

I agree with the posters who have questioned why mums are so keen to start weaning due to the mess -omg it soooo messy lol!

However, at just over 16 weeks I am starting to question if I am going to start weaning my daughter or not. My gut feeling is that she does now need solids. I am breastfeeding and she is feeding much more often, sleeping much less and is not satisfied after feeding from both breasts. I expected a growth spurt and with additional feeding my breasts have been making extra milk - both sides are very very full and she empties both but still hungry.

This is my third baby, the heaviest yet (15lb) & my other two also started around 4 months, as per guidelines back then.

Does early weaning cause IBS & allergies - maybe, mabe not. I think there are lots of other factors involved. I am from a big family and and all my siblings and cousins (15 in total), our children and their children have all been weaned between 10 and 17 weeks. None of us have allergies, IBS, disorders of digestive tracts, obesity, diabetes or food intolerances. Maybe we just have lucky genes?

It's the 4 month sleep regression and growth spurt honestly if you can ride it out it gets better within 3-4 weeks xx

I've got to be honest, mine did exactly the same, and I rode it out for 5 weeks before one of my friends took me to one side and pointed out gently that I looked like I was dying. Her LO had been the same at that age, and she'd given a bit of baby rice and he'd started sleeping through in the traditional sense (i.e., 5 hours) and it had saved her sanity.

Of course, I tried it and it didn't work for me (I think we've hit the six month sleep regression without ever leaving the four month one) BUT LO had so much fun tasting food that I've continued giving him bits and pieces as we've gone along.

So, yeah, definitely try riding it out. Just don't feel you have to keep on going past the point where your friends start mistaking you for Patient Zero of the Zombiepocalypse.

To be honest I don't care if I look and feel like shit but my baby is miserable guys. She's not just a bit crabbit and ravenous - she is well and truly miserable; overtired and constantly unsettled. I want my smiley baby back. I have two other children who need me as well & are really acting out because of Erin's constant whinging. So i am going to go ahead with some solids in the hope that it helps my baby to become happier and restore harmony to the house.

I have no concerns about early weaning and allergies etc as per my original post so I think it is worth trying weaning now if it is going to help. I have never heard of 4 month sleep regression - is this a new term? Maybe I never heard of it when I had the othe two because with weaning at 4 months, myself and other mums probably didn't experience it?

 

[laodicean]

To be honest I don't care if I look and feel like shit but my baby is miserable guys. She's not just a bit crabbit and ravenous - she is well and truly miserable; overtired and constantly unsettled. I want my smiley baby back.

I'd have definitely started weaning earlier if this had been my baby. As it was he seemed to be satisfied with waking me up every hour and half to feed overnight. Trouble is, because of how I've learned to sleep thanks to the many, many night shifts I've done over the past 10yrs, this equated to me only getting a maximum of 2hrs broken sleep a night. He was fine, but I was in pieces, and unable to play with him or take him anywhere during the day. So, not good for my baby either, but for different reasons. A smiley baby needs a smiley mummy from time to time, otherwise how else are they going to learn the social benefits of smiling!

As for the four month sleep regression, I think that's just the internet putting a name to the fact that at around 4mths, babies become so interested in their environment that they don't want to sleep anymore! It's always happened, but it was just accepted as babies being babies.

 

[summer rain]

4 month sleep regression is where they start sleeping in very short cycles again like newborns not all babies go through it but many do, it used to be advised to start weaning at 4 months because of the tendency towards this regression in sleeping patterns and it was thought solids were the cure-however in many cases they make no difference and in those cases where they seem to there isn't any hard evidence it definitely was the food that helped. I started my eldest on solids at 16 weeks because that was the earliest advised age then, and he was a poor sleeper he also had reflux it didn't help either problem and he ended up with chronic constipation, poor chap xx