Have I missed somthing regarding weening guidlines?

[smokey]

Back last week I remember reading a thread about how someones HV told them it was false about digestive system being to imature before 6 months.

Well the other day I was talking to MIL and she works at my surgery so spends alot of the time sitting around nattering to the mw and hv there and one of the hv told her aparently the info they where giving out about weaning guidlines has changed again and they have to go back to saying its better to wean at 17 weeks????

Has anyone else heard anything like this?

I stick by my decision to wean at 6 months, we tried it at 4 it didnt work for us, I know its worked for some and great whatever works best for you but im just confused as to if the guidlines have changed again and why.

No wonder new mums are confused all the time and unsure if they are doing things for the best if the "experts" cant even make their minds up.

 

[trumpetbum]

There's a bit of confusion right now about this I think.
There is evidence which compares children weaned before 17 weeks to children weaned after 6 months, and the former group had more allergies and health problems but little evidence on the time frame in between.
The guidelines (I've heard) are changing to reflect this and to allow babies to wean on an individual developmental basis after 17 weeks, although it is still widely thought that the closer to the 6 months the better. It's definitely NOT changing to 'better at 17 weeks' and I think these new guidelines will need to be pretty clear to avoid this kind of misinterpretation.
In terms of exclusively breastfed babies the advice will remain 6 months +

It's covered pretty well in this thread. hth.
https://www.babyandbump.com/baby-club/407764-solids-before-6-months.html

 

[BradysMum]

Its another one of those what works best for you situations I believe. Some babies just aren't ready before 6 months, Brady wasn't, Jacob was. Jake has been having cereal from 4.5 months and did great. He just needed something more.

 

[mrsthomas623]

I was doing some online surfing through weaning info and came across an article that stated that weaning was important to do between 4 and 6 months to prevent allergies to certain foods. I don't remember where I read this or the validity of it. I think as moms, we will know when our child is ready because (shockingly) our babies don't read and follow all the guidelines!

One of my good friends daughter is 5 days younger than Nolan and she was telling me that in a week or two she was going to start cereal and asked when I was going to start. I just had to look and her, laugh and tell her that Nolan still gags on his bottle.. there is no way he is ready for a spoon!

 

[Kate&Lucas]

Haha, it wouldn't surprise me! After getting a million different bits of advice from a million different health professionals I decided months ago to go on my gut. Someone has to be full of sh** and heck if I'm going to listen to them

 

[smokey]

Haha, it wouldn't surprise me! After getting a million different bits of advice from a million different health professionals I decided months ago to go on my gut. Someone has to be full of sh** and heck if I'm going to listen to them

I agree
I do generaly go with what my hv says as she generaly agrees with me on alot of things about how I am raising him (she isnt a very by the book hv)
but this one wasnt my hv so thats why I was a bit "oooo not sure" as I dont know her.
I havnt actualy seen my hv for about 4 months as I dont thikn I realy need her anymore but she phones every other month just to ask how evrythings going

 

[Kate&Lucas]

I only ever saw my HV once and I only got two MW visits (one by a student) - so if they tried giving me ANY advice on Lucas I think I'd punch them in the face

 

[Gingerspice]

I was under the impression anyway that way, that the only reason they say 6 months is because 98% (a made up stat btw) of babies will be ready to wean by this point, so saying 6 months will allow anybody who is unsure whether to stat a defined age that is ok and suitable to do so. I weaned early, because my LO was showing all the signs, it was my judgement that this was acceptable, which like any advice I think is how it should work.

Also, it is 17 weeks from the due date, so if LO is a late arrival then it may well be the case they are showing signs earlier, as their due date may have been 4 weeks earlier: (although I personally would still not introduce before 17 weeks after arrival)

https://www.annabelkarmel.com/nutrition/babies-6-months/introducing-solids

 

[marie-louise]

Yes Matthew's paediatric dietician told me this a few months ago, she said that the guidelines will be that unless the child is exclusively breastfed you may begin weaning from 17 weeks, we started at this age and he was more than ready, all depends on the child

 

[SarTheBear]

Hi ladies, out of interest (sorry if this is a dumb question) why is it 6months for a bf baby?(my LO is BLW'd from 6months and fully BF)
Sorry to hijack your thread.
Xx

 

[Kate&Lucas]

As far as I'm aware it's because BF babies don't need the extra nutrition.

 

[Sam9kids]

It is crazy how it keeps changing!!

My first was born in 1996 and i was advised to wean him at 12 weeks and i did. My next was born 18 months after him and i just did the same with her and the 2 after.

Then i had a gap of a few years and it had changed and i was advised 4 months which i did.

Then it changed to 6!!!! Confused.com!!!

SO i just did what i felt right and Jenson was 5 months

 

[bluebaby]

I honestly think that nobody really knows whats truely right/best for babies. Information keeps changing all the time and instead of the information helping out new mums it just makes them more confused.

I think that mothers should just see how their baby is getting on and judge for themselves when they are ready to wean.

Mum's always know best

 

[hivechild]

As far as I'm aware it's because BF babies don't need the extra nutrition.

It actually has more to do with their digestive systems and the stomach lining. I've not got the source handy but I'm sure someone will come along with it soon, but the basic gist of it is that breastmilk has a protective coating to it that lines the stomach and prevents foreign agents entering the blood stream through small perforations that are present in an infant's tummy while their digestive system is maturing. The closer to 6 months you can keep their digestive system 'virginal' for lack of a better word, the better.

Since formula doesn't have that same coating, the body has already been exposed to foreign bodies (cow's milk proteins etc. in the formula), so in that sense, I think it matters less if you wean closer to 17 weeks than 26.

 

[Kate&Lucas]

Fair enough

 

[bump_wanted]

well we tried Ollie at 19 weeks and he was no where near ready he was gagging and spat the whole thing out at me so i'll be waiting a few more weeks and trying again...i think once you try them its pretty obvious if they are ready or not

xx

 

[smokey]

I honestly think that nobody really knows whats truely right/best for babies. Information keeps changing all the time and instead of the information helping out new mums it just makes them more confused.

I think that mothers should just see how their baby is getting on and judge for themselves when they are ready to wean.

Mum's always know best

Untill they become the grandmothers then they dont

 

[bluebaby]

I honestly think that nobody really knows whats truely right/best for babies. Information keeps changing all the time and instead of the information helping out new mums it just makes them more confused.

I think that mothers should just see how their baby is getting on and judge for themselves when they are ready to wean.

Mum's always know best

Untill they become the grandmothers then they dont

so right

 

[smokey]

well we tried Ollie at 19 weeks and he was no where near ready he was gagging and spat the whole thing out at me so i'll be waiting a few more weeks and trying again...i think once you try them its pretty obvious if they are ready or not

xx

which is what we did, I thought he might be ready as he showed all the signs that where advised about but it just wasnt for him yet at the time.
He wasnt gagging or anything I just wasnt happy about how his poo suddenly changedand thought his tummy just may not be ready, could have even been just the teething and nothing to do with solids but no harm in waiting a bit longer if your unsure

 

[hivechild]

Fair enough

I should have clarified that i meant why 6m for bf vs ff btw, because obviously milk meets their nutritional needs for the first 6m (and the vast majority of them for the first year), regardless of whether it's bm or formula!