How do you manage to wait till 6 months before 'weaning'?

[Rachel_C]

I think the 'issue' is parental perception in 99% of cases where babies are weaned before 6 months. Most babies will be perfectly happy on milk alone until at least 6 months as long as they're fed on demand. That could mean feeding every 4 hours or it could mean every 2 hours or it could be more often than that sometimes. That isn't a problem for a baby - milk is the best food for them, it's what their body needs and as long as they're getting milk when they need it, it's perfect. The problem occurs when parents have ideas about how often a baby should need milk. If you honestly believe that they shouldn't be feeding more often than every 4 hours or 3 hours or 2 hours, you're going to see it as a problem and think your baby needs more than milk, when they don't, they just need milk more often than you're prepared to give it.

I think it's really sad when people say things like "I don't care when anybody else weans their baby". We know that early weaning can cause health issues, it's not just that people don't like the idea because solids are messy or some other daft reason. Modern research tells us that early weaning is potentially harmful - that is the best we know at the moment. Okay so sometimes things get heated and people get offended when people point out the risks, but I'd much rather be told I'm doing something potentially dangerous and "feel offended" (whatever that actually means) than be around people who don't care about the health of my children. I want people to care, even if they reach different conclusions about what's best.

 

[babydust1990]

I think the 'issue' is parental perception in 99% of cases where babies are weaned before 6 months. Most babies will be perfectly happy on milk alone until at least 6 months as long as they're fed on demand. That could mean feeding every 4 hours or it could mean every 2 hours or it could be more often than that sometimes. That isn't a problem for a baby - milk is the best food for them, it's what their body needs and as long as they're getting milk when they need it, it's perfect. The problem occurs when parents have ideas about how often a baby should need milk. If you honestly believe that they shouldn't be feeding more often than every 4 hours or 3 hours or 2 hours, you're going to see it as a problem and think your baby needs more than milk, when they don't, they just need milk more often than you're prepared to give it.

I think it's really sad when people say things like "I don't care when anybody else weans their baby". We know that early weaning can cause health issues, it's not just that people don't like the idea because solids are messy or some other daft reason. Modern research tells us that early weaning is potentially harmful - that is the best we know at the moment. Okay so sometimes things get heated and people get offended when people point out the risks, but I'd much rather be told I'm doing something potentially dangerous and "feel offended" (whatever that actually means) than be around people who don't care about the health of my children. I want people to care, even if they reach different conclusions about what's best.

I'm one of those that don't care. A, because its not of my business what people do with their children and B, most people know the guidelines but choose to ignore them so why beat a dead horse?

 

[Scottish mum]

Lozzy21 I know my baby's feeding very well but needless to say he's not just on solids because of the reason given it was also to do with the fact he was constantly watching us eat he was waking more in the night even extra milk would not stop him waking he always wated more so I spoke to a hv and she said go for it see how he gets on with some baby rice once a day and I've never looked back! Now that's just my baby every baby is different and I think that's what some people are forgetting!! Prior to my lo starting solids he only ever had milk I was never tempted to try him with anything until HE was ready. ; )

 

[Emerald87]

TBH I'm not sure what you mean, if a 4 week old is still hungry an hour later, then give them more boob or another bottle. 3-4 hours is pretty good for that age, many 4 week olds will be waking for food hourly, 24/7. My 1st was 9lb 3oz but had reflux so a bad example, but my 5 month old (smaller, 8lb 7oz born) is on 100th percentile but just takes a lot of boob, so he's fine without solids. I don't see a big deal about 4-6 months at all but I don't see how anyone could say a 4 week old can't be full on milk alone without serious medical issue?

I'm with Aliss. My also 5 month old is off the charts (9kg/19.8lbs) and until a few days ago I satiated her appetite with boobie alone. Sure, some days that'd be every hour, but that's how it's suppose to be.
We've introduced solids at 5 months due to new immunology guidelines. Had they been unchanged, she would still be waiting until 6 months for solids.

Hi Emerald, I'm in Australia too. What are the new guidelines? Do you have a link?

Hiya! New guidelines are through paediatricians and immunologists but the WHO and NHMRC are currently reviewing their official guidelines (changes haven't been made just yet).
From the ABA site:

The advice to begin solids before 6 months is based on several recent population studies, mostly from Europe. These have suggested that introduction and frequent exposure to food allergens from 4-6 months reduce the risk of allergies rather than increase it. This is opposite to what the old guidelines assumed. No study has shown that delaying allergenic foods beyond 6 months results is a lower risk of allergy - rather the opposite.

The paper is here:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19685855

Hope that helps

 

[randomrach]

At 4 weeks old my LO was hungry every 2.5-3 hrs and just had milk. By 3-4 months she was sttn and started dropping down the percentiles (she was born in the 91st) as she wasn't drinking enough and wouldn't take more milk or more often. Weaned at 4 1/2 months when she could sit up fairly well and she had stopped pushing food out with her tongue, she had no problems swallowing. She loves her food and takes everything I have as well, she's now in the 51st percentile and hasn't moved out of it in months so I'm happy with when I decided to wean. All babies are different and most are sustained easily on milk until 6 months. If my LO had wanted bottles during the night until 6 months it wouldn't have bothered me and I wouldn't have weaned.

 

[Twister]

Yes every baby is different but giving solids at 1 month old, is quite a bit different to someone offering solids at 4 months as opposed to 6 months. No baby is ready for solids at 1 month old.

 

[beth_terri]

I didn't my lo is 5 months and is on solids! Every baby is different its crap that you have to wait 6 months!! My lo was demanding milk before he was due for it and showing lots of signs that his milk was no longer enough. He thrives on his solids. If you feel lo is ready try a bit but not before 4 months as milks still important for there development x

Baby is due for it when ever they are hungry. Are you hungry at exactly 8,12 and 5? I doubt it and babys are no different.

Have you never got into a routine feeding your kids then? Because what I think Scottish mum meant by that was her babies NORMAL routine was changing and therefore showing signs that more food was needed. She chose solids here at 5 months.

 

[Liberty8888]

And I have to say sorry as harsh as it may sound, people not caring about fellow people's children is one of the reasons why we have such a problem with obesity and why so much tax payers money is going on trying to help people over come weight issues - maybe if we all listened a bit closer to the guidelines and cared a bit more, we wouldn't have so many people dying or seriously ill from weight associated illnesses.

 

[readytotry]

I didn't my lo is 5 months and is on solids! Every baby is different its crap that you have to wait 6 months!! My lo was demanding milk before he was due for it and showing lots of signs that his milk was no longer enough. He thrives on his solids. If you feel lo is ready try a bit but not before 4 months as milks still important for there development x

Baby is due for it when ever they are hungry. Are you hungry at exactly 8,12 and 5? I doubt it and babys are no different.

Have you never got into a routine feeding your kids then? Because what I think Scottish mum meant by that was her babies NORMAL routine was changing and therefore showing signs that more food was needed. She chose solids here at 5 months.

But still, why was food needed, why didn't she think "ok babies routine is changing he now needs MILK more frequently". Why are solids the answer?

 

[babydust1990]

And I have to say sorry as harsh as it may sound, people not caring about fellow people's children is one of the reasons why we have such a problem with obesity and why so much tax payers money is going on trying to help people over come weight issues - maybe if we all listened a bit closer to the guidelines and cared a bit more, we wouldn't have so many people dying or seriously ill from weight associated illnesses.

You can't MAKE someone listen though. If someone asks advice, I will happily pop in my 2 pence. Other than that I stay out of it because their views are ingrained and nothing you say will change them. Despite all the lovely, helpful advice posted on here today, and her HV telling her the guidelines, OP still doesn't think she did anything wrong so that's that then! I'm not gonna lose any sleep over it...

 

[readytotry]

I didn't my lo is 5 months and is on solids! Every baby is different its crap that you have to wait 6 months!! My lo was demanding milk before he was due for it and showing lots of signs that his milk was no longer enough. He thrives on his solids. If you feel lo is ready try a bit but not before 4 months as milks still important for there development x

Baby is due for it when ever they are hungry. Are you hungry at exactly 8,12 and 5? I doubt it and babys are no different.

Have you never got into a routine feeding your kids then? Because what I think Scottish mum meant by that was her babies NORMAL routine was changing and therefore showing signs that more food was needed. She chose solids here at 5 months.

But still, why was food needed, why didn't she think "ok babies routine is changing he now needs MILK more frequently". Why are solids the answer?

Sorry, didn't mean to specifically talk about scottishmummy here, meant more generally people who wean "early".

 

[lovelylaura]

I still can't believe people give there baby food at 4 weeks, I've researched almost everything to do with my girls I did wean 'early' with both my girls around 17ish weeks but poppy was sitting up and she was mostly blw so didn't really have much and freya had reflux and it made a huge difference to her but I wouldn't even say it was proper weaning I would forget to give them food for days and they were weaned onto fresh vegetables and fruit. I don't understand how you can be part of a parenting forum and be unaware of how bad it is to give a 4 week old food? They need milk! They have growth spurts! And yes baby's don't sleep! Why do you think most mums look like zombies for months! If you do not listen to everyone's horror at you giving a baby food at 4 weeks and not realise how wrong that is I'm shocked. I'm not saying I'm a perfect mum but I would take lots of people saying it's wrong and listen x

 

[NoodleSnack]

Breast milk and formula have more fat and calories than baby rice or puréed carrots. So if your baby is really hungry, milk is going to be more filling than anything you can give a baby who is younger than 6 months.

I think there's a difference bewteen something that's high volume (or stays in the tummy for longer) and something that's high calorie, say a bowl of salad vs a piece of toast. Solid keeps them full for longer because it stays in their tummy longer, but doesn't provide them as much energy.

To OP: one month old shouldn't have anything other than breast milk or formula because their digestive system can't properly handle it yet. Sounds like your daughter displayed normal newborn behavior and most of us just feed them milk or formula. Myself, as an adult, gets hungry every 3/4 hours (it is recommended that we have small snacks in between meals) so I wouldn't expect a baby to last longer than I could.

 

[Scottish mum]

Don't worry I don't mind being highlighted hehe. I just knew for my baby it was time! He's a growing big boy and loves his milk/food. He's 5 months not likes hes weeks old and it was my choice. Every parent decides to do things differently I would hope in accordance with there own lo.

The obesity remark is just silly!! It's common bloody sense hello !! X

 

[weejenb]

But still, why was food needed, why didn't she think "ok babies routine is changing he now needs MILK more frequently". Why are solids the answer?

This. My LO needed fed every 2.5-3 hours at that age and sometimes still does now, so he gets milk. As many others have said, the guidelines are there for a reason, not because one doctor just decided that 6 months would be the right age!
OP, your HV wants reporting for being ok with weaning so early.

 

[aliss]

OP, I said what I said out of genuine concern that you do not seem to understand the reasoning/health/safety reasons to not give a 4 week old a rusk.

Hey, I am not perfect. When my reflux baby screamed 24/7, my OH's friends said "it's time to let him cry it out". He was one WEEK old. And he had a broken collarbone. So sure enough, we did it that night. It didn't work, obviously.

- Can you imagine a 7 day old reflux baby with a broken collarbone being left alone to cry??? It's horrible. And yet, I did it!!! I did!! -

I was uneducated on baby sleep patterns and normal newborn behaviour. That is not an insult, it is true. A person who has education on newborn sleep patterns or eating does not do things like leave them to cry it out (me) or give a 4 week old a rusk (you).

Is it common sense? Well, I'd say NO. Because common sense is not common, especially when you have a trusted adult like your mother telling you otherwise.At least you were young - I was 26??

So, it happened. That's fine. Now what? You can't sit here until you are blue in the face and try to justify that it's okay to give a 4 week old a rusk because you don't understand newborn feeding patterns. I can't sit here and justify it's okay to leave a newborn to cry it out to "fix" his sleeping problem.

We both know better. So, we can just admit we took some bad advice, that's the past, we can move on from it. If there is one thing we can all agree on, is that at one point or another, we've all done something not okay (to varying degrees of severity). It's fine. They'll all survive! But we're not perfect.

It's only ignorance the first time you learn otherwise, right?

 

[lozzy21]

I didn't my lo is 5 months and is on solids! Every baby is different its crap that you have to wait 6 months!! My lo was demanding milk before he was due for it and showing lots of signs that his milk was no longer enough. He thrives on his solids. If you feel lo is ready try a bit but not before 4 months as milks still important for there development x

Baby is due for it when ever they are hungry. Are you hungry at exactly 8,12 and 5? I doubt it and babys are no different.

Have you never got into a routine feeding your kids then? Because what I think Scottish mum meant by that was her babies NORMAL routine was changing and therefore showing signs that more food was needed. She chose solids here at 5 months.

No, babys change all the time, as a newborn she fed every two/three hours. At around three months she did settle into a pattern but when she started being awake more, trying to sit up, trying to roll over her milk intake went up again which you would expect when a baby is buring more calories.

You cant expect a 6 week old to feed the same as a 5 month old. They develop so much in such a short space of time and food is not allways the answer.

 

[alaskagrown]

https://imgur.com/tCp90.gif

 

[beth_terri]

I didn't my lo is 5 months and is on solids! Every baby is different its crap that you have to wait 6 months!! My lo was demanding milk before he was due for it and showing lots of signs that his milk was no longer enough. He thrives on his solids. If you feel lo is ready try a bit but not before 4 months as milks still important for there development x

Baby is due for it when ever they are hungry. Are you hungry at exactly 8,12 and 5? I doubt it and babys are no different.

Have you never got into a routine feeding your kids then? Because what I think Scottish mum meant by that was her babies NORMAL routine was changing and therefore showing signs that more food was needed. She chose solids here at 5 months.

No, babys change all the time, as a newborn she fed every two/three hours. At around three months she did settle into a pattern but when she started being awake more, trying to sit up, trying to roll over her milk intake went up again which you would expect when a baby is buring more calories.

You cant expect a 6 week old to feed the same as a 5 month old. They develop so much in such a short space of time and food is not allways the answer.

But absolutely no one was recommending it for a 6 week old.

 

[lozzy21]

No but their feeding changes all the time, a change in how they want to feed does not mean they are ready for solids no matter the age.