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

[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.

Just reading thro some posts and I find this a bit ott! So because I choose to start my 5 month old on solids I'm encouraging my lo to be....wait for it........Obese!!! Lol I'm a tax payer too so is that where my bloody money is going!!! i can safely say its not down to feeding your baby early that make children obese its food choices and education!! My family eat well, home made meals and fresh food at that, so by educating my lo by feeding him the right food will make the difference not me giving my lo baby rice at 5 months!!!

Research/News/Early-introduction-of-solids-associated-with-obesity/

There is more research on the Nhs website - prob is a bit Ott but there are studies on it even so! X

 

[Liberty8888]

Sorry here's the link - https://www.unicef.org.uk/BabyFrien...ntroduction-of-solids-associated-with-obesity

X

 

[vintagecat]

I know a lot of people say you can't learn how to parent from a book, but I certainly did. I read about breastfeeding, sleep patterns, and nutrition. Gestation lasts 40 plus weeks...I'm not trying to sound like a judgmental cow, but don't people use any of that time to prepare for a baby? You prepare a nursery, take vitamins, go to prenatal visits, so what's so difficult about reading a book about nutrition? I read multiple books about baby health and not one of them deemed introduction to early solids to be a good choice. This is the modern age and there isn't really much excuse in ignoring guidelines. I understand being able to 'read' your baby, but no 4-week-old baby is demanding ANYTHING but milk.

 

[Scottish mum]

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.

Just reading thro some posts and I find this a bit ott! So because I choose to start my 5 month old on solids I'm encouraging my lo to be....wait for it........Obese!!! Lol I'm a tax payer too so is that where my bloody money is going!!! i can safely say its not down to feeding your baby early that make children obese its food choices and education!! My family eat well, home made meals and fresh food at that, so by educating my lo by feeding him the right food will make the difference not me giving my lo baby rice at 5 months!!!

Research/News/Early-introduction-of-solids-associated-with-obesity/

There is more research on the Nhs website - prob is a bit Ott but there are studies on it even








Sorry I think it's crap! So I was given solids before I was 6 months am I obese no! Infact if a doctor told you for medical reasons to start your lo on solids would you? Or would you say no as I don't want my lo getting obese!!!

 

[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.

Just reading thro some posts and I find this a bit ott! So because I choose to start my 5 month old on solids I'm encouraging my lo to be....wait for it........Obese!!! Lol I'm a tax payer too so is that where my bloody money is going!!! i can safely say its not down to feeding your baby early that make children obese its food choices and education!! My family eat well, home made meals and fresh food at that, so by educating my lo by feeding him the right food will make the difference not me giving my lo baby rice at 5 months!!!

Research/News/Early-introduction-of-solids-associated-with-obesity/

There is more research on the Nhs website - prob is a bit Ott but there are studies on it even








Sorry I think it's crap! So I was given solids before I was 6 months am I obese no! Infact if a doctor told you for medical reasons to start your lo on solids would you? Or would you say no as I don't want my lo getting obese!!!

I'm not sure it's crap as you look at our generations weight issues compared to others, there def is an issue. As I said before I think it may be a bit OTT but in general I'm always quite keen on taking note of the research of the Nhs. As for starting my baby on solids early, yes if we are talking 5 ish month and its for medical reasons but only after lots of research and advice. However my son had very severe reflux and he was never recommend solids which I thought may be one of the things they said could help.

My point has always been I have no issue with weaning early my issue is with weaning a newborn! That's all I've ever cared about in this convo.

 

[Aimee1003]

Research is overwhelming on the benefits of delaying the introduction of solids. Anyone with a working internet connection has access to this information. No matter how much people justify it,choosing to remain ignorant on this topic or choosing to ignore the research is never in the best interest of the child in question. As a baby who was fed cereal from age 1 week on, I wish my mom had know better than to start weaning early. Of course back then the benefits of waiting were not known.
https://kellymom.com/nutrition/starting-solids/delay-solids/
just one of the many sites u can access with this info

 

[Irish Eyes]

I doubt the area she's from has anything to do with it for those that are picking up on that! I also don't think it has anything to do with how old or educated you are. As new, exhausted mums we all look to different areas for advice. At my babyclub recently a lady in her late 30s joined. She's very well educated & lives in a lovely area, she told me how her baby was feeding every hour at 5 weeks. She was exhausted & her mum told her to put babyrice in the bottle. I doubt her first thought was to double check the safety of her own mothers advice with the girls on bnb before going ahead with it! She just did it.

As for asking hv about it, I haven't seen mine since Lo was a week old so I can completely see how new mums don't ask their hvs for advice

A little off topic but do they not do a weaning visit at around 4 months where you are? X

No weaning visit for us! We were released by the hv when lo was a week old & thats it. They do an optional 7-9 month check up that you can do. If I want him weighed then I go to a surestart centre. That's why when people say "didn't you ask you hv about it?" I can see why people wouldn't have the chance.

 

[UAmama]

i tried to hold off to 6 but couldn't. My son was just too hungry. After his 3, 4, 5 and 6 feed he would still cry and scream for food, even though he drained all the milk. After I introduced solids (at 4.5 month) he is much happier baby. At first I though I had a low supply, but then I realized he is just a hungry baby. Many people gave advice not to give solids and just let him suck longer and milk will come but he DIDNT want to suck longer on an empty breast, and I couldn't make him. So we are on solids now, and he is fine, and I like it, i like cooking for him. Every baby is different. Although I think babies till 1 month should eat avg. 9x a day, therefore they don't go more then 2-3 hours without food.

 

[Casey3]

I haven't read this whole thread, don't have the time or energy lol. But to answer the original question, I found it VERY easy to wait til 6 months... YES he wanted to nurse hourly (or less some days and nights) but I really don't think they need anything other than milk so I had no problem just feeding him when he was hungry... they're not 'starving' because they don't sleep longer than 3 hours, they're babies who need the frequent feedings as they're growing at a ridiculous rate and NEED those calories and fat found in milk. So I just fed on demand and the first 6 months flewwwww by!

Still at 15 months he still nurses every 1-3 hours on demand and is on 2-3 meals a day... he'd choose milk before food most of the time and I'm okay with that

 

[albs]

I don't really get it when people say their baby needs more. Rice and puréed carrot is less. Less fat, less protein, less good! If a baby is hungry give them more milk. It's the perfect food for them ad what their bodie are designed to have.
Ds is a big boy, 9lb 9 at birth and over 20lb at 4 months. He has always been hungry. Between 6 and 12 weeks he fed on the hour, every hour for half an hour. But that's becaue he needed the milk. Nothing else. He has always tracked perfectly along the 80th centile. If I had started filling him up on baby rice at the earliest oportunity I doubt he would have stayed on the 80th centile as he would have replaced some milk with other foods.
If you have a valid medical reason for weaning then that is different, but hunger is not a medical reason. Hungry babies need milk, not food that offers little nutrition and constipates them.

 

[jd83]

I'm not gonna spend time commenting on the whole rusk thing, as clearly enough people have pointed out how wrong that was, and I am sure OP realizes it now. Can't change what was done though, it was 18 months ago.

With DS1, I started weaning at 4 months as our pediatrician advised to start between 4-6 months. I was a FTM, and eager. That was why I started at 4 months. It had nothing to do really with baby "needing" more. Especially since solids have far less calories than milk. In all honesty, I think MANY moms who early wean do it for this reason. Everything is exciting the first time around, and its hard to wait to do things. I wish I had waited now that I look back on it. There was no necessity to early wean with him other than the fact that I wanted to.

With DS2, I have done a lot more research, and realized I wanted to wait longer this time because I wanted to minimize risks of digestive problems later in life as much as I could. Really, waiting another 2 months was nothing anyways. He was fine on just milk until then. Yes, he wanted more towards 6 months, but obviously he was growing and needed more. I gave him more.

 

[robinator]

With DS1, I started weaning at 4 months as our pediatrician advised to start between 4-6 months. I was a FTM, and eager. That was why I started at 4 months. It had nothing to do really with baby "needing" more. Especially since solids have far less calories than milk. In all honesty, I think MANY moms who early wean do it for this reason. Everything is exciting the first time around, and its hard to wait to do things. I wish I had waited now that I look back on it. There was no necessity to early wean with him other than the fact that I wanted to.

This is so true, I was straining at the bit to wean LO, only because I wanted to see her reactions! I held off until 5.5 months to give her a bite of yogurt, and then 6 months to truly start weaning. It was hard, because I was excited! But I still "managed" to wait lol

 

[caz & bob]

when is the best time to start them x x

 

[Twister]

6 months ideally as that is when *most* babies are truly ready for it. Some are ready a bit earlier (not at 1 month old though, lol), some a bit later.

You want to look for the true signs of readiness which are:
• sitting unaided
• no tongue thrust reflex
• being able to feed themselves

The following are not signs of readiness, although they are often mistaken for being so:
• watching you eat, they watch us do everything. It's how they learn.
• making chewing motions, they copy everything, again learning about the world around them.
• waking in the night, can usually be attributed to growth spurts or developmental leaps
• wanting to feed more often, again growth spurt

 

[Scottish mum]

Guidlines recvinend 6 months! But I started before that! You don't get the jail if you use your motherly instinct and feed solids before lol

 

[Scottish mum]

Oop bloody phone that's recommend!

 

[Twister]

Some people aren't using their motherly instincts though, they do it 'just because' which is why guidelines are needed in the first place. People seem to be in such a rush to wean early and will find any excuse to do so. If your baby is showing the true signs of readiness before 6 months then by all means go ahead but if not then it's in baby's best interest to hold off.

 

[Noelle610]

Some people aren't using their motherly instincts though, they do it 'just because' which is why guidelines are needed in the first place. People seem to be in such a rush to wean early and will find any excuse to do so. If your baby is showing the true signs of readiness before 6 months then by all means go ahead but if not then it's in baby's best interest to hold off.

I have to agree with this. I try to balance my instincts with current research. It can be a combination of both. I think I intuitively know some things, but I'm human and appreciate the input of the "experts" as well.

 

[Twister]

I hate that if you wait till 6 months you're somehow not using your instincts and blindly following guidelines. Maybe due to the research i've done my instincts are simply telling me its better to wait. Every time someone asks me if LO is on solids yet and I said no we're waiting till 6 months they look at me like I'm crazy and always say something like "it's just a guideline you know" as if I haven't taken the time to educate myself on the subject. I was telling my auntie about how babies under 6 months shouldn't be given gluten and she just completely dismissed it and said "yeah but how many babies have coeliac disease really"

 

[Beankeeper]

I'm a but torn, but am trying really hard to hold off 'til 6 months. Thing is, although I'd say he's close to being ready, he doesn't really need them yet. I think I'd be more comfortable going the BLW route like I want to once he's a bit older and stronger.
He seems to think that food is amazing, the way we make it disappear- it's like magic to him!