"When IS the safest time to wean your baby?"

[J_Odhran]

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1348093/So-IS-safest-time-wean-baby.html

What do you girls think? I started weaning around four and a half months, as bottles just weren't filling him the way they used to.. When did you wean?

 

[Laura2919]

I weaned at 4 months. I have two children who dont have underlying health issues, they arent allergic to ANY food and they are happy and healthy. Its just a recommendation that 6 months should start weaning. I was happy with my choice and if I had another child I would do the same.

 

[Midnight_Fairy]

I think mums know best

 

[Nibblenic]

Every child is an invdividual. I weaned at 5 months and waited until I felt lo was ready. Im more than happy with my choice

 

[tallybee]

As a mother you know your child(ren) better than anyone else. It's ludicrous to say otherwise, just as it is ludicrous to suggest that babies suddenly become ready the day they turn 6 months old!

 

[angelandbump]

i was going to wait till 6 months as everyone told me that thats what i should do... untill my health visitor came and told me to start from 20 weeks as my LO was born 6 weeks early and his iron levels will drop sooner. I weaned him ealier at 16 weeks as we noticed he was tiered all the time and when i phoned my health visitor she said try him on rice and we did and he has been 100%. This week we tried him on banana rice and wow he loved it but i will warn you that their poo changes very quick (mathews has went harder and smells like fruit haha!) xx

 

[freckleonear]

The article behind the news story is a load of rubbish. It was an opinion piece with no new evidence and the authors were biased as they had recently worked for or received funding from baby food companies.

‘In reality, a hell of a lot of babies will be hungry by this age and need something else — they won’t be able to manage on *liquids alone,’ says Professor Warner, a professor of paediatrics at *Imperial College, London.

This quote particularly interests me, as there are entire cultures that never wean until 7.5-12 months and their babies are perfectly happy. I remember a poll here on BnB a few years back which basically showed that a lot of FF babies were weaned at 4-5 months while many more BF babies "managed" until 6-7 months. Because a lot of formula is waste products, it seems that FF babies have the problem of taking as much milk as they can possibly fit in their stomachs but still not getting enough nutrition from it. Perhaps baby food companies should be developing better formula milks.

Biologically, it is safe to wean once the hole's in the baby's intestines have closed up, which happens some time between 4 and 6 months. Unfortunately there is currently no way of knowing whether this has happened or not. It would be very interesting if scientists could develop a way of determining this, and then study the health effects of early/late weaning in relation to gut closure. I have a feeling that the results would be a lot more meaningful, as currently studies are based on age alone yet some 4 month olds might have closed guts while some 5.5 month olds might still have open guts.

 

[aob1013]

Guidlines are just that.

Every baby is different and all babies will be ready in their own time.

Mum knows best

 

[Nic1107]

I don't think there's any way of knowing for sure, unless we take a look inside each individual baby's guts before weaning. Since we can't really do that, it's up to the mums to give it their best judgement and follow their babies' cues. I weaned at 6 months, straight onto 'normal' food.

 

[SKATERBUN]

when the child is ready, they will let you know

 

[Serene123]

When they're hungry.........

 

[rainbows_x]

When you feel they are ready
Ava has just been through a growth spurt, drowning 9oz bottles like crazy & waking through the night. People told me to wean her but I knew it was just a phase, now she is back to her normal feedings & sleeping through the night.
I think I will try to wait as close to six months as possible.

 

[annawrigley]

From the article:

Signs that a baby is ready for solid food include crying, irritability, and frequent waking in the night

Thats a really misleading thing to say, those could be signs of anything.... Colic, reflux, just a fractious baby, a NEWBORN... I'd hate for some new stressed out mum to read that quote and think it applied to her 2 month old baby and started weaning. Tbh, if i was a bit more naive and hadnt discovered bnb, with all the pressure from FOB's family to "not be mean" and start weaning him, and dealing with an extremely colicky baby, I could well have read that and weaned him far too early. Dangerous grounds to be getting into... There's not many things I get preachy about but something like early weaning (by that I mean like 2/3 months not on doctor's advice, or even earlier like I seen yesterday , not like 4 months) I just cant shut up about because I dont think alot of people know its actually damaging to do.

I tried Noah on solids the day he turned 4 months Due to the aforementioned pressure from FOB's family... He wasnt ready so I left it til 5.5 months and the difference was amazing, he was definitely ready then. I wish I'd trusted my instincts and waited in the first place but such is life!! xxx

 

[AppleBlossom]

I weaned at 4 months

 

[PeanutBean]

The article behind the news story is a load of rubbish. It was an opinion piece with no new evidence and the authors were biased as they had recently worked for or received funding from baby food companies.

I totally agree with you for highlighting that it was an opinion piece but that the scientists may have been funded by formula companies is irrelevant. Scientists get funding from all over. It's a bugbear of mine so I feel the need to clarify that just because funding has at some time come from some commercial source does not necessarily denote that the research is invalid. In this case the work didn't even look at formula. In fact I read they have had previous funding from baby food companies not formula.

Just wanted to clear that up!

Otherwise I broadly agree with your post! Thought people might be interested in this link https://www.nhs.uk/news/2011/01January/Pages/call-for-breastfeeding-advice-to-be-re-examined.aspx which explains all about the article and, as it says, behind the headlines.

I agree with those who have said when your baby is ready. I weaned at 6 months and to be honest he wasn't digesting much food for a long time. There is no way he could've managed BLW that's for sure. I think we'd all be much better being encouraged to study and learn about our own child and responding to their individual needs than to go backwards and forwards in response to ill-conceived opinion pieces. The biggest problem in parenting is that mums don't trust themselves.

 

[freckleonear]

The article behind the news story is a load of rubbish. It was an opinion piece with no new evidence and the authors were biased as they had recently worked for or received funding from baby food companies.

I totally agree with you for highlighting that it was an opinion piece but that the scientists may have been funded by formula companies is irrelevant. Scientists get funding from all over. It's a bugbear of mine so I feel the need to clarify that just because funding has at some time come from some commercial source does not necessarily denote that the research is invalid. In this case the work didn't even look at formula. In fact I read they have had previous funding from baby food companies not formula.

Just wanted to clear that up!

Otherwise I broadly agree with your post! Thought people might be interested in this link https://www.nhs.uk/news/2011/01January/Pages/call-for-breastfeeding-advice-to-be-re-examined.aspx which explains all about the article and, as it says, behind the headlines.

I agree with those who have said when your baby is ready. I weaned at 6 months and to be honest he wasn't digesting much food for a long time. There is no way he could've managed BLW that's for sure. I think we'd all be much better being encouraged to study and learn about our own child and responding to their individual needs than to go backwards and forwards in response to ill-conceived opinion pieces. The biggest problem in parenting is that mums don't trust themselves.

I see what you're saying and I wouldn't normally condemn a study just because of funding, but in this case the authors really were biased towards the baby food industry. One of them in particular has designed several formula milks, done a lot of advisory work for the baby food industry and appeared as legal defence when one company was prosecuted for illegal advertising. He has made no secret of his long-standing opposition to the WHO breastfeeding guidelines.