Weaning at 6 months

[Jess&Frank]

Hi,

There seems to be a lot of different advice going out from different health visitors as to when it is ok to start weaning.

The Ilkley health visitors are adamant that babies should be weaned at 6 months and not a minute before. I suggested to them that other advice was being put out by other health visitors in the area. They were quite disappointed about this as they are following the guidelines issued by the Department of Health.

Has anyone waited until 26 weeks (6 months) to wean?

What advice have you received from health visitors?

Thanks

Jess

PS: I do find it quite frustrating that there seems to be a bit of a postcode lottery going on with this!

[loulouh1973]

Hello! The health visitors in Bingley are pretty admant you shouldn't start till 20 weeks minimum. I tend to go to the Baildon Post Natal group because I have friends who go, and the health visitor there said it's fine from 17 weeks onwards. You know your own baby best and if he's ready you'll know. Also you can take it more steady if you wean earlier, whereas at 26 weeks you have to be quite quick as their iron levels are rapidly decreasing. I started Evie at 18 weeks and she's doing really well. Dunno if that helps!

[Amy]

Hi Jess

The official line, based on the World Health Organisation guidelines, is 6 months and not a minute sooner. But as you point out a lot of people (health visitors included) will say start sooner. The official line (about 3 years ago) used to be 4 months (17 weeks). I think the issue with waiting until 6 months is that a) a lot of babies will be hungry and showing signs of wanting food before then and b) there is a lot to get through in a month if you leave it until then - they need to be eating protein by the time they're 7 months. That is not to say that it can't be done and I do know mums who have waited until their baby is 6 months old until they start. Like a lot of things you just have to do whatever you think is right for you and your baby.

I started weaning my daughter when she was about 5 months (I thought it was a nice compromise between the 17 and 26 week messages that were going round!). She wasn't particularly interested in food and it used to take ages to feed her - and that went on for over 6 months! I wished I'd waited a bit longer...... She has a couple of food allergies but despite this I've been told that it shouldn't be a problem if I started weaning my son before 6 months (just don't give him things that she was allergic to). He's over 5 months now and I've not yet started with him - but I think I'll go for it in the next few days.

Amy

[tinkertoes]

Has anyone out there tried baby led weaning? I've just read the gill ripley book and it all sounds very logical and also like it could make the whole mealtime thing a lot easier and even fun. I'm very excited as we've made a few tentative mealtimes to practise for his 6 month birthday next week...
But I dont know anyone else that has gone for this approach - unless they are combining it with the puree method. Would love to hear how anyone else has got on with it... Otley health visitors seem to be supporting it.

[Lisa&Isobel]

I've waited until pretty much 6 months before weaning and I'm going to try the BLW approach. I've put a separate thread on this site about how it's going so far.

Although there is a lot of food to introduce quite quickly at this age they do seem more interested in food and more able to feed themselves so I think it will be ok. Isobel only started paying attention to us eating very recently so I didn't feel the need to start weaning early but every baby is different so I think we need to all play it by ear.

PS. My sister assured me that giving Isobel baby rice (made very runny with expressed milk) from about 20 weeks would help her to sleep through. I did this and it made no difference to her sleep patterns but it has made me feel very guilty about feeding her before I felt comfortable with it so I think we should do what we feel is right for our baby and ourselves. On a positive note it did introduce her to a spoon and she did quite enjoy it - some days anyway!

[Amy&Daniel]

Hi

I tried Daniel on baby rice at 20 weeks as he started waking up in the night. Didn't make any difference.

I waited until 24 weeks to wean (having given up on the baby rice). He was much more ready for it and we were able to progress through much more quickly. He's now 28 weeks and he had spaghetti with tomato and mozzarella for tea (the bought stuff... ) and he loved it.

We have had a bit of trouble when he was teething though.

I've found the best thing is to keep reminding yourself that if he's not eating, he's not hungry. It doesn't mean that he doesn't love you or that he's a fussy eater. If he gets hungry enough, he'll eat. And there is always the next meal to catch up...

Amy

[tinkertoes]

In the book (BLW by Gill Rapley) she says that it really doesnt matter how much the little ones take on between 6-8 months as their nutritional needs are better met by milk (either boob or formula) - ie up to that age - oz for oz - they get more good stuff from milk - and so she suggests that you give them real food after a milk feed so that they're not hungry. This really takes the pressure off to fill them with food - and means that during the first few months they can just play with food whilst learning how to handle it, chew, swallow etc. Added advantage is that if one day you miss a meal or if they dont eat much at all- then you really dont need to feel guilty or worry.