I was one of the few people I know who held out until anywhere near 26 weeks to wean. (We started a little at 23 weeks, but I don’t think much went in!) If I had not read mumsnet I’m sure I wouldn’t have waited.
Everyone seems to be convinced that its absolutely fine to wean from 4 months – because its what they did with their first baby, because its what their health visitor told them, because the guidelines used to say “4-6 months” (“so it must be fine from 4 months, they’re always changing those guidelines”). Add to this the worry about making people who did wean at 4 months feel guilty, because they genuinely believed the advice that their trusted family member or health professional told them (and really, why shouldn’t they – they have to trust someone). Add to this the fact that books such as the Baby Whisperer advocate weaning at 4 months in certain circumstances (not medical conditions) and you’ve got a society that is not going to change their practises.
I’m going to put a very short disclaimer here about medical reasons to wean early. If you’ve been told by a GP, paediatrician etc to wean early for conditions such as reflux, I’m not going to comment. You need to rely on your health professional (if you’ve been told you need to wean because you have a “hungry” or “big” baby, please get a second opinion)
When to Wean?
Traditionally, people have been told to wean when their baby wakes more often for milk (that would be the 4 month growth spurt), and when they are showing more interest in your food (just at the time when they’re showing more interest in everything, coincidentally)
The real signs of readiness for weaning are:
– being able to sit with minimal aid (e.g. hold themselves up straight in high chair to support chewing (chomping/gumming initially)/swallowing of food
– ability to put food in their mouth (often grabbing from a plate!)
– loss of tongue thrust reflex (they don’t push food out of their mouths automatically)
Whether you are puree feeding, or following Baby Led Weaning, the same signs of readiness apply. Rowan showed these at 23 weeks, so he was given food.
Why not wean earlier?
Some time between 17 and 26 weeks, the lining in your baby’s gut seals, making it able to properly digest solid foods. If you feed your baby solids before 26 weeks – or before they are showing the signs given, that are generally believed to happen at the same time as gut maturity, you are risking issues with digestive conditions and allergies later in life. I’m not a doctor or a scientist. I can’t explain how these things work, but you can read a bit more about why to wait here. Kellymom is a highly respected site for breastfeeding resources where articles are supported by medical and other references. Please note that even though that list is very breastfeeding focussed, the non-breastfeeding-related reasons are still very important and valid.
So basically, if you wean before 17 weeks, your baby’s gut will not be ready to digest the food you’re giving it. If you wean sometime before 26 weeks, you’re taking a risk (as I did) that it might not be ready.
If you do decide to wean before 26 weeks, you’re weighing up risks against benefits. Whatever you may be getting out of weaning early (apart from a hell of a lot of extra work, especially if you’re pureeing a la Annabel Karmel and her weird and wonderful recipe book) has to be balanced against the problems that you child may experience later in life. Often the response on mumsnet to people saying “well I weaned mine at X weeks and they were fine” (as an argument to convince someone else to do the same) is to say that you never know what health problems your child will have until they’ve got to the end of their lives!
If people have weaned early (between 17-26 weeks), then there’s nothing to feel guilty about – you were following the advice you had been given, and you never know what will influence your child’s health in the future. Once it has passed, its just another of those parental decisions that you took in good faith – you just keep on doing the best for your child, like we all do.
Of course, if you’re trying to shovel baby rice into a tiny (maybe 12 week old) baby because you think it will help the poor thing sleep better, I am going to stick my neck out here and say that unless you are truly ignorant of the weaning guidelines, I have neither respect nor sympathy for you.
I’m with you! REALLY don’t get this rush to wean at all. My daughter is almost 20 weeks and we’re both very happy breast and occasionally bottle feeding. As our health worker said, an early wean could undo all the benfits of breastfeeding and I’m not wanting to risk her health at all. Not particularly interested in weaning until I have to – why is everyone so mad keen for it anyway?