Weaning

I haven’t waited for 6 months - I wouldn’t say I’ve “started weaning” but I have given my girl a taste of mashed peas, carrot, potato, broccoli and avocado (separately) all in purée form mixed with breast milk. She was at a point where she was more interested in trying to eat our food than breast feeding. And she’s showing all the signs that she’s ready (she’s just under 5 months)

We have! Our boy is 5m and he's having baby porridge every morning x

Health visiting team said babies don’t need to eat before 6months, everything they need nutrition wise is in their milk. If you begin replacing the milk with food, then they’re getting less nutrition in the milk which they need. Also, their bodies aren’t set up to eat food until 6months. So I’ll be waiting until then, there’s no rush. It also says so on the nhs: https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/baby/weaning-and-feeding/babys-first-solid-foods/

With my little boy (who’s now 4) we waited until he was about six months and then gave him his first food a few days before or after (I can’t exactly remember), but he was showing all the signs and then we waited until the weekend so my husband could be there too!

The amount they eat is so small it won’t replace their milk intake I see it as just them tasting and exploring flavours as opposed to an actual meal. I give mine a little porridge and because he’s teething he pretty much chews on the spoon and likes to play. I agree that it’s not necessarily weaning. He still has the exact same intake as milk.

We had a very hungry baby so from 4 months he had baby rice to fill his stomach. Since then we've given him first tastes of fruit and veg. He now has some of the 4 months jars of veg with his dinner and the fruit for breakfast. Xx

@Emma my little girl still has the exact same amount of milk, I’m not feeding her full meals - she gets a teaspoon or 2 a few days a week. Also I don’t think it makes sense to say their bodies aren’t set up for food when as I keep saying generations before (including our own) had been weaned from 3 months with no harm caused.

@Mimi we now know 3 months does cause harm, but 4+ is fine 😊

We introduced allergens at 4 months as she's high risk. She can happily eat an entire bowl of porridge, but only feeding her once every three days. I hate the early weaning stage, it's sucks 🤣 so happy to wait til she's 6 on the dot as she'll move up quicker

@Holly to be fair I don’t think many 3 months old are even interested in food 😂 but I think 4 months of showing signs and interest is okay to begin tasters. Like you I only do a few days a week

It can cause harm, babies weaned before 6 months have a higher chance of gastrointestinal infections, because their bodies aren’t ready for it yet. There are other issues with weaning a baby too early too, here’s some more information https://www.cordeliauys.co.uk/why-wait-to-6-months-before-introducing-solids

Apologies, I mistyped and meant higher chance, not high. If we’re talking about a week or so earlier than 6 weeks, or just the odd chew on a carrot, that’s likely to be fine, but people are giving their children solids at 3-4 months, when they don’t need to nutritionally, unless they have been given a reason by a medical professional. People know their babies, I agree, but that doesn’t mean they always know what’s best for their baby. I don’t always know what’s best for mine! For example, saying that a baby is hungry and therefore needs ‘filling up with porridge’- that just leads to a baby feeling full, but actually means less calories, which would be better satisfied if the porridge was just replaced with milk, which would be better for the baby under 6 months. Also a lot of ready made baby food like ‘4+ month baby porridge’ is often very sugary and can lead to other issues later on, such as being fussier with food.

@Emma I don’t disagree but I’ve also seen a lot of judgment on here when a mum decides to introduce her bubba to a bit of fruit and veg here and there before 6 months.

@Mimi whenever someone is like I'm weaning my 3 month old I am literally like hooooowwww it's hard enough to prop my 5 month old up and her allergens at 4 months took two people 🤣 I have seen some chonk babies who can properly sit really early though, so maybe it's them? 😅 We gave my girl a lamb bone to gnaw on Sunday and she looooved it. (it apparently reduces all allergy risks if given before 5.5months)

@Holly my little girl was born a chonk and still is at just under 5 months 😂 but I deffo am not “weaning” yet I just feel bad when she attacks us for our food at dinner so have been giving her some mashed up veg or a taste of my banana ! How was it introducing allergens? Really anxious about that!

We did a first aid course yesterday and it was reiterated a lot that waiting for 6 months is so important. Babies need to be able to sit upright for a good amount of time - but that alone doesn’t mean they’re ready. Even if they’re showing signs it doesn’t mean they’re actually ready for weaning. Things like baby rice have no nutritional benefit. The lady said almost all the cases of choking she saw have been parents who have weaned too early. There is no need to rush feeding them, just enjoy them being a baby ❤️

We started this week by giving our boy little tastes of carrots, peas and banana by just putting it on his lips - not fully weaning until 6 months though

@Lucy where did you do your first aid course?

If I'm eating something my girl shows interest in I let her smell it or smash her hand into it. Half the time it's intrigue, not actual want to eat it... And I feel like because I let her she's not quite so frantic like desperate to get at it x

@Indy I did this with mine but she tries to stick it in her mouth

my boy has been showing interest in eating our food for about a month now, opening his mouth when we do, and trying to grab stuff out of our hands so we decided two days ago we'd let him have some of the Kendamil Banana Porridge, and he definitely loved the different taste! He had no interest in finishing it, and I made the portion smaller than the box says. Obviously i'm no professional, i'm just going off of my babies cues. I also have the think they can't surely say 4-6 months on the package if it'll do the baby any harm! We're not weaning yet, just letting him try different flavours and textures

@Shruti I did it through Daisy First Aid x

@Mimi if you're like me, you will literally notice every dot and sniffle your little one has each time and spend hours wondering if it's a reaction or it they were always like that 😂😂😂

@Lucy this woman must have seen a very small subsection of all choking cases. The majority are actually 1-4 year olds.

@Holly obviously as she was discussing choking cases related to weaning she was commenting on a specific age range, not a generalised age range.

@Holly I think she was saying of the choking cases she had seen, most were due to weaning too early, rather than of ALL choking cases ever documented

@Lucy yeah, but you're more likely to see a weaning 7-12month old choke than a 3-7month old choke. The most common food to choke on is semi-solid to solid and it requires the gag reflex to relax and move back, which happens around 10months. So yeah, I still find it surprising even if you shorten the timescale to one year that she's only seen very young early weaners choke when they're the tiniest proportion of babies overall (most people do wait til 6-7months) and the chances of choking with their strong gag reflex in middle tongue, tongue thrust reflex and only eating liquids, is pretty much zero. So having that be the majority of weaning kids you've seen - exclusively in the 3-6m range, is surely just a bit 'really?' three months vs six is going to have less time for kids to choke, and all the other protective factors very young infants have. I just can't see it unless she specialises in exclusively early weaning choking cases.

@Indy that's why I said "she must have seen a very small subsection of all choking cases" 👀 If the rarest kind of choking is your majority, you have missed seeing a lot of common choking incidents somehow. Thus, 'small subsection of all choking cases'.

@Holly I was only really clarifying because your comment surprised me, I assumed you'd misunderstood. I guess the perk of the discussion is the info is all there for us to take and use how we see fit for our own babies, personally it makes me feel even more strongly about adhering to the guidelines lol!

@Indy babies have thickened milk and allergen introductions all the time and don't choke. There's so few choking incidents in early weaners (3-6m) there's not even a statistic for it. I think we can all agree its nice to read things that agree with your beliefs, but you do need to have a bit of skepticism about what you read. The reasons for weaning later aren't because your baby will choke if you wean earlier. It's not fair to people who have to wean early for medical reasons to spread that myth. Equally, thinking early weaners are the majority of choking might make you complacent with your normal weaner. They're *always* at risk when they're having solids. It's important to always prepare food in an appropriate way for your baby's stage, and to be even more vigilant with your 1-5 year old not less.

@Holly that is what she specialises in, hence her comment and mine. I didn’t realise I needed to define that. We are all just sharing information on here…no one is an expert on choking, weaning, preparing food or anything else so it’s best to keep comments to opinion rather than fact. Also nobody is spreading “myths” or being complacent by sharing information from a reputable medical professional.

@Holly I think we all need to be careful that any "skepticism" still aligns with the premise of this app being supportive. I work in healthcare, but not in a field that would give me enough first hand experience or knowledge to comment on the statistics of baby choking, which is why I would personally acknowledge the comment made by the professional during this training. You have your own expertise and own choices to apply to your own parenting, as I said, we all need to be mindful that opinion is separate from professional advice. We're here as parents, to be kind to one another, it's not the electoral debate.

@Lucy well that makes way more sense 😂 the myth I was talking about is that early weaners choke more than others. They don't. Similarly baby led weaners don't choke more either. The reason most 1-5year olds choke is complacency, you get to a year, they're eating well, you think you're past it and then it happens. I wasn't saying anyone here was complacent, just always remember to be vigilant whether a baby or a small child it can happen. You think they're a competent eater then a banana goes down the wrong way.

@Indy part of my expertise is in baby choking statistics 😅 but that's not the point 😂 Just because I know it inside out, doesn't make my opinion any more important than anyone else. My comments aren't to be unkind, just show that there's more to it than one person's specialist experience. There are lots of people doing early weaning here or who might have to and who would find that alarming. I would have been one of them if I didn't know the pstatistics as I have to allergen wean from 4months for my baby's health. I think you can be supportive but also say I don't think that's the reality for all children. I think it's not being unkind to doubt something or to voice that doubt. I think it's not a electoral debate to simply voice your opinion and reply to anyone who replies to you, but you probably were just using that as hyperbole 😊 Nothing online is professional advice. Unless it's given by a professional to you for your specific circumstances it's just not. Its all opinion and anecdotes.

@Holly i agree, but as a confident (but still winging it!) parent of 4 children I read some of these comments as the anxious and confused first time mum I was at 23, and they don't always come across as intended. Like I said, we all need to be mindful that this is a place of support, and I don't know how the writer of that had taken your comment, but I know if it was me I'd have appreciated a softer approach

@Indy I understand that tone can be hard to interpret in written comments. My intention was simply to share some stats to contribute to the discussion and put minds at ease who are early weaning. I didn’t mean to come across as unkind or insensitive. It's horrifying that it reads that way, when I was writing them entirely neutrally and expressing my opinion honestly, openly and transparently 😭 Thanks for your feedback, I'll take some time away from Peanut and really reflect on what you've said. Unfortunately, I don't know how to write a 'softer approach' comment in these circumstances, I tend to just go for neutral and add emoji to help express feelings where I can 😔 I'll keep your feedback in mind for future posts. I have neurodivergence, so if I can’t find a way to contribute in a softer manner, I will refrain from commenting to ensure this remains a supportive space for everyone. Please accept my sincerest apologies to you and anyone who has been affected by my insensitive comments.

@Holly please don’t feel the need to step away from the app hun. Everyone’s input and advice is valued by us all - we’re all slightly clueless trying to figure it out. The people who need to step away are the ones who attack and mum shame! You’ve done neither x

@Holly please understand that same way, nothing was said to cause any upset. In fact, this should be the exact app where you can feel supported in the same way. Seeing the same names pop up on here and recognising people when they comment is all part of it becoming a community, and in the same manner we become able to read tone better and understand commenters individually. My comments were not to berate, and not meant with malice - I am sorry if that's how it's made you feel