Following some recent threads I have since heard some good advice about early weaning

[aims1202]

Sorry this is not really a question!
There have been quite a few people asking recently about whether or not to wean their baby before the recommended 6mths, as they still seem hungry after feeds.
I have since found out that what often happens with bottle fed babies is that they finish the feed quite quickly, much quicker than breastfeeding, they actually need to suck for longer and also need to be held for longer too. After a feed hold them close to your body for a while and maybe give them your finger to suck on. This doesnt have to be mum either. This has been seen to work and really can help you to hold off weaning until their stomachs are ready at 6 mths, and this is no matter what their size or weight is.

[daffy654]

This probably explains why my son (who I breast fed until he was 2 years old) wasn't ready for solids until he was 8 months old.

[Le Chat]

Yes but the guidelines change! When I was a baby, it was one year before weaning!!!(I am 43) When my eldest was a baby (now 11) it was 4 months and with my youngest (now 4) 6 months! My m-in-law tells me that my hubby (35) was weaned at 2 months!
All 4 of us are completely normal with no stamach or develpomental problems, so it can't be that vital that the 'rule of the moment' is adhered to!

[aims1202]

One of the reasons 6mths is a good time to wean is because then babies can miss out the pureed food and go straight on to finger food and self feeding, this is the best way to start weaning, they get used to lumps and a variety of flavours and textures and they enjoy it. Nutritionally milk is not enough for babies after 6mths and so weaning should start then.
Babies who are weaned early do sometimes have problems both as babies and in childhood.

[intelli1]

Hi, my niece was weaned at 8 weeks as she was always hungry, and a chunky baby, but she has terrible trouble with her stomach now, and has a permanent type of irritable bowel syndrome, she is 23, and when she was born I believe the guideline was 4 months. Of course this could be nothing to do with it at all, my sister certainly tried everything to delay weaning but as soon as she tried food, she was happy again. My baby was very hungry at 4 months but I managed to last until just over 5 months with a struggle, she gulped it down like there was no tomorrow on the first try, I thought she would only want one spoon, she definately needed weaning before 6 months, I even gave her the odd bottle in between breastfeeding to delay weaning as I was starting to worry about not giving her enough nutrients. I do believe your baby lets you know, if they used to sleep all night and now wake lots that can be a sign, of course it could be teething too as the pains for that can start early. If only there was a manual that came with them!!

[aims1202]

hi intelli1, my son is five and he was like your baby at 4 1/2 mths he was grabbing the spoon and seemed to want food, i held it off to just after 5 mths, this was just as the guidelines were starting to change to 6mths. but what i didnt know back then was about the fact that they dont need to pureed food stage at all. he was sitting up himself at 5 mths and i was giving him finger foods at 6mths, i now know i could have waited until then to start, but just given more milk until then. The growth spurts are a big factor in this and it could be one that makes mums think they need weaning when in fact they need more milk. i intend to breastfeed only for 6mths with this one.