Weaning early controversy

Ohhh you are definitely going to get the ‘stop judging’ ‘I know my baby best’ ‘well I started my baby at 4 months and he loves it’ ‘why do you care what others do’ lot come storming out in the comments 🙄😂 but I totally agree with you, unless medically advised to wean early, why would you. There are zero benefits, only potential risks and more effort.

Totally hear you but…as you said, you have your opinion, let others have theirs. What causes anxiety for you, may be exciting for others! While I felt 3 months was early (we didn’t truly start til 6ish when our daughter was able to sit up more), I’ve been loving the fact that our girl will eat practically anything we put in front of her and how curious she is about different foods! Wouldn’t trade it for anything. Every kiddo is different so who knows what’ll happen with our second, but we will take the same approach. I’m sure this wasn’t your intent, but it feels like you are the one kinda attacking first by commenting all of the negatives about something that isn’t your personal approach. That’s just how it came across❤️

I completely agree and I think it’s because people say “oh well I was weaned at 3 months and I’m fine”. I just think, professionals know far more than me and there’s evidence based research that supports waiting until 6 months so who am I to say “actually no, they’re wrong”. We all book doctors appointments when somethings wrong and trust a medical professional then but with weaning, it seems people think they know better

@Lisa I'm just never going to understand why people do it, like I know the some of food on isles says 4+ but I don't think people realise that the companies don't care bout our children, they only are about the money in their pockets. I've got stomach problems if I'm being honest and I always have since I can remember, do I think it was due to my mother weaning early? Yes I do.. like even she's trying to tell me to wean early because apparently my babygirl is hungry. My baby is 4 months old, she's been in 6-9 month since before Christmas. She's very chunky she's thriving on her milk, she doesn't need the added calories right now 😅😅

@Katie that's the point I'm trying to make 🙈 not trying to be malice about it at all.

@Rhiannon in motherhood, there’s always going to be others doing things differently or even doing things you disagree with. I’ve recently distanced myself from a friend who does things with her baby that quite frankly make me feel uncomfortable so I’d rather just not be around her. But yeah, people are stuck in their ways, follow what parents and grandparents did and don’t research so they make informed decisions

@Keilah not trying to be malice about it. I wish I could say it all on a voice recording then you'd be able to tell by my tone of voice I'm not trying to be horrible about it at all. It's just that one video I seen on Tiktok of someone feeding their 3 month old food. The baby was spitting it out reflexing their tongue so they weren't ready at all and the comments on that video were people laughing and saying that their little ones are weaning around the same age to.

@Rhiannon ahh I see. That makes much more sense to me now, helpful context to have. When I read it, it just sounded out of the blue! Yes if there are clear signs baby isn’t ready then that’s concerning for sure.

Won’t get attacked from me! Couldn’t agree more. We seen a lot of specialist for my son. I had numerous pediatric gastrointestinal specialists and dietitians tell me not to introduce food before 6 months and that goes for all babies. That it can lead to some serious GI complications soon after starting or down the road.

Agreed

Everyone’s entitled to an opinion but majority of the time people who wean their babies early have been advised to by health professionals due to reflux and or other reasons. I weaned mine slowly at 4 months due to reflux and doctors advise and he’s nearly 2 and is just fine people will parent their kids how they see fit ☺️

I don't get it either. It's not something I felt needed to be rushed. Except for medical reasons I just don't understand it.

@Megan and that's what I put in my post like I get if it's been advised by medical professionals but otherwise what's the point

I agree! Obviously there are many different levels and layers to people’s decisions etc but some of the comments and conversations I have seen around starting weaning feel rushed and done just because rather than baby being ready. I also just want to keep mine little for as long as possible really; already finding it hard that he’s sizing up in clothes, let alone something as significant as weaning 🥺

@Jess yeah my little girl is my last baby, so it's like all her firsts are my lasts and it breaks my heart 😢

It really rubs me the wrong way when people say ‘I weaned mine at 3 months and she’s fine!’ 😬 early weaning has been proven to increase the risks of lots of different issues LATER IN LIFE, you aren’t necessarily going to know by the time your baby is 18 months old. There’s no rush, they’ll eat food the rest of their life, your baby that can’t sit up doesn’t need a wotsit.

I agree! Weaning is a stressful process, I don't get the rush?! I didn't start until exactly 6 months with my girl, she's 8 months now and we do a mix of BLW and jars/pouches. She's CMPA too, so it's not something I got excited about lol.

Girl our Pediatrician wanted to start at 4 months because she was concerned that my little one was drinking too much milk and had weight concerns. Keep in mind my little one is in the 1%. I thought that was odd and opted to not do as she suggested. My little one can’t even sit on his own so why would I start feeding him food. We’re waiting until next month when he turns 6 months.

Thank you for saying this 🙏🏼 their little digestive systems simply are not mature enough at that age and you could be setting them up for lifelong gut health issues. Unfortunately a lot of people don’t understand how bad of an issue that actually is and the impact that gut has on your entire health - this includes your average doctors and pediatricians. This unfortunately is not common knowledge and of course parents are just doing what they think is best, not realising how much benefit there is to just hanging on a little bit longer. When my LO was little he was a terrible sleeper and I was constantly being told by the older generation to give him some solids to help him sleep, the irony in that is it can give them tummy upset and make sleep worse. It’s a tough gig raising little with so much conflicting information and opinions flying around.

It’s usually because of medical reasons. What an odd thing to mad about

3 months with my first son but that was 13 years ago with second son didn't start weaning till 6 months don't worry x

@Jess wanna re read my post again and see what I put in the middle of it? 😅 I understand if it's advised by medical professionals. Oh and I'm not mad lol