Baby weaning

The recommendation is 4-6 months even on the nhs website you just have to make sure your baby is ready there are some things to check if your baby is ready I don’t know where the 6 months recommendation came from everyone seems to say it and if you suggest before 6 months everyone is up in arms about it I’ve looked everywhere and can’t see it all I see is before 6 months but not before 4 months I had a conversation about it with my baby’s doctor and he showed me the research that says waiting till 6+ to wean can increase baby’s allergies and iron deficiency breast feeding is obviously best but some of us aren’t that fortunate have a look on the nhs they have some good tips on weaning 4+ months I weaned my baby at 5 months and it’s been a week and I have a totally different baby so it was good for us as a family but if your worried speak to your doctor x

You’ve just described a totally normal refluxy 5 month baby - look at it as 6oz 4hourly - a normal amount My LO has cmpa, reflux and feeds 2 hourly. Reflux babies do better with smaller feeds as it triggers less of the reflux. We’ve only recently managed to get him taking more than 2oz by adding a thickner to the milk Is LO on any treatment for the reflux? It’s advised to wait until baby is 6m unless advised by a medical professional as the bowel is just not mature at this point and doesn’t really pull much nutrition from the food yet and filling with food will reduce the nutritional intake they get from food. There’s also new links being made between early weaning and ibs later in life If you are concerns I’d see the health visitor and discuss

I’ve slowly started weaning my daughter the same way for a similar reason! She’s been suffering with her reflux quite badly too, the gaviscon is not working and you worry that they need to eat properly! Yes the recommendation is 6 months now but I’ve read that as long as baby can sit up by themselves and they’re showing an interest in food, if they’re over 4 months then go for it!! We’ve been making porridges and almost milkshakes with her milk, last night she had a bottle with a bit of puréed carrot in and she loved it! I find it helps them with taste and texture if you slowly thicken the consistency of the food because when I just gave her a purée straight she was not interested haha

The NHS advice is "around 6 months"....you can do this quiz to add if they're ready https://www.nhs.uk/start-for-life/baby/weaning/ready-or-not-weaning-quiz/

@Kayla putting food in a bottle is dangerous as it can be a choking hazard. This goes against all weaning advice. It's not just sitting and showing an interest in food, they should be able to bring things to their mouth and have lost their tongue thrust reflex.

@Kayla what you have said is a prime example of survivor bias. ‘My baby is fine so I’m going to preach the unsafe stuff I do’. The reason it is no longer advised to add foods to a bottle is because of the number of babies who choked to death or to the point of oxygen deprived brain damage. If gaviscon isn’t working for the reflux there’s other options such as omeprazole, lansoprazole and medical thickeners

@Ceri-Ann survivor bias is a new one but ok, surely the food isn’t blended to the right consistency fir baby to choke & if it was able to pass through a size 2 bottle then I know it is liquidated sufficiently and have no worries It’s unfortunate there have been cases of suffocation from this but again, suffocation would be caused from the object being too big for the air passage correct? So I’m not sure how you believe a tablespoon of purée mixed with 6oz of milk could be such a choking hazard?? 🤔🤔🤔

@Charley well as stated above, the consistency I do this is no where near a choking standard of thickness so I’m not worried, but everyone will do what they believe is best for their own children! Also, yes you’re correct there, but the point I was trying to make is essentially, you know for yourself when your baby is ready for solids and all the profession advice and guidelines are just that, guides not rules 🤷🏾‍♀️

@Kayla with liquids, choking is actually as their swallow reflex is under developed for swallowing solids not be abuse an item is too big. Survivor bias is a huge thing in medical fields. Quick google and you’d see plenty of examples! Unless you can provide evidence of how this is safe it’s really not advisable to give other people really dangerous advice. But I’ll just take my 13 years of nhs experience and evidence based practice and leave the advice to the internet message boards🙄

@Ceri-Ann I’d hate to have you as my healthcare practitioner if you carry this indignant attitude with you to work! You can be informative without being so anal! You’re penalising me for something that does not relate to me, MY daughter is capable and able & that’s why we’re trying these methods. Just because peanuts can be deadly allergic to some, doesn’t mean you’ll never eat one if you enjoy them right? Unless you’re allergic 🤦🏾‍♀️😂 You must be used to dealing with the kinda person who WOULD eat a peanut with a peanut allergy though with that attitude 🤣

@Kayla I’m not penalising you. How on earth can you be penalised from a comment on the internet? Yes peanuts can be dangerous. So parents are educated in the signs of what to look out for, or at least the health visitors in our area give out leaflets on how to spot allergic reactions. An allergy can no way be compared to an unsafe practice that may lead to chocking and sadly most parents, unless they have actively sought out their own first aid courses, wouldn’t know how to deal with a choking child.