To Wean or not to Wean

To Wean or not to Wean

To Wean or not to Wean

Government guidelines have recently changed and are now advising parents not to wean their babies till 6 months where previously it was 4 months. Even before this is published I can hear the Tut-tutting of the do-gooders and jobsworths out there, half of which probably haven't even got children of their own and just read from a text book! The following views and opinions are purely my own based on my experinces, having brought up 3 children that are now in their Teens. I also have a 2 and half year old (Josh) and 6 month old who I am weaning at present.

There is a lot of controversy over whats right and whats wrong and the Do's and dont's, I personally think its just a case of motherly instinct which is better than any text book you could read and common sense.

All of my children were weaned onto solid foods before 4 months, and before I go any further I must stress that all of my children are healthy and within the right weight range for their age and height. From early on, Formula Milk was just not satisfying enough for them, they all needed that little bit extra. My second Son Georgie was born a week late weighing 8lb and came into this world screaming to be fed!, he would gulp down his bottles like they were going out of fashion and he wanted feeding every 2 hours, he was an absolute nightmare to feed. It would take me an hour and half to get a bottle down him and settle him and then only half an hour later he would be screaming once more for another bottle, I was like the walking dead. I tried him on the hungry baby milk but that made no difference at all. I consulted my Health visitor for some advice when he was just 2 weeks old because my instinct was telling me that the milk was just not filling him up. My health visitor was about about as useful as a chocolate teapot! she just told me to persevere..........I spoke to a lady I was friends with at the time who came from India and she told me that in India they feed their baby's solid foods (baby rice) from birth.

I went straight into my local supermarket and bought a pack of baby rice and started giving him 2 spoonfuls of rice before every bottle, it worked wonders. Georgie started to go 3-4 hours between each feed and was gaining a healthy amount of weight. By the time Georgie was 4 months old he was fully weaned and was thriving. He is now a healthy happy 14 year old and weighs exactly what he should for his age and height.

I have a 12 year gap between my oldest Son and my 2 year old (Josh) and its amazing how much things change when it comes to pregnancy, what you can and cant eat, the tests that are available now and weaning. You don't actually realise how much you forget. When I gave birth to Josh it was like having my first child all over again. Josh was quite content with his bottles till he got to 10 weeks old and then the milk just wasn't enough for him. By this time I had moved area and had a different health visitor so I went along to my local baby clinic and asked for some advice. I was advised not to start Josh on solid foods as this could cause stomach and bowel problems later on in life and was told that babies stomachs are not mature enough to digest the food until they are 6 months of age. I took all this on board and came home and continued with his bottles but another week went by and my baby boy was hungry, miserable and not fulfilled so I started giving him baby rice and once again it worked wonders, my happy contented baby was back!

Every child is different, what works for one may not work for another. the 6 month Government guidelines are exactly that, GUIDELINES and guidelines are not set in stone. I also think the advice I was given was bordering on scaremongering.Some babies are just hungry babies its as simple as that. They will probably change the guidelines again in a few years time. If it were a true proven fact that weaning a child before 6 months can cause bowel and stomach problems we would have a whole generation walking around with these problems, I don't know one single person that has any sort of Bowel or Stomach disorder. I think its just a case of using a bit of common sense, and a mothers instinct.

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