Nom Nom! Why We Won't Be Early Weaning.

"You'll have no fingers left!" A phrase I seem to be saying to David numerous times a day at present. His poor little chubby hands are forever being gummed at. It also means I'm bombarded with, "is your Mummy not feeding you enough?" (since when was back handed comments such as that ever ok?) and the enquiries as to whether we've started weaning yet. In short, no, we haven't started weaning. And we won't for at least another month yet.

Generally, I'm pretty confident in my ability to feed my boys. Both were/will be breastfed exclusively for the first six months of their lives (continued until they self-wean) & both were/will be weaned onto solids following the method of Baby Led Weaning (BLW). So earlier this week when I was advised to start Early Weaning (ie. weaning before 6 months) with David - by a paediatric doctor no less - I was left feeling confused, deflated & in a bit of fluster as what to do. The 'reasoning' behind this advice was due to David's weight. When he was born, David hung around the 91st percentile on his weight charts but despite gaining weight continuously (even after birth & being ill in hospital), he's now dropped down between the 75th & 50th percentile. Now, don't be concerned! David is by no means underweight - he's still a chunk, now in 9-12 month clothes and he doubled his birth weight weeks ago.

Despite these facts, the doctor we saw said I shouldn't wait until 26 weeks to start weaning David. Instead, I should start him on some porridge, rice or puréed veg as soon as possible, in an attempt to up his weight back up the percentiles. I was taken aback from this advice. Being a big believer in BLW, I knew the benefits of holding out to 6 months to start weaning and all the pros of letting wee ones discover food for themselves. Alarm bells should have started ringing when the doctor then went on to criticise BLW, saying that wee ones never really managed to use a spoon and instead always eat with their fingers! Now to put that into perspective for you, last night I sat with John and the two of us enjoyed a bowl of soup together, followed by a yoghurt - not once did I touch his spoon & not once did he use his fingers (is it even possible to eat your soup with fingers?).

I left the hospital full of confusion. I knew that the advice was poor, wrong. I knew that breast milk was all a baby needed & that David was clearly gaining weight from that alone. I knew that any food he could have at 4 months old would be lacking in calories, therefore defeating the purpose intended. However, up until this doctor, I've been extremely fortunate. Never before have I been advised to top-up with formula, never before have I been advised against BLW, never before have I come across a Health Care Professional who isn't up to date on WHO Guidelines in any aspect of infant feeding. So I found myself doubting everything I knew.

After a bus journey home, full of self-questioning, I decided to pop into our local Mum & Baby group run by our Health Visitors. The second I mentioned the doctors advice to them, they too started to question what I'd been told. One look at David's weight percentiles and they said there was absolutely no need to start weaning. He was clearly gaining weight, which was obvious from his size alone, and being such an active baby he'll also be burning more calories than would keep him consistent with the 91st percentile. They even used the comparison of the old guidelines being to start weaning at 12 weeks or 12lbs, whichever came first, to make the point that this doctor seemed to be a bit out of touch with current weaning advice.

That was enough for me. I should have just trusted my gut but I'm so thankful to have such supportive & knowledgeable Health Visitors - something that I know many people don't have. However, the whole experience was a first for me & I'd be lying if I said it didn't concern me that someone in the position of advising parents on what's best for their child could be so out of touch on current advice & guidelines. And from what I've heard from a number of other Mums, it'd appear this isn't a one off in the world of parenting. But for now, I'll continue to be that annoying Mum who questions everything she'd advised and researches everything to death before making her own decision.

More Advice on Weaning.
Current NHS Guidelines & Advice
Baby Led Weaning
Kelly Mom Solid Food Resources