Weaning babies in different cultures and times.

[Chicken bones]

On my second kid, my dr said to start giving solids at 6 months. Give one thing at a time for a few days, see if there is any allergy, but other than than, he could try anything as long as it was small or soft enough for him to eat. He still nurses though, and at 21 months, I am trying hard to get him to break the habit. (I am a total softie and he just LOVES nursing, so it's slow going.). I'd love to get pregnant again and my clock is ticking, so I'd like to get him weaned. Feel free to give any suggestions. ( the funniest one was passed on by a friend's mom, as told to her: draw a scary face on your breast to deter the baby!!)

[Blahblah]

On my second kid, my dr said to start giving solids at 6 months. Give one thing at a time for a few days, see if there is any allergy, but other than than, he could try anything as long as it was small or soft enough for him to eat. He still nurses though, and at 21 months, I am trying hard to get him to break the habit. (I am a total softie and he just LOVES nursing, so it's slow going.). I'd love to get pregnant again and my clock is ticking, so I'd like to get him weaned. Feel free to give any suggestions. ( the funniest one was passed on by a friend's mom, as told to her: draw a scary face on your breast to deter the baby!!)

My first was still having his "booby drink" at 30 months. Then one day he told me it tasted yucky and pushed me away. Turns out I was pregnant. He knew before I did.

[Mama Mia]

I don't tend to think of breast or bottle as dependencies rather necessities in the time frames referenced on this thread.

But you let it mean whatever works for you, honestly. Whatever makes you happy.

Unfortunately I cannot rename the thread but most seem to get it without the need for needless grammar and dictionary hopping.

I don't think it is about grammar or dictionary hopping. When I see the word "wean" and think of weaning a baby I take it to mean that you are purposefully trying to get the baby to stop nursing or taking the bottle - as opposed to starting to give them bits of food as an addition to nursing (or bottle ), with no intention that they stop or decrease nursing for quite awhile. Those are very different concepts, to me.

If someone were to ask me "when did you try to wean your baby" my answer would be very different than the answer to "when did your baby first eat solid food" -- I basically never tried to wean my babies and they nursed well into toddlerhood, but I did give them solid food starting around 6 months when they started trying to grab it from peoples mouths. I don't think it's a value judgement or anything - just trying to understand what the terms mean to different folks.

I also don't understand the difference between pureed foods and baby led weaning ? Could someone please explain ? --- For example I fed my babies primarily scrambled eggs or bits of whatever we were eating -- and they nursed whenever they wanted until they decided to stop. Sometimes they would also have the jars of babyfood or baby cereal - but not on any particular schedule --- don't understand the difference - is the baby having scrambled eggs at breakfast with everyone else "baby led", but if baby is having rice cereal while everyone else is having granola not baby led ????

So confusing.

[Blahblah]

The puréed food was introduced because we were told to by the "experts". I was told it was to introduce flavours at that stage rather than textured. The baby led aspect for me was when they started watching with great intent the food that everyone else eas eating, and trying to grab any food that strayed near them.

I took the hint and started handing over tiny bits of softer food at that point until they were eating pretty much what we were to a degree. My poor daughter didn't have a tooth in her head until 14 months though so we modified some things for her, although gums are pretty tough!

[Mami2four]

I was born in 1982 and apparantely I bit my mother at 6 months old, that was the last time she breastfed me. I was put straight on ovaltine, no formula, no bottle, just the good old fashioned plastic beaker with the three holes in the lid.

We also had whiskey rubbed on our gums for teething, my nanna gave us brandy if she babysat us over night and we were always given a capful of peach schnapps on Christmas Eve. Surprisingly neither my brother or I are alcoholics lol

I also remember the same nanna putting a teaspoon of sugar in fizzy drinks because she thought the bubbles were bad for children!

[August]

Mrsb, babyled is just the latest fad. Strictly, it means giving your baby only chunks of food, no purees, because everyone who gives their child purees forces scads of revolting mush down a screaming child's throat because they hate them and want to deprive them of as much liquid love (milk) as possible. I don't know if yoghurt or soup count as good mothering or baby-hating mothering, probably baby hating, since they need a spoon.

This whole sterile environment thing cracks me up. We were all told that dummies (pacifiers), chew rings, bottles etc had to be boiled to death or soaked in sterilizing liquid for days or the baby would surely get some hideous illness.

Then in the next breath, you were supposed to give the baby "tummy time" and encourage them to roll about on the floor. You know, the floor where the cat sits and licks its arse, where people walk after having walked on the bathroom floor, where all sorts of unspeakable things can be found? I noticed one of mine chomping on something once at about 5 month and it turned out to be a dead fly. :o

I never sterilized anything and my two are fine other than a penicillin allergy in the little one for which there is no explanation.

I was told to keep everything clean for six weeks.

[eohiken]

This whole sterile environment thing cracks me up. We were all told that dummies (pacifiers), chew rings, bottles etc had to be boiled to death or soaked in sterilizing liquid for days or the baby would surely get some hideous illness.

Then in the next breath, you were supposed to give the baby "tummy time" and encourage them to roll about on the floor. You know, the floor where the cat sits and licks its arse, where people walk after having walked on the bathroom floor, where all sorts of unspeakable things can be found? I noticed one of mine chomping on something once at about 5 month and it turned out to be a dead fly. :o

I never sterilized anything and my two are fine other than a penicillin allergy in the little one for which there is no explanation.

We're a pound of dirt family. My mother is a nurse, so growing up we had a certain amount of germ avoidance engrained (mostly food borne, cross contamination type stuff, and washing hands after bathroom visits). Other than that, dirt is good.

[So Says I]

OK, so my two older sisters were born in in the mid 1960s. My grandmother discouraged my mother and aunt from breastfeeding, because it was for "poor people" and was way too much work. My mom made their formula out of something like evaporated milk and Karo syrup. My middle sister was colicky and was given rice cereal extra early. I was born in the late 70s and was given Similac. According to my baby book, the pediatrician gave the go ahead for rice cereal and applesauce at 8 weeks. I believe I was off the bottle and totally on solids by around 9 months.

I had my son in 05, and following in my eldest sister's footsteps and being too piss poor to buy formula on a regular basis,chose to breastfeed. That kid was on the boob about 24/7, both for feeding and comfort. He wouldn't even take a pacifier. It was even a big struggle to get him to take a bottle of pumped milk so I could return to work after 3 months while my SO, parents, and parents-in-law cared for him. Finally, I went back to work, pumped each day, and bfed when I was home. I was told he could try rice cereal at 4 months. He would not have it. I tried that and some various fruits like bananas every couple of weeks. The pediatrician said that if he wanted solids, fine; if not, he'd be fine on breastmilk alone for the first year. He finally accepted solids like bananas, applesauce, and pureed meats at about 9 months. It was really a struggle. I do recall avoiding peanut butter, eggs, soy, honey, and some fruits for the first year. The kid would probably still be nursing, but on his third birthday, I told him he'd graduated to big boy cups all the time. I wasn't trying to cut him off, but, damn, my breasts were annihilated! I can happily report that his health has been amazingly good. He doesn't have any allergies. He's also a friendly, affectionate, and well-adjusted fellow.

P.S. AVENues, I see nothing wrong with what you posted. My boy never spit out the nipple to go for solids, but some kids really do seem that eager for "real" food. Some kiddos are committed to the breast and snuggling with Mommy long-term. Others are more independent and eager for curry, avacado, and other awesome experiences. :)

[Arete]

We're a pound of dirt family. My mother is a nurse, so growing up we had a certain amount of germ avoidance engrained (mostly food borne, cross contamination type stuff, and washing hands after bathroom visits). Other than that, dirt is good.

In the US this is called "The Hygiene Hypothesis". There are researchers here also collecting data to see if they can back up the hypothesis that a lot of allergies are because children's immune systems are not coming across these things routinely if they are "over clean" and therefore when they do get introduced the immune system goes haywire, thus the allergies.

There was an intriguing study published this year that showed children who grew up around farm animals or had pets in the house had significantly fewer colds and allergies than children who did not. The theory behind it was they had developed antibodies to a lot of animal microbes and dander that gave them an edge in fighting colds and allergies.

We got Metaxa (brandy) on the gums when teething as babies. We all lived and none of us are alcoholics. :lol:

[Irishy]

I quit sterilising when I found my eldest son licking the carpet.

[keen23]

So I'm in the minority here. I don't like to be touched by anyone really, except in limited amounts. Breastfeeding was almost torture for me. I was honestly "touched out" well before the baby was done eating. I lasted to 6 months with one child, and two or fewer with the other two. I never exclusively breastfeed, and used formula from the day they were born. For introducing food- they got rice or oatmeal at 5-6 months. My husband, without my knowing however, had been feeding them at night, with him, since they were about 4 months. And not baby food either- like Chubby Hubby ice cream complete with peanut butter and chocolate, and not a single food allergy between the three of them ("Wait, babies aren't supposed to get stuff like that? I've been giving it to all of our kids since they were really little" was what he told me one day and the whole story came out). They were getting basically table food by their first birthdays. The only thing that was avoided was shellfish, because my husband has a severe shellfish allergy- not that we eat lobster a lot in Arizona anyways.

[yewchapel]

That study was for reflux babies.

I believed the opposite was true regarding gluten ie. Not under six months. I think the scientific research now advises exclusively milk for 6 months.

The strawberry one is interesting as it is a common serious allergy but also just an irritant which can be confused.

I like the idea of finger foods, I would probably have tried that. Eggs if I recall was yolk only until 12 months.

Maybe only pertinent to UK folks. Remember Farley's Rusks? Marketed as a weaning food ..more sugar than any other nutrient :lol:

I was 5 when my sister was born and I used to steal her Farley's Rusks for myself :lol:

[yewchapel]

I was born in 1982 and apparantely I bit my mother at 6 months old, that was the last time she breastfed me. I was put straight on ovaltine, no formula, no bottle, just the good old fashioned plastic beaker with the three holes in the lid.

We also had whiskey rubbed on our gums for teething, my nanna gave us brandy if she babysat us over night and we were always given a capful of peach schnapps on Christmas Eve. Surprisingly neither my brother or I are alcoholics lol

I also remember the same nanna putting a teaspoon of sugar in fizzy drinks because she thought the bubbles were bad for children!

My eldest cousin was born in 1973 and the DOCTOR told my aunt to give the baby Ovaltine at night to help her sleep :o All the babies I know were given milky unsweetened tea in their bottles though!

Me and my sister were both exclusively bottlefed - clearly we should both be ruined because of the lack of breastfeeding :lol:

[2xx1xy1JD]

At the risk of inciting (Peanut)World War III, here's an article on the emerging theory that early exposure may prevent/treat later allergies:

http://www.time.com/time/health/article ... -1,00.html

FWIW, I know a pediatric allergist-in-training who agrees, and my sister believes that it's possible that delayed introduction to peanuts may have contributed to her daughter's severe peanut allergy.

As a North American mom, one of the jolting things for me about taking my baby daughter to Israel was the fact that Israelis give babies a peanut snack called Bamba. It's absolutely everywhere. In 2000, I spent a lot of time insisting that nobody was allowed to feed my baby anything at all. However, rates of peanut allergies are far lower than they are among North American Jews, so it's possible to rule out genetic factors in many cases and conclude that the difference is environmental - and Bamba seems to be a big part of the difference. [The flip side is that my niece had to be super-cautious about avoiding peanuts in Israel, and despite our best efforts she still had a reaction. Exposure to peanut oil doesn't cure peanut allergies in a 7 yr old - it causes swelling and vomitting and a bit of difficulty breathing.]

[PennySycamore]

I exclusively breastfed my babies born at term until they started solid foods at around 6 months. I did not use pureed foods or cereals with them. In fact, I just made a little pile of mashed banana, boiled potato, steamed broccoli trees, etc. on their high chair tray and let them go at the food with their hands. They ate what they needed to eat and it was far less messy than spoon-feeding them. My oldest and youngest nursed the longest with my oldest breastfeeding until she was 4 1/2 and my youngest until she was past three. I tandem nursed my first and second; in fact they weaned a few months apart. I do not care for nursing while pregnant and weaned my second and third babies when I got pregnant around their second birthday.

My premie was an exception to this. I had a terrible milk supply and ended up giving some supplement to Katherine. The NICU also gave her some human milk fortifier to help her grow better. My pediatrician recommended that Katherine start solid foods when she was around 4 or 5 months adjusted age. We did start some Gerber first foods banana and fed it to Katherine with a spoon. IIRC, she also got some cereal. I do think we made a mistake giving Katherine solids that early. She did like her bananas, but they tended to displace a bit of milk in her diet when either breastmilk or formula would have been more calorically dense. Katherine was struggling to breathe and used up a lot of calories just breathing. There was little left for growth. Katherine nursed till she was 11 months old when she died of complications of BPD.

Gillian Rapley has just popularized and refined what many of us moms (particularly those influenced by LLL and maybe by NCT) have done for years. I was thrilled 33 years ago to learn that I didn't have to spoon feed my daughter to teach her to eat solid foods and neither did I have to struggle with weaning her anymore than I'd have to teach her to walk. My girls also pretty much potty trained themselves.

I still have my Happy Baby food grinder from at least 21 years ago.

Anthropologist Dr Katherine Dettwyler studied weaning ages in mammalian populations to see what they might tell us about the natural weaning age for humans. She looked at social development (among social mammals), eruption of permanent teeth, growth, and so on to determine a weaning age range for humans. She discovered that the natural weaning age for humans is between 3 and 7 years of age. Yeah, that's uncultural, but it is not the least bit unnatural.

edited for riffle thrice

[So Says I]

Honestly, I love hearing everyone's different methods and stories. In my own family, formula was made from scratch, Similac was given to me and my younger cousin, and my sister who had kids, my cousin, and I breastfed for different amounts of time. Solids and allergens were delayed for different amounts of time. Cute story, at about 11 months, I walked in on my father-in-law giving my son Pepsi out of a can, while whispering, "Shhh... don't tell Mommy." :lol: Point is, we all turned out OK.

[Rosa]

The adding solids because the baby nurses too much/seems still hungry is super common advice in various circles. I certainly heard it unsolicited enough, since I nursed all the damn time and my kid is super skinny (turns out, he's hyperactive. He burns through calories like crazy. his big weight drop was right when he learned to walk.)

[Slt]

Uh, BLW isn't exactly like the nazi-esque PP stated. I planned or pureeing homemade food for LO, but as a nurse did a ton of research on the best method and came upon baby led weaning (which has nothing to do with breastfeeding, but is based on the european term wean, meaning adding solids). I hate to say it, but I am lazy. Making extra food separate from what we ate to feed him sounded like a pain in the ass. So he ate what we ate. And he still does. When we went out to eat at a restaurant, he went to town on bits of whatever we ordered and was content doing it. He got 99% of his calories by BF at 6 months, about 80% at 8 months and about 50% at a year. When we weaned from nursing at 13 months, he transitioned beautifully. It is just a way of doing things, not any better in method overall than purees.

[oil]

As a North American mom, one of the jolting things for me about taking my baby daughter to Israel was the fact that Israelis give babies a peanut snack called Bamba. It's absolutely everywhere.

LOL Im eating Bamba right now. Yes its good for babys because it melts in the mouth like mush. 6 am eating Bamba. :lol:

I have to print these pages for reference when I have a baby.

[August]

Uh, BLW isn't exactly like the nazi-esque PP stated. I planned or pureeing homemade food for LO, but as a nurse did a ton of research on the best method and came upon baby led weaning (which has nothing to do with breastfeeding, but is based on the european term wean, meaning adding solids). I hate to say it, but I am lazy. Making extra food separate from what we ate to feed him sounded like a pain in the ass. So he ate what we ate. And he still does. When we went out to eat at a restaurant, he went to town on bits of whatever we ordered and was content doing it. He got 99% of his calories by BF at 6 months, about 80% at 8 months and about 50% at a year. When we weaned from nursing at 13 months, he transitioned beautifully. It is just a way of doing things, not any better in method overall than purees.

You don't spend enough time online.

[Lulu]

The allergy thing confounds me. If we in Western countries are having a rise in peanut allergies what do countries that use peanuts do? Same for seafood eating areas? Do they have no people with anaphylaxis to seafood? I think I heard that Australia has the highest rate for peanut allergy. Why?

[Mama Mia]

The allergy thing confounds me. If we in Western countries are having a rise in peanut allergies what do countries that use peanuts do? Same for seafood eating areas? Do they have no people with anaphylaxis to seafood? I think I heard that Australia has the highest rate for peanut allergy. Why?

And the peanut allergies being such a big thing seems really recent. I certainly had never heard of someone having a peanut allergy when I was a kid in school in the 70's. It seemed to be kind of becoming a thing that some kids had when my kids were in school in the 80's - 90's -- and now there are whole schools that are peanut free, bans on peanuts in some class rooms etc....

Why the sudden jump ?

[Blahblah]

My kids' entire school is peanut free and there are so many severely peanut allergic kids that every staff member is trained in the use of epipens and there are safety procedures displayed in every room. Like Mrs S2004 I don't remember a single kid in school in the 70's with a peanut allergy. Something has seriously f'ed up in the last 30 years or so.

[NotALoserLikeYou]

Breastfeeding AND peanut butter in the same thread?

Hopefully this won't be the downfall of FJ.

[lilith]

My kids' entire school is peanut free and there are so many severely peanut allergic kids that every staff member is trained in the use of epipens and there are safety procedures displayed in every room. Like Mrs S2004 I don't remember a single kid in school in the 70's with a peanut allergy. Something has seriously f'ed up in the last 30 years or so.

All public primary schools in NSW are nut free. I sometimes buy my kids a nut free chocolate spread and have to write "THIS IS NUT FREE CHOCOLATE SPREAD, NOT NUTELLA" on the bags or the teachers will confiscate it.

It's really not that big a deal complying though, and it's certainly worth it to give the parents of children with allergies peace of mind and to prevent accidental exposure.