Related Posts Widget for Blogs by LinkWithin

Friday 2 November 2007

Weaning

As Baby Girl is now six months I've been thinking about weaning quite a lot recently. Officially we are supposed to wean at six months - no earlier and no later. To me it just seemed crazy that all babies would need weaning at exactly the same age. After all, they don't do anything else (sitting, standing, laughing, walking etc.) at the same time so why would this be any different? Baby Girl was showing no signs of needing food when she turned six months so it didn't feel right to start giving her food. The only thing was that supposedly they need solids because of needing iron. (Although apparently you don't need to worry about iron if you are formula feeding - another example of breastmilk being portrayed as inferior!) This just didn't seem right to me. I know we live in a fallen world but surely if the milk provides enough energy then it will provide the right nutrition including iron. Well I did a bit of reading around and found out that there was a study done (Pisacane A, et al. Iron status in breast-fed infants. J Pediatr 1995 Sep;127(3):429-31) which found that babies exclusively breastfed for seven months had higher iron levels at 12 months than those who were not. I found loads of helpful information at Kellymom and we've decided to wait and see rather than starting just because she's an arbitrary age.

3 comments:

Laura McIntyre said...

Im 100% supportive of this, my first i started at 6 months because i felt i had to and have regreated it ever since, I swore with my 2nd i would start when SHE was ready which just happened to be at around 5 months (we held out till 5 1/2) , she was more than showing all the signs of being ready.

If you feel baby girl is not ready then stick to your guns

Ashley said...

After much research, we skipped the baby food stage entirely. Around six months I introduced finger foods and figured that as she needed it, she would eat it. It worked nicely for us. She really became "hungry" around 10 months and ate with more fervor. If babies are formula fed, the need to start supplementing at 6 mo. If their breast fed, it's adequate for about a year. Pray about it, research, and do what is right for your daughter... My daughter is 12 mo and we are gradually weaning her to cow's milk. It constipates her so the pediatrician recommended lacing it with dark karo syrup...I'm still not sure about it, all the sugar, so I'm praying God will help her transition.

Staci said...

I think you are making a very wise decision. There are many more reasons for nursing past 6 months...than weaning at that age.

The site you named www.kellymom.com does have great advice.

Blessings!

Staci

http://mommaof4blessings.blogspot.com

Post a Comment

"For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O LORD, thou knowest it altogether." ~ Psalm 139:4

Comments are now moderated due to spammers. If you wish to make a private comment or you would like to leave a comment but are unable to do so, please feel free to use my contact form near the top right of my blog.

  © Blogger template ProBlogger Template by Ourblogtemplates.com 2008

Back to TOP