Welcome and thanks for reading.
I'm starting this blog because of the early weaning culture we seem to have in our midst.
I post on a parenting forum regularly where a few times there have been people discussing early weaning. On this forum more informed people have given links and facts as to why this isn't advised and on the whole the posters have rethought the issue and decided to wait.
I had thought, based on these experiences, that that was the norm, and the act of weaning earlier than necessary was over-exaggerated.
Until I came across the BOUNTY forums.
In the last three days, myself and others had noticed an influx of early weaning posts. Even an 'early weaning club' which advocates and even encourages mothers to wean their babies when they feel they are ready. Often with the reasoning that they ' know their babies best'.
A number of times I have posted the reasoning, facts and links to respected sources behind the guideline age of 26 weeks for weaning your child.
My posts have been removed.
I have even been banned from the site three times.
I have contacted BOUNTY about this matter, as have others, and not one of us has had our emails acknowledged.
Yet the 'early weaners club' is allowed to continue.
I have been told time and again on these threads that I'm 'interfering' or that it's their baby therefore none of my business.
I wish this were true.
Yes, it is their baby they are feeding early, but as with all information posted on an internet site it is freely available to anyone who wishes to read it.
This includes new mothers who do not know about the risk of early weaning. This, in my honest opinion, is irresponsible, at the least.
It is because of these ladies that have not yet made a decision regarding when they will be weaning their babies, or are unsure of the reasoning behind the guidelines that I will continue to post on Bounty (no matter how many times they ban me), and have started this blog.
I am not a Health Professional, and do not expect my word to be taken as gospel, so I shall, wherever possible, link to articles/papers by respected Health Organisations that back up what I am saying.
Considering weaning your baby early?
Don't.
Read this to tell you why.
7 comments:
Excellent idea! Will link back from mine! Shocked, but not surprised (if that makes sense!) by Bounty...
great idea. could you do a post with the whole gory details about WHY? I get fed up with people just thinking it is because of obesity - and not knowing about other factors. They think becuase a 10 year old is "healthy" its ok, and seem oblivious to longer term risks.!
Great site, well done on all the hard work! I like the kind of calm sense you're talking.
Keep plugging away & people will eventually get the message, eh?
Have linked to you from a site supporting BF mums in North Wales,(http://www.flintshirefeeders.blogspot.com). I'm sure many Mums are confused now, we get lots of questions about it all. They'll find this useful.
Many thanks, Lisa
I think it's great that we now have mothers on MN that are saying "thanks to you posting those links, I've now decided to wait"! Well done, keep up the good work.
Thanks for linking it ladies. Your sites have been added to links.
Yes natt, I will do, I just want to be perfectly sure I have exact details and research papers about gut maturity before I do so and these papers are pretty tricky to get hold of if you aren't in the medical profession.
We are in Spain where the guidance we have been given is 4 months, the products advertised for 4 months, etc.
Our firstborn is coming up on 4 months, I went to the Mumsnet weaning forums to read the advice, and was startled to find the heated "early weaning" discussion.
We've decided to wait, but I would still really like to know more about why.
Summary pamphlets aren't cutting it for me. The WHO website has links to thousands of tiny local detailed studies. Is there much in between?
Good luck in your efforts to get access to more of the original research, the studies, the hard data in a digestible form ... and thanks for your efforts.
agaboo, I'm in the middle of the post about just why right now, but as you know I want to be able to link proper research to it to show I've checked things out. What I have read so far suggests that certain enzymes are not present until approx 6 months, others (for carbs) until coming up to seven months, also babies have what is called an 'open gut', which allows the antibodies in breastmilk to filter through to the bloodstream, if solid food is introduced and filters through it can cause allergies. Hope that helps for now but I am expecting to have completed the full article in the next day or two.
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