booster seat for 4 month old?

[rickysmiths]

Basically, when you can sit, your abdominal and back muscles are strong enough to support your head / neck which enables easier swallowing, and also supports the broper function if the bowels - even adults digest food better when sat up straight at a dining table, rather than laid back in a recliner or crouched over food on a sofa etc. Sitting upright helps food be moved down and gives the digestive tract the space and support to digest properly

OK I see the logic but if the child is in a slightly reclined seat or sitting on your knee their back would be straight anyway and the same angle as most high chairs are now., not scrunched up or crouched over.

Poor old Romans on their reclined beds. I never realised they suffered so from bad digestion!

[JCrakers]

I must say I was weaned at 3months in the 70's.....nowt wrong with me
well thats debatable sometimes

[crazyhazy]

Natures Kids has explained the reasoning behind the guidelines better than me I think. A little saying I like in these debates is "evidence is not the plural of anecdote" just cos joe bloggs was weaned at 6 weeks on a roast dinner and is fine does not mean guidelines are nonsense!

Personally I like to use guidelines and my instinct combined, I exclusively bf till around 6 months with both my girls, think #1 was 22 weeks when she started weaning and #2 was 26 weeks, funnily enough since milk (breast or formula) has far more calories than baby rice or similar they didn't starve or waste away since I bf on demand.

Interestingly nearly everyone I know who weaned early around 4 months did so because of sleepless nights and being sure food would help the baby sleep long, this is a huge growth spurt time and they do wake up and need more milk. They then decide that when baby starts sleeping better at 6mish that it's cos their having 3 meals a day whereas in fact it's coincidence that the growth spurt has ended. If a bit of baby rice etc makes baby go longer between feeds etc then it's not necessarily a good thing it's cos their little tummys are struggling to digest it.

[chez]

Hes drinking just as much milk as he was as well as his food, hes trying to pull the spoon towards himself as he does the bottle

[crazyhazy]

Hes drinking just as much milk as he was as well as his food, hes trying to pull the spoon towards himself as he does the bottle

I'm not having a go honestly, just trying to put the proper info out there as so many people don't seem to realise the reasoning behind it. But if you hand him a pen or a toy I bet he'd try to put it in his mouth too x

[Nature'sKids!]

I'm not having a go honestly, just trying to put the proper info out there as so many people don't seem to realise the reasoning behind it. But if you hand him a pen or a toy I bet he'd try to put it in his mouth too x

Yes, this is the one bit of "signs of readiness" I disagree with. Babies watch you from the start, they even suck their hands / thumbs in the womb! So a baby trying to reach out to hold something and then sticking it in their mouth can happen as soon as they've got the coordination. My second was 2 1/2 months when he did this with a rattle. He licked and sucked everything. He did also sit up unaided at 4 1/2 months, admittedly but even the health visitor said that it is very unusual. Doesn't mean he was ready for food, we did blw and he didn't ingest anything until 8 months. Before that he maybe liked at a carrot etc but that was more for soothing his gums.

[jane5]

[QUOTE=Nature'sKids!;1014205]All the research I've read (and its been a lot) suggest babies digestive system is ready *sometime between* 4-6 months in full term babies When this happens exactly noone can say, hence why it is safest to wait until 6 months.



This is a "one size fits all" piece of advice and babies are not "one size fits all".
Some babies digestive systems are mature enough at 4 months and it is "safe" to feed them because they are hungry and some babies digestive systems are not mature enough until 6 months. As doctors can not see which child is ready they say 6 months for all.

What upsets me is when a child of 5 months is hungry and ready for food, refusing milk and stares (not just watches) at you whilst you eat, not sleeping or settling and crying more than normal and the mum will not even try weaning (to see if this settles the child) because the health visitor advises 6 months to the day

This child stopped crying and was a happy child days after being weaned at 6 months

[Nature'sKids!]

There's no way of knowing when their mature enough though. It's all guesswork. If you can wait until 6 months then wait, especially knowing that theres a risk to weaning earlier, that's all I'm saying. If you can't wait, or there are medical reasons or whatever, know the risks and feed the mildest foods you can. Generally fresh ripe fruit is almost as easy to digest as breastmilk so ideal first weaning foods, packed full of natural sugars and vitamins essential for energy, and nutrition. Unfortunately most people I know of personally put rusks in baby bottles and feed rice just to help them sleep longer. :/

[rickysmiths]

I wasn't able to breast feed my dd. by 3 mths she was on 9 x 9oz bottles a day and still would have taken more. She would have burst if I had given her more liquid bless her. She weaned on ground rice made with formular milk very easily and was on mashed vegetables with a little meat and mashed fruits by 6 months. She was a happy child after a long battle with wind when she was on milk alone she settled down and was sleeping through the night and more contented than she has been prior to weaning. She has grown into a healthy woman with no dietary problem and enjoys eating a wide variety of foods.

I breast fed my son until he was 6 months old, by which time I was exhausted and as he was also eating well by this time he transferred to drinking milk from a cup and we have again never looked back.

Interestingly, 19 years on I really can't see the difference that breast feeding my son for so long has made, compared to his older sister never having been breast fed and being given only formular!!

Neither of my children had any antibiotics until they were over 2yrs old and thought they both have had them in 19 years I can count the times between them on the fingers of one hand. I have had 2yr old mindees who have has antibiotics more often than that they seem to be given them at the slightest hint of any illness at the moment.

Neither of my two or their cousins 4 of them all weaned by 6 mths have had any food allergies or health problems and they are all in their late teens/early twenties.

I know it is different for all children of course it is but I too hate to see parents effectively bullied by people into thinking they are harming their child if they dare wean them a day before 26 weeks when that is not always the best thing for the child.

I shall never forget a very distraught mum bringing her dd one day after she was one saying we had got to stop giving her child bottle from today. The child loved her bottle of milk and despite a few tries refused to drink milk out of a cup. I asked why, 'oh the Health Visitor said when she was one I should stop the bottle' I asked why so sudden to be told it would affect the child's teeth very badly. As if going over this deadline to make a major difference!! The effect of the strict advise was devistating to the mother though, who really though she was going to harm her baby if she used a bottle for a day after it's first birthday

I think as professionals we have to be very careful when dealing with parents over these such 'deadlines'.

[PixiePetal]

I wasn't able to breast feed my dd. by 3 mths she was on 9 x 9oz bottles a day and still would have taken more. She would have burst if I had given her more liquid bless her. She weaned on ground rice made with formular milk very easily and was on mashed vegetables with a little meat and mashed fruits by 6 months. She was a happy child after a long battle with wind when she was on milk alone she settled down and was sleeping through the night and more contented than she has been prior to weaning. She has grown into a healthy woman with no dietary problem and enjoys eating a wide variety of foods.

I breast fed my son until he was 6 months old, by which time I was exhausted and as he was also eating well by this time he transferred to drinking milk from a cup and we have again never looked back.

Interestingly, 19 years on I really can't see the difference that breast feeding my son for so long has made, compared to his older sister never having been breast fed and being given only formular!!

Neither of my children had any antibiotics until they were over 2yrs old and thought they both have had them in 19 years I can count the times between them on the fingers of one hand. I have had 2yr old mindees who have has antibiotics more often than that they seem to be given them at the slightest hint of any illness at the moment.

Neither of my two or their cousins 4 of them all weaned by 6 mths have had any food allergies or health problems and they are all in their late teens/early twenties.

I know it is different for all children of course it is but I too hate to see parents effectively bullied by people into thinking they are harming their child if they dare wean them a day before 26 weeks when that is not always the best thing for the child.

I shall never forget a very distraught mum bringing her dd one day after she was one saying we had got to stop giving her child bottle from today. The child loved her bottle of milk and despite a few tries refused to drink milk out of a cup. I asked why, 'oh the Health Visitor said when she was one I should stop the bottle' I asked why so sudden to be told it would affect the child's teeth very badly. As if going over this deadline to make a major difference!! The effect of the strict advise was devistating to the mother though, who really though she was going to harm her baby if she used a bottle for a day after it's first birthday

I think as professionals we have to be very careful when dealing with parents over these such 'deadlines'.

Your children are of a similar age to mine. I breast fed both and then combined breast and bottle - DD fed well but had colic which settled when she started solids. When I told one HV she had solids, HV was surprised the next one said 'well she is a hungry baby' - I did what felt right for us both. I just didn't have enough milk for DS and he was hungry and losing weight. He never liked bottles much nor did DD, they stopped milk drinking altogether by 15-18months and have never drank it since - only on cereals, in yogs and cheese.

I too have had fractious mother bringing baby who only had milk and the moment they had turned 6 months gave it solids - as if 1 day would make a difference

[Nature'sKids!]

Obviously doesn't help when there is no or little support.
Fussiness, colic, reflux and other things that make babies cranky can so easily be helped by simplycarrying baby a lot in a carrier but so many parents are also told "not to spoil baby" or "make a rod for their own back" so even IF someone would offer them a carrier or the advice to carry to help comfort baby, they daren't because they don't want to "make baby clingy". *sigh*. Parenting isn't easy, I know with my first I worked about a lot.
Truly, I am so grateful for reading the continuum concept. This book changed my life and made it so easy to look after babies! Lol it's easier with two than what it was with my first during the first 6 months.

[flora]

Intersting reading ladies

Nice to compare points of view

I personally think guidlines are just that. They are not cast in stone and dontALWAYS have to be followed to the letter.

In a perfect world we would all have nice easy vaginal births, all be able to sleep through the night at a few weeks old, breast feed without any problems, wean at 6months and not a day before and generally sail through parenthood just like the books ay without a hitch.

In reality life does not play out like a fairy strory and with the best will in the world keep changing all the advice given does nothing but confuse most parents out there

[caz3007]

I think all parents do what they feel is best by their child. After all they dont come with manuals.

BTW my older two are 22 and 19 and both were on baby rice at 12 weeks (ducks) and my 8 year old followed suit even though the guidelines had changed, the others were fine, so I went with what I felt happy with.

All three are very healthy and hardly visit the docs. I cant remember the last time we had to take the youngest to the docs.

I have had babies to look after during my time as CM and would support the parents in whatever they wanted to do, if they asked me to wean at 4 months, then so be it and the same if it was 6 months, its down to them.

[llkbabob]

could you not get a cheap bouncer maybe?
i have a reclining highchair.