Why I Weaned My Babies at Four Months Old

If you follow my social media, mainly Instagram and Facebook, you will have known that I started to wean Freddie just before he turned four months old. It was a hard decision as I promised myself that I wanted to keep him as my baby as long as I could, but it wasn't the case. He needed and wanted food, and so that's what we did. When you're a parent, nothing goes to plan - nothing. You have to go what your instinct is - no matter what anyone else says. For a few weeks I was thinking, should I? Shouldn't I? Luckily, I had an appointment with my Health Visitor a week before Freddie turned four months and that was mainly to chat about weaning. At first, I wasn't keen but talking more about it and reading up more information about it, I felt like it was the right thing to do for Freddie and myself. Freddie had always been a baby who constantly wanted to feed. It honestly felt like he was attached to my boob constantly throughout the day - it was exhausting. I had the girls, the daily routine and school run to do as well. It was hard, and there wasn't even a few weeks gap or a few days where he would go longer than two hours to feed. It was every single two hours, every single day and night (or every hour). It was exhausting.

Seven years ago, when I was a single Mum to Mia, I started weaning her around three and a half months. Again, it felt like the right decision, and it was. She took to food really well but other than that, I can't remember how I started her or what foods I gave. I do remember that she took to textured food pretty quickly and I had no hassle off her with food as she grew older either. She can be a bit fussy now, especially with certain veg or fruit. Our second, Elliw, she took a bit longer. I started her around 4 or 5 months, but it wasn't until she was around 6 months that she took to it well. She struggled with the chewing and adapting to new textures. She was really fussy with foods as she grew older. She loved snacks, but eating meals were a nightmare quite a few times. She isn't too bad now, and she has started trying out new foods too, which is a bonus.

Having to start all this baby stage again after a four year gap, makes me feel like I'm a first time Mum again. I've had to ask many Mum groups on Facebook, friends and the health visitor for tips. I'd actually forgotten what you can actually feed them, what you can't, how to and so on. Eventually, I got used it. I started preparing food and prepping for the next few days too, which was handy. I don't actually freeze meals, and I find I prepare four meals, one for there and then and the other three will be fine kept in the fridge.

As I said above, Freddie was constantly feeding on me and so the decision to wean him two months before the 'recommended age of six months', felt right to me. I felt sad as my baby boy was growing, but I'm glad I did it. He eventually cut feeds through the day and feeds were slowly going down to every three hours, and now at nearly nine months old, he has two feeds during the day and three meals. He absolutely loves his food, and his favourite are; pears, banana, mash potatoes, fish fingers and hash browns. It took me a while to start getting used to him eating foods, especially when he would only take finger foods but now he will let me feed him some meals, especially his yoghurt for pudding.

So, why did I wean Freddie early?

Because it was right for him and myself. It was my choice.

It's taken me until now to write this post because I had been thinking of the backlash I would have (and I could still get it now) but I fed all my babies under six months. All my babies have been 'big' babies. They've been great feeders, and I did what's best and don't regret my decision, at all.

What age did you wean your baby?