In a blink of an eye, Jude is now almost six months old. Where has my baby gone, it seems like five seconds ago that I was writing about his birth story! But now he’s almost at that milestone, I start to think about his relationship with food-especially since mine is so rocky!
I will be honest, I have already started weaning Jude on bits of organic veg and fruit puree for at least a few weeks. This is not a post arguing that everyone should do the same but he was already showing the three signs the NHS recommends: can sit up, can pick up items and put them in his mouth and swallows okay. It was clear to me he was ready but at a course, I attended on the topic by the NCT, one of the attendees asked: doesn’t early weaning cause Crohn’s Disease? It certainly gave me pause for thought and I did some extra research before starting.
When I announced I had started weaning Jude, I did get some messages along the lines of DON’T YOU KNOW EARLY WEANING CAUSES MASSIVE BOWEL ISSUES! with some exclamation marks. This blog post isn’t particularly biased for or against weaning early and is without judgment, but instead, I thought I’d talk about some of the research for those moms, like me, who want to learn more about the topic and educate themselves. For me, I will never just use the ‘mom knows best!’ mantra but instead read up best I can to make an informed decision.
Why before 17 weeks is not recommended…
First of all, it’s best to define early weaning. Whoever you are, it is never recommended to wean before 17 weeks. That’s because there is some evidence that confirms that this is not a good idea for reasons including that increases risk of allergies, obesity and kidneys and digestive system not being able to cope with this (source). However, the period of 4-6 months has become a bit of a grey area. Most studies I read seem to define 16 weeks as early weaning and not 5 months, 3 weeks!
There are also many reasons why you shouldn’t wean your baby bang on the 4-month dot if they’re not ready for it. For example…
– they might not be able to swallow very well putting them at risk at choking.
–they may still struggle to hold their necks and sit independently. They will then slump and slouch which will make it harder for them to digest the food and be uncomfortable.
-they might not even want the food and it could cause them distress.
-Although I don’t breastfeed, for those who breastfeed, weaning might reduce the amount their baby feeds and therefore goes against the recommendations that babies only exclusively need breastmilk for the first six months of age.
But does weaning a baby from 17 weeks cause Crohn’s Disease and other digestive issues?
Putting breastfeeding and formula feeding to one side for a moment, there is no evidence that those babies who start weaning at 4 or 5 months are any more disadvantaged health-wise than those who start at 6 months. I am not basing this on the classic ‘well my mom weaned me at two days old and I’m fine’ quotes we see on forums but on science. On the site www.child-nutrition.co.uk, a UK registered Dietician who specialises in child nutrition states: “There is no harm or disadvantage to term infants when they begin complementary feeding anytime between 4 & 6 months .” (source) Furthermore, the World Health Organisation states…
“The Panel concludes with high level of confidence 1)that there was no effect of introduction of Complementary Foods at 4 months of age, compared with 6 months of age, on body weight, body length, head circumference, BMI and body composition; that there is no effect of the introduction of gluten at 4 months of age compared with 6 months of age on the risk of developing coeliac disease.” They also could not find any connection between this and things like asthma, eczema, obesity, and infections. They graded the possibility of evidence that there was a link between the time of weaning and gastrointestinal issues as very low. (source– this does not mean there is a very low risk but means there is a very low chance of evidence existing that could even suggest a link.) Gastroenteritis admissions for babies are higher for those who formula feed that breastfeed but there is no correlation between weaning ages.
After extensive research, there are no studies at all (and lots of Mumsnet threads) that link early weaning and Crohn’s Disease/ any other digestive condition together. However, there is a suggestion that breastfeeding a baby has a protective quality against IBD; and that can certainly play a part-especially perhaps if formula-fed moms might naturally wean early; since they have already introduced their baby to a type of food? (note: this is just me hypothesizing a connection)
But what about the virgin gut theory?
The virgin gut theory is kind of like the leaky gut theory in adults. It is not actually referred to in any NHS or medical literature that I could find. It’s a theory that states a baby’s gut is open until six months of age and therefore food particles will enter the bloodstream (in a similar way to leaky guts in adults) and increase the risk of autoimmune disease and allergies. If you are interested, this is a really good article that explains why this theory has some validity but isn’t really relevant. Much of the gut seals quickly and then declines slowly over the years; rather than suddenly having a padlock on a child’s six-month milestone. The article honestly explains it much better than I can so give it a read.
Can early weaning lead to food allergies? Can late weaning lead to food allergies and coeliac disease?
I have not yet introduced Jude to any grains like gluten and I am cautious to do so. It doesn’t help that many of the baby’s ‘first foods with gluten’ are not very healthy-like sugar-containing rusks so I am not sure what to give him. I want Jude to eat as varied diet as possible but I also don’t want him to eat things that aren’t going to give him much nutritional value. The official guidelines are that if you do wean earlier, avoid potential allergens like wheat until six months. However, it’s worth knowing that this is far from straight forward too. Some experts are now suggesting that we are introducing allergens too late; with an expert suggesting that actually introducing foods like egg sooner than six months could reduce the risk of allergies, not increase it (source) The European Society for Paediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology state that complementary feeding should have begun by six months and not before four months but high allergens like milk, egg, nut butter do not need to be delayed until 6 months as there’s no evidence this can help with allergies. (source)
For me, it’s more of a practical thing. Spoonfuls of puree are easy enough but cooking an egg is a different story and I’m a bit nervous about it, so I feel I need to do a bit more reading on that before starting. However, I am keen not to leave it too late as I know some people are starting weaning later and later and there’s some thought that can also cause problems. It’s worth noting that there is a risk of anemia from weaning too late if you’re breastfeeding (source)
I think this post shows there really is conflicting information about when to wean your baby but there really isn’t any reliable evidence that doing so can cause Crohn’s Disease in any way at all. I’d advise any mom to do their research and be guided by their baby and their signs, but please don’t make blanket judgements about ‘early weaning.’
This was a fascinating read. I’d heard about early weaning apparently causing Crohns and IBD so it was interesting to read into the subject in more detail
Thank you for sharing amazing facts about weaning.