>I like the current wording that LLL uses.  Instead of "6 months" 
>they say "around the middle of the first year after birth" (not sure 
>if I have the exact wording, but this is the spirit of it).  When a 
>specific age is used it sounds like 5 months and 29 days is too 
>early and 6 months and 1 day is too late!  At least that is how some 
>very literal moms seem to read it.


This is our experience in the UK, as well - as if the baby wakes up 
****PING!!!!**** on the exact day,  desperate for solid food. It's 
really an artefact of the research - researchers have to ask 
questions like 'was the baby given solids before 6 mths?' or 'before 
4 mths' or whatever, and because they pose questions in a precise way 
they present the answers in this artificially precise way,  and that 
gets translated into policy.

It's not only very literally-minded mothers who think like this, 
though. Many healthcare professionals promote this message, and even 
the ones that have stopped saying '4 mths' for exclusive 
breastfeeding may still start to twitch nervously when the baby gets 
towards 6 mths and they put pressure on mothers once that date is 
reached (in the UK a mother may visit a baby clinic with her well 
baby very often throughout the first year and beyond, and have 
routine contact with a health visitor on many occasions for weighing 
and for advice on general care, including feeding).

[A similar thing happened with gestation (though more as a result of 
'average' being translated as a date and not a range)   - a baby born 
at 40 weeks plus 2 days is 'late' and one born at 39 weeks is 'a week 
early'.]

Heather Welford Neil
NCT bfc, tutor, UK

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