In response to Elizabeth Packard's thoughtful post:

My thoughts are that the age factor is the key one. An older baby or toddler is one thing, but I sense your concern about raw egg and raw cow's milk exposure very young. Getting liquid yolk out of an under-cooked egg can transfer traces of egg-white protein with it, as you will know. Add to that the risk of salmonella in giving undercooked egg to a baby.

Parents who go overboard for a set plan are usually very caring and diligent and I'd start with empathising about their wanting the best for their baby and praising their intention. I'd then explore some of the reasons for waiting, using a tentative, questioning tone to see if they are comfortable waiting till a little later, and to help them identify some other options. So then it isn't an "all or nothing" decison. This is particularly so with the homemade mixture for complete artificial feeding. All through, I'd make positive comments about their parenting and some of the components of the solid food plan. I'd give them a bit of "wriggle room" so that they can feel okay about adapting the plan, and that they will still be good parents and their baby will do fine.

I haven't encountered Weston Price - but I do occasionally have my clients call me to ask about a very rigid, non-physiological regimen promoted in the book by a certain celebrity nanny. These parents are typically well-educated, older, anxious to do the very best for their precious baby - and stressed and self-blaming because the aforesaid baby refuses to follow the restrictive sllp/wake/feed rules. As with your clients, Elizabeth, it's a bit like walking on eggshells, i.e. not undermining the parents' confidence in themselves, but helping them to see that they are not the only ones who become more anxious (not less anxious) in following a set time-table instead of watching their baby. I use the line that some programs don't work out for younger babies, as "other parents are finding", and that waiting for readiness might be just what helps them.

Cheers,
Virginia
in Brisbane, QLD, Australia
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Elizabeth Packard wrote:
.... any tips you might have
about how to counsel mothers who are in favor of using Weston Price's
weaning plan - introducing egg yolks (soft boiled or raw) first, followed
by a baby gruel of brown rice, bananas, egg yolks, coconut oil, and whey or
raw milk. It seems to me that, aside from the food-safety concerns with raw
eggs and milk, this gruel probably wouldn't harm an older baby that was
ready to wean. What do you think? I was thinking of sharing information
about Baby-Led Weaning.

Also, what would you say to a mother who has successfully weaned several
babies using Price's recommendations who now wanted to use Price's Homemade
Baby Formula (a different recipe which has been discussed on Lactnet in the
past) on a much younger infant? I have a feeling I might encounter such a
situation soon and I would like to be able to sensitively counsel the
mother and help her to make an informed decision about what to feed her
young baby. .... I was just hoping
to find a few new ideas about how to reach out to mothers who are big fans
of Weston Price and share accurate information with them in a way that they
are more likely to receive.

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