Helen Flanagan has received backlash for her decision to wean her five-month-old

The former Coronation Street actress asked people to consider that “each baby is different” following the controversy.

Yesterday Helen Flanagan took to Instagram to announce her decision to begin weaning her five-month-old baby girl, Delilah.

Weaning children can be a tricky channel to navigate and when to do it is a personal choice for every parent.

Six months is about the average time people wait to begin the process, so Helen received some negative comments for her decision to wean sooner than this.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

We are weaning ?! Xx With Matilda I waited till she was 6 months before I started weaning her and I just hated weaning so much ?x Matilda would never ever take a spoon from me and had absolutely no interest in food until way past she was one years old, only had interest in milk x Everyone in my family tried to try to get Matilda to wean even my nanna?. Weaning used to really stress me out, as a first time mum with Matilda I’d feel like argh what am I doing wrong why won’t she wean for me and I’d worry especially as she was a slim baby girl ? I always said with my second baby I’d start earlier with weaning just to get them used to it and I’d always said to my mum I hope I have a baby that will eat for me ?x Delilah loves her food and the spoon so I’m so relieved and it’s so cute x I did baby led weaning with Matilda which has a lot of positives but it made me worried that my baby was going to choke at first and would at first only do the baby led weaning when Scott was home from training ?x Which obviously they don’t choke if you look into baby led weaning but I wasn’t as confident with Matilda as I am with Delilah x Matilda is still not an amazing eater and me and scott are always trying with her food but I’m hoping Delilah will be great and I’ll be able to get Matilda eating vegetables x I’m going to make my own baby food too I tried it loads with Matilda but it all went to waste ? would love to hear how other mummy’s are finding weaning? I really feel like each baby is different, Delilah is five months next week and she seems really ready and really enjoying?????xxx

A post shared by Helen Flanagan (@hjgflanagan) on Nov 14, 2018 at 1:16am PST

Illustrating the classic point that every baby is different, Helen said that her first baby really struggled to wean, but that Delilah is loving the process:

“I always said with my second baby I’d start earlier with weaning just to get them used to it and I’d always said to my mum I hope I have a baby that will eat for me. Delilah loves her food and the spoon so I’m so relieved and it’s so cute.”

Some people felt the need to add their two cents and as a result, Helen posted a follow-up post asking for an end to the mum-shaming.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

So this morning I posted about weaning my baby girl at nearly 5 months and I got quite a lot of negative comments. I like to be honest and open on my Instagram, I like to share my real experiences and it’s great if I can help other Mums! I know a lot of Mums follow me so I wasn’t being irresponsible posting that I’m weaning my baby who’s nearly five months. I’m not an expert but I do think each baby is different. Matilda was walking at 11 months and some little ones take longer with that but she wasn’t great with her food. I suppose they all go at their own pace and Delilah is loving little baby fruit purées and is really interested ??xxx I’m only giving her little licks of the spoon not the whole packet and on the baby packages it says from 4 months onwards and no mum shaming please that I didn’t boil the fruit. I am still feeding her myself and will do as long as she needs x I breastfeed and my toddler is still in my bed ? but what works for me won’t work for someone else. It doesn’t make you a better mum what ever your choice of feeding ?x I do think as Mums we’re all in it together, we should support each other, it’s not a competition. ?? We’re all just trying our best really no one is perfect and we should uplift each other as women as it’s the best job but not always the easiest ? Beautiful coat and beret @emile.et.rose ?

A post shared by Helen Flanagan (@hjgflanagan) on Nov 14, 2018 at 11:35am PST

She said:

“I know a lot of Mums follow me so I wasn’t being irresponsible posting that I’m weaning my baby who’s nearly five months. I’m not an expert but I do think each baby is different.

Matilda was walking at 11 months and some little ones take longer with that but she wasn’t great with her food. I suppose they all go at their own pace and Delilah is loving little baby fruit purées and is really interested.”

Professor of paediatrics at King’s College London, Gideon Lack, recently expressed his opinion that babies should be weaned sooner to combat the risk of developing food allergies, so perhaps Helen is quite right to begin the process slightly sooner than normal.

In any case, we hope the negativity dies down for Helen. Like every parent, we’re sure she’s doing what she believes is right.