About to start weaning 21 wk old DS - some qs.

[sh77]

I think DS is not getting full from BF milk as he has started to wake up after every 1.5-2 hours during the night. I wasn't planning on weaning until 6 months and so am feeling a bit nervous. I would be really grateful for advice on the following:

• is it ok to start on banana or mashed carrots mixed with breast milk? If so, how much and how often during the day (I was thinking just before bed time)?
  
• How much water should I give him?
  
  Any other tips on first foods :)

[gourd]

You must of course do what you think is best for your baby, but personally I do not think waking in the night is necessarily a sign of readiness to wean. However, if LO shows other signs (can take hold of some food, put it in own mouth, chew and swallow it) then he is ready to start with soft vegetables and fruits. I'd suggest offering him batons/sticks of cooked carrot and/or roast vegetables such as sweet potato, squash etc or peices of banana and other soft fruits like peaches to start with, that he can feed to himself, so that he only takes in whatever he is able to hold, chew and swallow by himself. You can try introducing cereals and protein a few weeks later, maybe around 23 or 24 weeks, once baby is nearly 6 months old, but it's best to avoid those to start with, as they are much harder for baby to chew, break down internally and digest.

[nocake]

Agreed, DD started waking more frequently at about 5 months then stopped again and it wasn't a sign that she was ready to wean. The other signs that gourd mentions are the ones to look for.

[hazchem]

i've just this week started to wean my 20 week old. he has had a suck on a few cooked things before now but we are starting proper this week and it's going well.
so far we have had courgette, pototo, and apple not all together. as we are not doing BWL i'm pureeing them.
basically i've cooked them until really soft then put in my food processor addind a touch of the cooking water to help thin down the potato. i'd add breast milk but i don't express and my aim is all over the shop! at the suggestion of Amanda Ursell i've then run the puree thru a fine plastic seive.
this is working well for us.
it's all quite fun and he seams to enjoy it.

[ShowOfHands]

Totally up to you and if he's sitting up, able to pick up items and put them in his mouth and has lost the tongue thrust reflex then he's showing signs that he's ready. The waking up in the night is nothing to do with being ready for solids. Just in case you want to wait and need reassurance that the increased wakings are normal.

A brilliant way to know if he's ready is to sit him up and put some food in front of him in easy to grab chunks. The answer should be obvious.

We just gave dd whatever we were having as she was 6 months+ so there were no special meals or messing about and in terms of water, we just put a beaker next to her at mealtimes and had one round the house and she helped herself.

[kellieb7]

Hey, just a suggestion but could your LO be too hot, my DD has started waking in the night for a drink because of the heat. . . . Just a thought?

[Seona1973]

p.s. if you do give foods, start in the daytime rather than bedtime so that if they have a reaction it is not going to disturb night-time sleep