Shall I start weaning at 5.5 months?

[EdwardtheEagle]

Please help! My DD is 5.5 months and ff since 7 weeks. She's always had a good appetite and slept well until 4.5 months, but started waking in the night the last few weeks. This is fine (I know I was v lucky before) but I'm concerned that she's lost her appetite.

Instead of 4x200ml ish, she only has about 100ml now, either four or five times a day. She's rarely hungry and just refuses to take anymore and obviously I don't want to force it.

She's a great weight, plenty of wet and dirty nappies, and very happy in herself, although poss teething.

The dr and paed (I'm in France) said I should start weaning with purees just one meal a day a she's bored of milk, but as she's not quite 6 months I'm not sure.

I'm happy to do purees rather than blw, so that's not it, but she can't yet sit unaided. I'm Just concerned she might get dehydrated with what she's having at the mo.

Any advice?

[DialMforMummy]

I have started weaning my DS at 5 mo. He has a bit of baby rice (some sort of bouillie de riz pilé) and some veg (potato and carrot/ potato and broccoli/ potato and leek) twice a day as well as a smaller bottle. He has veg twice a day and some baby rice/cereal for breakfast.
I started just with the baby rice until he got the idea that one should open his mouth and then swallow. Once he got it (took about a week), I moved on to the veg.
OTOH, it's quite normal to lose appetite when teething IME.

[DialMforMummy]

I'll add that mine can't quite sit unaided either.
I can't comment with authority on your concern re-dehydration; but I would have thought that given what she drinks, the fact she has wet nappies and that AFAIK there is no heatwave in France, you should not worry about dehydration. What do the Paed and Dr think?

[EdwardtheEagle]

Thanks dial. Dr and paed just say that because she's not losing weight she's fine, but the advice here can seem a bit old fashioned. Like my young, cool midwife said I could put honey or chocolate in dd's bottle to change the flavour!!!

[TimothyClaypoleLover]

I am weaning my 5 month old on pureed fruit and veg. He cannot sit unaided either. I sit him in his bouncer or bumbo.

[gemmeg]

I weaned my son at 5.5 months. I noticed that he seemed dissatisfied after milk feeds (BF). He was obviously ready as he took to it right away. He also wasn't able to sit unaided. I used to just sit him on my knee or in a baby bouncer chair. I know "they" always say to wait until 6 months but I think that every baby is different and if a child's ready and showing interest and a neccesity then you can follow your instincts.

[needsadviceplease]

I started blw at 5.5mo but he was sitting unaided and desperately grabbing at all my food, so I was sure he must be ready. He's bf and has always been a horrible sleeper, which weaning hasn't fixed!

None of which helps you very much, sorry. I think signs of readiness are prob important. I also think 6m is v arbitrary and you likely know best. But 'baby might be bored of milk' made me a little bit and I am speechless at a midwife suggesting honey!

[mummybare]

I'd be inclined to wait until baby showed signs of readiness. If you think about it, if DD had been breastfed, you wouldn't know that she was taking less, and I think it is perfectly normal for babies to dip a little at about that age (although I'm not an expert about that, but that's what the HV told me). As long as she is producing lots of wet/dirty nappies and is happy, energetic, etc., she is likely to be absolutely fine.

I know the European advice is to wean between 4 and 6 months, but In the UK, they say 6 months plus. Having said that, we started just before 5 months, but DD was sitting up, grabbing things and putting them in her mouthy etc., so we gave her some bits of veg to play with to keep her busy while we were eating and she loved it. But I don't really see the point of rushing to wean for the sake of it. Why bring forward the work, mess and smellier nappies when you don't have to?

[beyoglu]

My two are just 6 months now and we started weaning at about 5.5 months. Don't know if anyone else in the UK has had this but my HV seemed to be suggesting that 6 months wasn't a hard and fast rule and that the advice might be changing soon anyway? I had a read around and found that one of the supposed advantages of starting a little early is that they are more accepting of bitter tastes at a younger age so I've spent the last two weeks shovelling a variety of green veggies and swede and stuff into them!

On head support, I've been doing mine in their bouncy chairs because although they can sit unaided, one of them gets a bit tired after about 15 minutes and gets bored.

Also I don't know if you're thinking about BLW? I was, and intended to wait for that reason, but they're making the puree to finger food transition fairly well. Started with DT1 grabbing the spoon off me to feed herself, and now I can give them bits of veggies or little sticks of bread (but not breadsticks IYSWIM) dipped in puree.

[LoveYouForeverMyBaby]

I weaned at 5 months 1 week. Started with a whole strawberry and a bit of purée (did a mixture of TW and BLW) . The 6 month thing is a guideline, I personally wouldn't wean before 5 months but for me anytime between 5-6 months is about right, dependent on the baby.