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Weaning

How did you know your baby was ready for weaning?

4 replies

DangerMousey · 14/04/2013 19:10

Just wondering how you ladies knew when it was the right time to wean you LOs?

I know the official DoH line is to wait until 6 months, and whilst I am keen to wait as long as possible to avoid possible allergies etc (and so I can jump straight into full-on BLW is possible!), I realise a lot of people end up starting their DCs on food a little bit before the magic 6 month mark....What signs did your LOs give you, telling you they were ready before 6 months? What criteria did you use in your house (ie. did you wait until they reached certain developmental milestones, even if they occured before 6 months? Did your DCs start having more night feeds/waking in the night for feeds if they had previously stopped?)

I am wondering what's going to happen with DS1 over the next couple of months...he is currently 18 weeks old, a big boy at 17lb, but not really showing me any signs that he is ready yet, I don't think....well, he is chewing his fists all the time, and putting all his toys in his mouth, and watching me eat whilst making little cute chewing motions with his mouth, BUT he still seems happy with his 5 milk feeds per day (FF, 5x 7oz bottles per day, none at night apart from a 10pm dream feed).

Thanks!

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ShowOfHands · 14/04/2013 19:18

The DOH weaning guidelines are actually v v good at explaining the signs and the red herrings. Weight is nothing to do with it, nor is watching you eat (they watch you drive, use knives etc), mimicking chewing (they mimic driving, using knives etc), waking in the night (normal baby behaviour), chewing fists (developmental norm, comfort or teething) or increased milk feeds.

Signs they are ready include...

Sitting up
Loss of tongue thrust reflex
Able to accurately pick up things and put them in their mouths (plus chew and swallow)

My dd was 27 weeks when she could do the above things, DS was about 24 weeks but we waited a bit with him as he came down with pneumonia at the same age and wasn't able to tolerate weaning or anything other than sleeping/bfing.

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DangerMousey · 14/04/2013 19:36

Do you mean sitting up totally unaided?

Also, how are you supposed to know whether your baby has lost the tongue thrust reflex, and is able to chew and swallow, short of offering them some food?

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PotteringAlong · 14/04/2013 19:37

He bent down, grabbed my toast, put it in his mouth and ate the lot! I started blw that day...!

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ShowOfHands · 14/04/2013 20:51

Sitting up with support is fine, just not slumping down as it's a real choking hazard.

Tongue thrust reflex is easy to spot. Have a look on You Tube for some cracking examples. Basically, if you put something near their mouth, they will push it away with their tongue. It's what it says on the tin, a reflex to stop them eating stuff before they're ready or choking on a small item. When you see a baby pushing puree out with their tongue and it being scooped up and put back in, that's the reflex in action.

Once they're sitting up and reaching for food, then I wouldn't worry about them attempting to put the food near their mouth. The beauty of BLW is that once they're able to put it in their mouth, chew and swallow, they will do it. Before then, they'll miss, squish it up, push it away or paint with it.

We just had ours at the table with us at mealtimes, either on our knees or in a highchair once big enough and they both helped themselves when ready. Before then they sat and bashed toys/books together and generally yelled and clapped at us.

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