To be confused about weaning.

[thefirstmrsDeVere]

OK OK I can hear the collective groan as another weaning thread hoves into view.

I am NOT going to slag off the WHO guidelines or call people who give their babies a bit of porridge when they are 5mths old, abusers.

Now is that all clear

I am not daft, I listen to advice and I am not one to stick to something just because I have been doing it that way for years. I am holding my hands up and admitting I am finding the new rules a bit hard to follow.

I cant be the only one who is struggling a bit with the 6mths thing.
Background - just had DC5. DD weaned at 12 weeks, DS1 16 weeks , DS2 16 weeks, DS3 I stuck it out till about 5 mths. Older children weaned as per guidelines at the time.

DC5 is only 16 weeks so I wont be giving him a sausage anytime soon but he really does seem to be getting hungry.

I look at him and think 'blimey your sister was on 3 (teeny) meals a day at your age'

I dont want to be told I am a twat, I dont want to be told I should go ahead and give him a jar of heinz chocolate pudding, I WOULD like a bit of balanced advice and some thoughts on weaning.

Is it really vital to wait until 6 mths?

He is EBF if that is relevant.

Please bear in mind that there are probably millions of older mums like me out there fretting a bit about this.

Ta

Useful overview here, indicating that Heinz chocolate pudding at 17 weeks probably wouldn't do very much harm, truth be told.

tabboleh beat me to it

"Fit as a butcher's dog? Is that the same as fit as a human child?"

No it's much fitter than that

That is an interesting article auto

Although, I would argue that the main danger of introducing heinz chocolate pudding is that the little buggers wont touch anything else once they get a taste

My DD is seven and a bit months, she was two weeks late. She is EBF, no formula, fed on demand.

I have done BLW with her from 5.5 months, as she showed the signs of readiness for weaning, as others have listed above.

She likes to chew things up, still very little is going down. BLW is working well for us (it is basically using finger food to feed herself, not starting with mashed up or pureed food), the idea being that at six months they can chew and so the stage of having to mash has passed. This is better for mummies like me, who do not care to mash things. I am lazy!

Maybe see if it is just the 16/17 week growth spurt, and maybe look at BLW to see if this is of interest? Although it is great fun at meal times these days, it was undeniably easier when she was on a breast milk only diet!

Good luck whatever you decide is best for your DS.

Lady - yes, totally. That's why I ignore them, and would rather speak to sister/mum/friends. Or just do my own thing.

MrsD - moving on from milk is definitely harder work, I could never understand why people were in such a rush to wean. Novelty, maybe?