Weaning! BabyG is 6 months old now (oh how the time flies) but he still doesn't sit up unaided! HV says wean, I think wean as he's bf LOADS at the mo,. Just how important is it that he sits ?

[MamaG]

He is strong, but doesn't have the balance - if held steady, he happily sits on my knee IYKWIM

I was just going to mush up some banana later and give it to him

What do you think?

Depends how you were planning on weaning I guess. By spoon, I guess sitting up isn't important. BLW, I guess he needs to sit so he can help himself. What happens if you stick some banana in front of him when he's on your knee?

you do realise he won't get many calories at all from the food though don't you... he will most likely continue to bf loads.

Thanks SD- I haven't BF a baby for this long before! If I stick some banana in front of him, he grabs for it

I feel nervous about BLW and want to start of with mush and move quickly to BLW if that makes sense!

Does he sit when supported in a highchair. I think its strength rather than balance IYSWIM.

Don't worry about pushing the weaning though. I'd just wait till he's ready and offer finger foods if that's what you originally wanted. DS could eat really well at 6mo, but after the initial enthusiasm wore off he didn't eat significant amounts for several months.

MamaG - my Ds2 is the same age and at a similar stage developmentally too - he can sit for a few seconds then topples to one side.

He too is bfed and feeds loads, esp at night grrrrr.

I'm giving him a small amount of puree, baby rice, porridge or similar once a day, and he sits in his highchair at the table with us when we eat, and I offer him finger food.

The purees hardly go in, though I had marginally more success with baby porridge yesterday. The finger food gets held, occasionally sucked for a second, then dropped on the floor generally.

I plan to carry on like this and see if he seems to show a preference for purees or finger food, and that will make my mind up for me as to whether to go in the BLW direction or not - though I know I'm technically doing it wrong already by offering purees.

I don't see the point in offering more than one puree meal a day until he actually eats a bit more though - atm he spits most of it out again, but he gets offered finger food 3 times daily when we eat. He's yet to eat anything but seems to like holding it and squishing it etc

HTH

Would he be able to sit up if you pushed a couple of towels to support him either side?

If I had waited for my ds to be able to sit unaided we would have be starting to wean about 9/10 months (early crawler/late sitter). He was grand on our knees or supported with towels either side in the high chair.

I did the same myself - started with mush and quickly moved onto BLW when ds refused spoons. It worked fantastically. Ds still eats great at 18 months and is so independant when it comes to his food.

Bumbo? Worked a treat when I was weaning my DS. Like trixie says, we'd have started months later if I'd waited for him to sit unaided- and he was certainly ready.

I just put wee man in the highchair and strapped him in. He does slump a bit, but over the table part and makes a right mess of it .

He's your baby, a little banana won't do any harm. If he's not ready he'll plup it out. If you think he's ready but are ready to hold back if not just listen to your instincts.

Ds didn't sit unaided until he was nearly 9 months old but could crawl perfectly, just had a big head that made him topple! When in a highchair he sat perfectly well to eat a meal though at 6 months and was definitely ready for food then. We did BLW with dd at 25 weeks and she sat well in a high chair but not unaided for about 3 more weeks.

Offer him a few little bites after a feed and see how he does while sitting on your lap, or the lap of partner. If you aren't comfortable with it....go ahead and just breastfeed for now and try it again in a few weeks time. He doesn't have to have the solids just yet and his frequent feedings may just be a growth spurt.

I would say go with instincts.

I know from experience that they dont have to be sitting unaided. Plenty of prem babies are weaned at actual age and are unable to sit unaided and if its ok for them...

I am pretty sure that all of mine started on baby rice before they could sit up confidently and dd def did as she didn't sit until 9 months.

I say if he is 6mths crack on, at this age mine had been eating finger foods for a month (baby biscuit fingers, organix.) The only reason the sitting up right advice is given is that when a baby can sit, it will have more than likely developed its tongue (muscle) and will be able to move food around the mouth easily. Before this happens there is a higher risk of gagging/choking and babies are less likely to be able to cough up an obstruction when swallowed by mistake.

Gosh he is loving that banana! He absolutely wolfed it down today - yesterday was his first time and he enjoyed it but we didn't give him much. Today he guzzled half a small banana! Little pig.

We haven't got a high chair at te mo (neglected third baby!) but will get one soon.

Thanks for all the replies

WEll done babyG -my ds has eaten precisely nothing so far...