am i terrible for letting 4mo taste a tiny bit of our food

[hazeldog]

i know he cant have an actual feed of solid food but he is so interested in what we are having and really enjoys the taste. reading the article on MN about signs of readiness; sitting up, putting things in his mouth, not pushing out with his tongue..well he can do all those things.. im literally talking about a taste on my fingertip of mash or yoghurt or a single spaghetti hoop. he really goes for our food and is quite ahead of his milestones. im inclined to think that given all these outward signs if the gut can be sealed at 4 months then his probably is.
are we terrible parents?

Short answer: no.

You're probably right to hold back from full-on weaning at 4 months but tastes are not going to do any damage.

No, you're following what I was told was the medically endorsed weaning age when I had my first two. But the guidelines changed in about 2003ish, and it's generally considered better to leave it a bit longer.

I wouldn't do it personally. But I can see why. 5mo DS is so desperate to get hold of anything I'm eating, I feel very mean ignoring him!

No. Go with your gut. My son ate his first solid food at four months (quarter of an olive) because he was desperate to try....and was enormnous and clearly unsatisfied with milk milk milk. By nine months was eating things lik lobster bisque, paellas and even now loves food - and he is supposed to be at the fussy stage.

Yes, utterly utterly terrible. Shame shame shame.

I did the same with my DS (baked bean sauce and the like, enough to cover the tip of my finger). Personally I think it's fine :)

You're not terrible at all. My mum gave my son a bit of carrot cake frosting when he was just 4 months and he loved it. We started weaning at 21 weeks (with the approval of my HV) and he's been absolutely fine. He so far has loved everything that we've given him and hasn't displayed any problems so far.

Don't worry about it, and certainly don't feel guilty about it. You know your own child and you will know what's right and what's wrong - go with your feeling.

My two, aged 14 and 15, were weaned at 15.5 weeks. That was the advice back then: wean at around 16 weeks.

Presumably our distant ancestors used visual cues like the ones described above to know when to start introducing other foods. They did not have calendars.

My 4 month old DS has all the signs of readiness as well but I'm definitely not introducing solids properly until 6 months - I'd rather let time, rather than outward developmental signs, be the indicator that his gastrointestinal tract is ready. I let him handle and suck on (but not swallow) bits of fruit just to get him used to different tastes and textures but that's all it's going to be for the next couple of months. I definitely wouldn't give anything dairy like yoghurt.

Besides, why have solids poos any sooner than you need to? Ew...

thanks thats reassuring..everything you read toes the official line but i think exactly the same as you Abra1d, if the baby is taking the initiative then i guess he hasnt read the same articles as me!
d0g..im not in a rush, the baby is!!! dh would be full on weaning him if i let him so its a compromise. tasting daddys dinner is a major bonding thing for them.

mandinga, a fingertip full isnt going to give him solid poos...and getting him used to tastes and textures is exactly what im talking about. it started off with sucking fruit pieces but i cant see why fruit thats full of sugar and acids would be better than anything else

Almost everyone I know weans before 6 months to be honest, and none of their children seem to have had any ill effects.

To be fair though OP, people are always going to quote official guidelines to you on here...

if you are weaning before 6 months then remember there are loss of things they shouldn't have. Dairy and meat being the main things.

Plus giving tata of adult food is a bad idea if they are processed foods.

there are tastes and tastes
carrot cake frosting and processed tomato sauce aren't exactly the ideal things to introduce, nor anything with lots of sugar and salt

our distant ancestors would have given milk only for mucj longer

If you are going to wean I would start with single substances, so you can identify an allergy easily. So, simple purees, not a spaghetti hoop. And I would stay away from wheat at least until 6 months.

I doubt that our distant ancestors would have fretted so much.

I've done BLW with both my children - my older daughter started trying out solid foods at around 22 weeks, my younger daughter stole my sandwich at 17 weeks and I didn't intervene.

If they stick it into their mouths themselves then there is nothing wrong with letting them try. Even milk or dairy. The only thing I've been careful with in the first year is salt - but since we don't use much of that anyway it wasn't a big issue.

fruit is natural and although high in sugar (not all fruit is acidic) it's material sugars which the body processes in a different way to refined sugar so not the same thing at all.

I'm not saying you shouldn't wean I'd you think he's ready but you should only be giving fruit and veg at this age nothing else.

that should be natural

view - with wheat recommendations have changed to introducing it earlier - between 4 and 6 months and ideally while the child is still breastfed.

The allergy stuff is bunkum - there are so many things which can just correlate with sweet potato day by chance without there being an allergy to sweet potatoes - plus this obsession with allergies is quite unhealthy - unless you have plenty of allergies running in your family (in which case I'd go for doctor's advice rather than random taste tests) I don't see a reason why you should expect your child to be riddled with them.

I wouldn't, can't see the point, but if you must...

You musn't give dairy, wheat or meat until 6 months - and I would avoid salty things like mash and spaghetti hoops () like the plague.

If you must wean, then at least do your research about what he shouldn't have until he is older.

To be fair, OP has said she's just giving tiny tastes, not planning all-out weaning yet...

where is the info that wheat recommendation has changed widow? I've not seen that anywhere.

op, i look at it as risk vs benefit. there's no real benefit to the baby having food earlier than the 'around 6 months' guideline (my boys huge and clearly thriving on milk), but there is a risk their gut isn't ready.

i think the allergy stuff is less certain, but as DH has a serious bowel condition, i don't see the point in risking it just to entertain myself watching them taste it.

so i see it more as why would you, rather than why not, if that makes sense?

for the sake of a few weeks, I'm happy to keep things simple with milk till 6 months ish.

window the guid lines haven't changed, it's still six months for wheat.

That was one study the guide lines have been set by looking at hundreds of different studies. They never will change just on one study unless it was a big one and very well conducted. The WHO did review it at the time and decided there was no cause to change the current guid lines.

Doesn't mean they won't change in the future.

Hmmmmm...y'know what...every time he goes out in the car or into the city he is breathing in toxic fumes, every time he comes into contact with someone who uses lots of cosmetics he is coming into contact with god knows what, there is flouride in the drinking water, the dogs are covered in germs and don't get me started on cats...I think a single spaghetti hoop is the least of his worries. Can't keep them in a bubble. Life involves some level of risk and I'm comfortable with that.

Jkpllu..how do you know were you there? As an archaeologist I would think that environmental conditions, the mother's health and the availability of food would have made it quite variable.