Not quite 5 mo ready for solids?

[lonelytigger]

DS is 5months in May and I think he's ready to be started on solids.

I know the official advice is to not wean until 6mo but he's showing a big interest in food, he will try and snatch food out of my hand if I'm eating be it toast or fruit and tries to put it in his mouth. He watches me like a hawk when I eat and if I'm doing it holding him he tries to put his mouth in the food on the plate.
I've given him little tasters, I've dipped his dummy in my soup a few times etc and he's absolutely loving it and looking for more and gets irritable if he doesn't get it.

Also I don't know if it's unrelated but he's also become more unsettled at night but won't take the breast as much.

He's a big baby, born at 8lb 10oz and doubled in weight within 2 weeks. He's in size 4 nappies already and EBF so far. HV happy with his weight etc

Does it sound about right? And how do I wean him if so?

All children watch like hawks, reach for whatever you're holding etc. It doesn't mean their intestines are ready for solid food.

My baby was same weight as yours.

waited til 6mo. No rush....

All but 18lb by two weeks old? Blimey! I was advised to wean ds1 at 17 weeks for medical reasons. In hindsight I wish I'd just ignored that advice. It's to young really

And unsettled at night will be 4mo sleep regression

Nothing packs in as many calories as bm, especially puree before 6mo

There really is no need and none of the things you say he does indicates anything, all babies are like this and it’s not that it’s food, it’s just fascinating and they love to grab things like glasses and things you’re holding. As a side note be careful that your soup is not salty if homemade and I wouldn’t be giving a 4 month old any shop bought soup for that reason.

Why the rush??

Agree, pretty standard behaviour for the age, there is no need to rush. Spend the next 5 weeks reading about baby led weaning vs purees, get some recipes so you know what you want to do. Choose a high chair if you haven't already and let LO play in it during mealtimes.

(And just to warn, first foray into solids may make sleep temporarily worse!)

Age of weaning is completely up to you but the advice is there for a reason.

Ds went through this stage, and it is hard when you feel you are depriving them of yummy food experiences. But you're not, they don't fully understand and the puppy dog eyes do get easier to ignore.

Re sleep, ds was terrible with sleep when we started weaning (6 months) as his digestive system caught up with the change. It was about two weeks of very little sleep due to poo, wind and uncomfort. So don't do it purely for sleep, it doesn't change a thing. The calories he's getting now from milk are much more substantial and filling than some pureed carrot or a suck on a cauliflower.

Doubled in weight at 2 weeks??!!

He gained over eight POUNDS in TWO weeks ???!!! Can’t be right.

None of what you say indicates he needs solids but he is unlikely to come to any harm - no idea why you’d want to do it though

Your baby weighed 16lb at 2 weeks old?!

People asking about the weight gain he went from 8lb11oz to 15lb8oz so near enough double.
HV seems to think he never lost the usual % of his weight in the first week as babies usually do.
But he did cluster feed like mad.

I think we've already gone through the sleep regression we had about 2-3 weeks of barely no sleep.

I will probably hold off with weaning I'm in no rush with it just wanted advice, it's just the peaked interest in food in particular that alerted me a little, he's not as interested in a glass/toy/utensil in my hand as he is about food.

Please don’t dip dummies in soup - shop-bought soup is very high in salt!

@FenellaMaxwellsPony it was homemade soup with no added salt (not a big fan of if and don't really use it) and it was the tiniest amount.

@Thefeud I included as much info as I could so I could get advice I never said that the fact he's a bigger baby "magically" makes him ready for solids.

Whilst my eldest was fine to wait till 6 months, my youngest was not. He was ravenous. No amount of breastmilk and formula to top up satisfied him beyond about 4 months. And I was very much wanting to adhere to the 6 month guideline. I was at a loss.

I started him on one meal of veg 3 days before he turned 5 months. Within a week he was on 3 meals a day.

He’s now almost 9 and the height of a 12 year old, so he is quite possibly an exception to the rule.

I did baby led weaning at 5.5 months - DA grabbed a toast crust from my plate. Baby led means baby led. Do some reading and trust your instincts. It's all just fun stuff to play with to start with anyway and milk remains the main source of food for their diets anyway as nothing really goes in their mouths at first. BLW is messy as hell and some people hate the mess and many introduce puréed food around 4 or 5 months so just do what you think is right.

I weaned my DD1 at 8 weeks, and DD2 at 9 weeks. That was over 20 years ago. They’ve grown up with healthy body weights, no allergies, and are intelligent graduates.
I think there’s an awful lot of nonsense spouted about weaning ages. The current dogma is for 6 months, but it was very different when I was a young doctor.
No doubt in another 20 years, the advice will be different again!
Honestly, OP, as long as you avoid salt and sugar, and give a healthy variety of foods with plenty of veg, your baby will enjoy little tastes of solids.

OP, I'm sorry. No baby goes from 8 lbs 10 oz to 15 pounds plus in two weeks.

You have this wrong.

Why doubt what the OP has said about the 2 week weight gain Tiktok? She's not bragging or even relating it to her question really, just for background info.

All babies are different, it's not impossible.

Sorry. It is impossible. Babies cannot gain at this rate. Eight pounds in the first two weeks?

I'm glad you're the jury on what is and isn't "possible" @tiktok I shall tell my HV that she lied to me as I have been advised that it's impossible for my baby to weigh that much by someone on an online forum.

Oh come off it, tigger.

You've made a mistake. I guess you meant your baby doubled birthweight by two months - still a great sign he's growing well and feeding well :)

He really did not gain eight pounds over birthweight in his first fortnight. Check your records again. How much does he weigh now?? If he carried on gaining four pounds a week, by now he should be almost six stone 😀😀😀😀

Wasn't you HV alarmed at that astonishing weight gain? I'd have thought it would be investigated urgently as a possible symptom of some underlying condition.

That sounds fine

Solids any time between 17 weeks and 26 weeks is fine, totally up to you.