virgin gut question??

[alright]

can we tell when the gut is mature?

It has been suggested that once your baby can sit unaided, grab food, put it in their mouth, chew and swallow that they are likely to be ready internally, until then nature wouldn't allow us to be developmentally ready and we would fail at some point in the process.

ah right so if my 22wk old swiped a carrot baton off my plate and put it straight into his gob, its fair to say its mature or wot?

Did he/she actually swallow any (you can tell from the nappies)? They can normally get food into their mouths unaided some time before they can bite/chew/swallow.

i took it off him, i didnt know whether to allow him to have a go

I'd just wait the extra 4 weeks to be on the safe side, does sound like he's ready though.

If during food play they manage to chew and swallow then it's very likely yes, we cannot be completely sure but it's certainly a good indication.
As PAL says though, they put things in their mouth before completing the whole process so putting it in their mouth shows they are getting closer, but they could have (and probably would have, if not ready for food yet) just sucked on it.