when did you wean while bfing?

[trixiechick]

I know the conventional advice has been 6 months for ebf babies but have recently heard that it cn be good to get them started in the fifth month. Have any of you heard about this recent rethink?when did you start with solids? My dd is eyeing up food quite a bit now and follows us eating with intense interest. This has started incidentally since she first tasted calpol and an antibiotic (less understandably - little druggie...) a few weeks ago. What are your experiences?
My dd has just had her 4 month b'day.

The advice and guidelines have not changed.

Watching you eat with interest is not a sign. My dd used to watch me light the fire and wield a knife. She was just interested in what I was doing.

Signs of readiness for solids are sitting up unsupported, pincer grasp, loss of tongue thrust reflex, ability to pick up food, chew, transfer to the back of mouth and swallow.

I ebf and dd was nearly 7 months when she was ready. There isn't a window of opportunity. The advice is around the middle of the first year, some will be earlier, some later but rest assured your baby can not only survive perfectly well on milk alone until 6 months, it's the best thing for them.

What showofhands said

Believe me, my 5 month old is doing all the same things, and for some totally irrational reason I'm itching to wean as well, but waiting until at least 6 months is the only right answer.

no change in guidelines that i am awre of, and the guidenlines are 6 months or so for babies, regardles of EBF or not

is your DD sitting undaided, with good head control? is she able to pick up, chew and swallow a piece of food? has she lost her tongue thrust reflex?

is there anything to suggest she needs anything other than milk right now?

wanting more feeds, watching you eat and more night waking are not reliable signs your baby's gut is mature enough for solid food , i/e anything other than milk

your baby will be ready sometime around 26 weeks, might be 23 weeks or 28 weeks.. the important thing is to know the signs of readiness

By the way (sorry - slight hijack here), how do you know if they've lost the tongue thrust reflex? If anything goes near DD2's mouth she sucks it or bites it (much to DD1's dismay!), does that mean its gone?

sucking/chewing and mouthing everything at this stage is normal

the tongue thrust is when you put something other than milk in, i.e medicien, and it gets pushed to the front of the mouth and out again, and dribbles down the chin !

what is tongue thrust? DS was weaned at 24 weeks and has taken to it like a duck to water. He eats from a spoon with relish and very little food gets pushed back out again. However I recently tried him with a bottle of milk and he kept pushing out of his mouth with his tongue? (He has been bf till now) He is 26 weeks.

whoops x post!

I wonder what the tongue thing is with the bottle then?

Aha, calpol gulped down with relish today (well, 95% of it), so I guess its gone or almost all gone. THanks

but is she showing any other signs of readiness? i.e the sitting, head control etc.. the outside phyiscal maturity is a good indicator of whether her insides are mature enmough for something other than milk

Me? Yes I think so (to be honest, I think she's almost mature enough to take part in the 2012 olympics she's so huge and grown up!) - however, with DD1's allergies, I'm not taking any chances and waiting until at least 6 months before weaning (plus its a right faff and I can't be bothered to think about it just yet). Was just curious is all

Have you had a look at the www.babyledweaning.com?

Yes thanks, I'm aware of BLW , but this thread wasn't meant to be mine!

I must disagree with many of you. Our breastfeeding midwives assure me that there is no way to know whether your baby is ready for solids before 6 months.

The gut gradually knits together in readiness for solid foods which are harder to digest. Before this happens, milk happily is digested quickly and safely, but anything else is not properly digested and could be harmful.

No measure of physical development or willingness on the part of the child will tell you whether this has happend.

I started trying to give DS2 solids at 6 months. He refused and continued to refuse all manner of solid foods, spoon and finger foods until his was 8 months old.

It's only a few more weeks, be patient.

Both of mine at 5.5 months which is when I felt they were ready.

I agree with wolliw too. My ds was 6 lb when in weaned him (he was prem) he was wholly unable to sit or hold his head up but his gut was ready for food because his had been developing at the same speed as it would he he was term.

I never understand this Must Wait Till 6 Months thing as if one day over is some how bettter than one day under because that's what the books say.

All babies are different.

I know I started this thread but I always get a bit intimidated by the answers which begin by telling me how wrong I am so I just watched for a while. I think you make a lot of sense woilliw and arsed. I am not hovering over my lo with a spoon I just wanted to know what other experiences were. They are pretty amazing little machines, from what you say woillow if they are not ready they won't do it. makes sense to me.

"All babies are different" arsed...so say i

I weaned my DS a wk before he was 6mth, Started off slowly but he quickly got into everything.
Thats when i thought he was ready, so thats when i started.
Although my HV asked why id not started earlier

one of my responses said that babies are ready around 26 weeks, which could mean ready at 23 or 28 weeks, yes, babies are different, but aiming for 6 months is a good starting point

i don't believe no baby is ready before 6 months, i believe lots aren't though

kellymom.com has excellent breastfeeding and weaning advice

I weaned mine the baby-led way at just under 7 months. I would have maybe started a week or two earlier but we were moving from Singapore to London and no point doing it then.

She was showing interest WAY before 30 weeks. But she tried to grab anything out of my han, jewellery, toothbrush, etc.

BLW can be slow and steady but she enjoys eating pretty much anything and at around 10 months really ramped up the amount. Still breastfed on demand but the number of times she wanted a feed in the day have reduced.

I waited until 6 months, mainly because I'd had a 7mo and 13mo to stay a couple months earlier and the amount of mess persuaded me to wait as long as possible until it was warm enough to be in the kitchen and not need many clothes... not to mention having to take food out with me!

He started watching us eat about 5mo but no reaching. A's ability to pick stuff up didn't develop until a while later, whereas when I brought a spoon of mash near his mouth he leapt at it and then tried to grab the spoon and then made it clear that I should make myself useful and put food in his mouth. Was bfing about 7-8 times a day at 6mo, but by 8mo was down to 5x which was a lot more civilised.

I've just started weaning my bf baby (23 weeks). She is wolfing down a whole bowl of puree so definitely ready!! I do not believe either that something suddenly clicks on their 6th month birthday - they do all mature at different rates. How did I know? I noticed dd2's fine motor skills improved all of a sudden. She was salivating at mealtimes and starting to cluster feed in the early evening. She loves sitting up and

Interestingly, she has NOT dropped any of her milk feeds at all yet or even reduced frequency - the food seems to be going in addition to the milk so I'm not worried really. I am not planning to ramp up the meals until 6 months - and hope with time to adopt more of a BLW approach.

17 weeks and 18 weeks, but only with baby rice and pureed pears for ages.
Its the proteins & wheat which can cause allergies in later life.