How to wean at 6 months?

[ninja]

Hi, DD is just over 5 months, breastfed and thriving. I'm trying to wait until the magic 6 months to wean but all the books and advice start at 4 months. Do I have to start the same way as a 4 month baby (baby rice etc), do I then accelerate the stages? Or can I start on more 'real' food - she has a couple of teeth so can I even start on mashed rather than pureed?

I was thinkin of trying to avoid the sloppiest stuff to see if she'd take it more solid as she's a bit older but I wasn't sure if the sloppier stuff was to get her body and digestive system ready.

So many questions! Any help would be appreciated

I think it depends on the way you want to go. At 6 months she would probably be able to have more lumpy food and even finger food straight away but you may want to do the baby rice thing followed by simple fruit and veg just so you can keep an eye on any reactions/allergies. I introduced a new food every 3 days up until dd was about 10 months old (though I did wean at 4.5 months)

I did it from 6 months by the book. I went the baby rice, friut/veg puree etc route. When you ask about teeth and moving her straight onto chunkier purees I am keen to advise you against it. It has less to do with her being able to chew food and more to do with her getting used to taking food from a spoon and swallowing anything thicker than runny milk. My DD had enough choking episodes (nothing serious btw!) when we were trying her with a thin baby rice concoction.

You could certainly miss out the baby rice only stage of you want or use it as a breakfast cereal or to thicken other purees. Start sloppy and be guided by your baby. Early teeth don't necessarily mean that they can yet cope with lumps but some foods are better mashed than pureed anyway (potato for example) so you could mash then add milk to make it a little wetter to begin with.

I think to begin with at least, I would still follow the basic weaning guidelines until she gets used to it but you have a wider choice of foods you can introduce.

hth

I don't know much but can share my recent experience. DD has been on solids for 2 weeks - started at 23 weeks. I was trying to hold out to 6 months but her weight gain dropped off so i put her onto baby rice. 1st week went ok as did week 2 but then i got overkeen and becos she was enjoying the food i started to feed her more than the gudelines - i.e 2 cubes of veg plus baby rice at night plus lunch of 2 cubes of veg. This has (i think) led to a bout of vomiting last night (3 entire feeds) - not nice - still trying to recover. so advice from me is to be patient with amts you give even if baby seems to be able to take more - dont overfeed esp at night. I guess that their tummys just cant handle too big a portions after so many months of just milk. that's my inexpert opinion.

I don't know much about weaning at this stage (started ds at 16 weeks) but all I would say is to be guided by your baby - they will soon let you know if they can't cope!! I think they vary hugely in how well they cope with lumps etc, and how keen they are on food - my ds hardly ever had problems with gagging and could definitely cope with rice cakes, toast and a few slightly lumpier textures by around 6 months. He also very quickly went to 3 meals a day - seemed fine on it so I just went with it. I would probably still start with very smooth stuff but move through the stages to lumps/finger foods more quickly - you can always take a step back again.
Well done for doing such a great job with bf!

Ninja - I started my dd on solids at 6 months and was also a bit mystified as to how fast to take it, given the books all start at 4 months. But basically I followed the pattern they recommended - maybe I moved to 2 and then 3 meals a day a bit faster than I would have done at 4 months, but otherwise, just follow what they say. There's no rush. And, contrary to what some people will tell you, there's no reason why babies introduced to solids at 6 months or later should be at all fussy about what they eat. Remember some breastfed babies are not given solids until 8 months or later.

One bonus of waiting, in my personal experience, having watched other babies get food at 4 months, was that my dd was really ready for the food. No shoving it out of her mouth with her tongue, no mess, just spoon in and it was gone!

Thanks a lot everyone - that's great. Somethimes it's easy to foregt that the babies are there to guide you through!

I have to say elliot that a few weeks ago I didn't think I would make it as dd didn't want to feed on the day, but it seems to be getting easier - just one of those things.

Thanks for the warning geegeesmum

Pidge - this is what I wanted - I can see dd now really starting to get ready and I'm sure we'll both enjoy it when we do start.

Has he got the repulsive bug that is Doing the Rounds (I saw he's bunged up)? Dd2 got her first nana a couple of weeks ago and has had various fruit/veg since then but has been showing markedly little interest and puking up from time to time.

Incidentally I've also just done (organic) cow's milk with the baby porridge I've also introduced. Oh, and am putting ice trays in the dishwasher but not sterilising any other food things.

I meant to say that since coming down with the Repulsive Bug dd2 has been not interested in food and puking up, not all the time.

Bron - banana was never something I started off with. When dd started solids at 6 months I used carrot, then carrot and potato. She very quickly progressed to just having a bit of whatever we were having pureed. That was the beauty of waiting 6 months - she was ready for everything she got. Can't really remember when she got banana though.
Sounds as though your babe might have has a stomach upset.