Nervous about weaning - encouragement needed!

[Starsky]

Hi there, I have a 4 month old girl and am starting to think about weaning her. However, I am a bit nervous about it - will I do it right, give her the right foods etc. I had trouble getting her to breast feed when she was born (she is fine now) which was quite emotional - I am a first time Mum - and I think some of my worry stem from the fact that I am concerned that she is going to have problems moving onto solids.
Can anyone reassure me that (a) it is enjoyable (b) tips on making it easier for both of us

Any advice would be appreciated

I weaned my daughter at 4 months on baby rice and then moved on to fruit. Followed advice in GF book on weaning to get me started - I was clueless - and also in Lorraine Kelly book (honest its good!). My dd was 10lb at birth and the hv said she was ready for solids at 4mnths as she was huge, not sure if this was right advice or not but she eats anything I give her and loads of it.

I have to say I started weaning ds at 4 months because he was so interested in food and grabbed any he could get his hands on, stuffed everything inot his mouth etc. He took to it with the first spoonful and LOVES his food, and has never looked back. He was also a big baby, 10lbs and in 6 month clothes at 4 months. Having said that, I have loads of milk and could probably have gone on longer, he wasn't waking in the night or anything. I sometimes wish I'd waited a bit, as I want to do the best for him. I have been very careful to keep the food he is eating very "safe" just fruit, veg and baby rice, because I don't want to encourage any allergies etc. In the end I think you need to go with your child. I would certainly encourage anyone who can keep just breastfeeding, but lets face it lots of us didn't!
I know lots of peoples don't like Annabel Karmel (and I have thought of a couple of funny threads I'd like to start about her) but she does gives lots of ideas for a raw beginner like me

Who's Annabel Karmel? Have I missed something else like I did GF? Dur....

Sorry, should have said 'nearly' missed GF, only found out about her when dd was 4mnths much to my friends surprise as they had bought her book on conception...

formula and breast milk really does have more calories than the kind of food babies have - eg rice pureed fruit etc - much more. It's practically a mix of fat and sugar, like one of those 'put weight on' drinks. Have you tasted it? Supersweet and fatty. I agree that babies often really like bits of food but I don't think that necessarily makes it better for them. Ds adores chocolate but not for health reasons I also weaned earlier, mainly because I was getting desperate for some sleep at night - and guess what? It made absolutely no difference. Preparing baby food is IMO a huge faff compared to getting the milk ready/breast out and to be delayed as long as possible!!

Did you know that mums were advised not to start solids till 9 months in the 1930's. Solids only started at younger ages because of marketing of baby foods. Thought I would just throw that in after being at a study day

thanks to the advice here I left starting ds on solids and it's been a brilliant success. He's now 5.5mths and when I offered him the baby rice (yuk!) he gulped it down and tried to wrestle the spoon and bowl off me. I'm glad I waited.

Having said that, we're only on day 2 so...

mears, that's amazing, really? 9 months? I can't believe we've all been conned into changing in just 2 generations!
Lol eek, on day 2... mind you my ds started like that and it just went on the same!

oliveoil - Annabel Karmel has a book called complete baby and toddler meals (or something like that) She is to weaning what GF is to routine! But she starts early, at 4 months. She does have some good ideas, and it's nice to know which foods should be introduced first etc, like I didn't know berries should be later. Most of her weaning recipes are basically "mix 2 fruit" or "mix 2 veg" it's just that she calls them "brocolli surprise" or "sweet vegetable medley"

I started weaning my son at 2 months, despit the negative response from the HV!! My ds wouldn't sleep very well and was wanting to feed every 2 hrs! His was quite small and therefore couldn't take much milk! So I thought maybe somethink more heavy in his stomach would help! It did help and he did start to go longer. I started with the baby rices. Try not to be nervous though, as this will reflect on your child and could make them less confident in the weaning process. Also try doing the weaning maybe at lunchtime or at a time of day when your child is feeling most happy and awake. This worked best for me.

Size of baby is not an indicator of when to wean a baby! There are plenty of very large babies who do not need solids before they are 6 months old. I think "we" start solids earlier because of a combination of factors like all the marketing around solids (jars) which make us mummies excited at the idea of getting baby to taste this and that, lack of understanding of real signs of babies needing solids, false believe that solids have more calories than breast milk, hope that baby will sleep through the night,...

Sorry - SilverUK - I disagree with you. And whilst I support GF (as many mumsnetters know) I think her advice (or the way her book is written) on weaning is pushing women to wean too early

Your comment about size, Pupuce, reminded me of a friend who had a 12lb 10oz baby. If size was a criteria, he'd have been on solids from birth, wouldn't he?

Sorry Thomcat - didn't see your post until now! I decided as dd was doing well to leave it for a while. She is now 5 months and only breastfed. I am planning on starting in the next 2-3 weeks and am really looking forward to it. Dd is much better at gripping and will be able to take much more of a part in things and she is so much more interested in food in general. In hindsight, I think that my nervousness was a sign that really we weren't ready to start and I am glad I waited. I will let you know in a few weeks how we go and I think the comments from everyone really helped me to 'chill out' about the whole thing..