weaning

[jazzer2012]

Hi, how important is the "being able to sit up" when weaning. Should a baby be able to sit up completely by themselves before you start? What if they are able to hold their head up well but can only sit up propped up? My little girl is 27 weeks and am starting to think about weaning. We have popped her in her bumbo and just got her used to some tastes, some she likes, others not so sure! but wasn't sure if she was ready to wean properly because of the not being able to sit up. She did swallow some of the food but equally pushed some out also. Tried her with finger foods but didn't seem interested and don't think she could really work out the co-ordination of picking it up and putting it into her mouth which makes me feel she is not ready. Any advice please? I am in no rush, am breastfeeding and she loves her milk feeds but don't want to deprive her of food if her body needs it.

Well my DTs can't sit up unaided for more than a few minutes and they're 7.5 months now. I think the main reason is the choking/gagging risk, they need to be upright otherwise they could choke. I think.

I don't see why they would choke on tiny amounts of pureed food any more than would choke on milk.

We started with BLW with DD at a week before she turned 6mo (although now she is also spoon fed some food). I saw it more as experimenting/playing with food and wasn't concerned about whether she actually ate anything. She started with sweet potato wedges and well cooked broccoli. We introduced one meal a day but within the next 3 weeks she was eating 3 meals a day. I was ebf but have dropped some feeds (those that have now been replaced with food) and substituted some with water and one with formula as I am back to work in 6 weeks.

DD was sitting up at 5.5mo and we used a Bumbo before she went into her high chair at 6mo. Sitting up is important but they don't have to necessarily be sitting up on their own really well. They just need to not be slumped and can hold their head up and still. Risk if choking if they slump with food in their mouth.