When did you start solids for your lo ??

[JoGehani]

Hi all,

My DS is almost 5 mo and has recently started sleeping very badly - I'm guessing it's 4 month sleep regression and also the fact that his eczema has flared up and he is very itchy at night. For the past 2 weeks I've been feeding him every 2 hours at night...

I was fine doing this at night, but he now wants to feed every 2 hours even during the day. I'm worried that my milk supply is not satisfying him - he's pretty tall for his age and has a weight to match his height.

Did any of you start solids before your lo hit the 6 month mark?? I was wondering whether I should start on solids in case my milk isn't enough for him....

Cheers,
Jo.

Your milk will be fine for him

There's a big thread going on in AIBU about early weaning.

It's probably a growth spurt.

Signs they are ready for solids include:

Being able to sit unaided
Loss of tongue thrust reflex
Being able to grab and put things to their mouth

My ds (only 13 weeks) also feeds every two hours so I feel your pain!

Milk is more calorific and nutritious than solids, as I understand it.

Ds was 22 weeks on the advice of a HV.

Size of the child doesn't really have anything to do with their readiness to wean though

Oh wise people - how do you tell whether a baby has lost the tongue reflex without putting food in their mouth as a test? Is there a way?

Umm finger? I had to wean dd early so I'm not sure

It will pass. Every 2 hours is pretty standard I'm afraid. My 11 month old will sometimes want to feed that often in teh day and hourly at night.

All 3 of mine started food when they could sit (aided for ds1 I must admit, he didn't sit reliably himself until nearer 9 months), pick up food and eat it by themselves.

should have said..that happened around 6 months.

Hey - I think I'm you just a month or so further on - just to say weaning has made NO difference to eczema or sleep. I tried baby rice and thankfully DC was having none of it - waited till 26wks and doing BLW - sooooo easy. I used to avoid dairy - but she tolerates it fine with no flare ups. I do think the cold weather has affected her 'exposed bits'. We've been trying ScratchSleeves: they've really helped. We cosleep to manage the frequent night feeds. I think she scratched - this woke her - then we fed: the sleeves are helping. Don't rush to wean before you want to. X

Fingers get sucked vociferously here!

Sorry OP, don't want to hijack your thread, but I'm wondering when to wean my 5 month old too. Not because he seems extra hungry, but because he can now sit unaided and bring objects to his mouth, and I don't know whether to wait another month or not.

NHS start4life campaign recommends the Banana Challenge:

Starting solid food at the right time is vital for your baby?s health. Experts advise you to wait until your baby is around 6 months. At Start4Life we recognise the importance of treating every baby as an individual, so here are three key signs that when present together mean your baby is ready for solid food:
? They can stay in a sitting position whilst holding their head steady
? They can co-ordinate their eyes, hands and mouth (ie look at food, grab it and put it in their mouths themselves)
? They can swallow their food (if they are not ready most of it will be pushed back out)
A good test is the banana challenge - if your baby is able to sit up and hold its head steady, reach out and grab half a peeled, ripe, banana and eat some of it all by themselves, they are ready!

That's great noble, thanks for posting that

habituallurker' I have noticed a difference recently with ds (6 months tomorrow!) as in the past 3 weeks or so he hasn't pushed out the calpoll I have given him for a temperature (always getting colds from his older sister who gos to nursery) - I knew that he wasn't ready til recently because of that!

Thanks noblegiraffe and maybunny. We're giving calpol occasionally at the moment anyway, so I'll see what happens. And the banana challenge sounds like fun!

Thanks all for your replies !
Sorry I couldn't return back to this post sooner as I've been having a terrible time with DS's eczema :(

The HV said the same thing all you wise ladies sais - wait a few more weeks.
His head is still not completely stable ... so I doubt he will sit unaided in the next few weeks. I seem to be blaming his eczema for everything... he used to roll around constantly before his current flareup... but now he hardly rolls as all he wants to do is scratch his face :(

squidgers I've ordered a pair of ScratchSleeves and see how we get on with them... DS is also a thumb sucker, so may not be very happy with the ScratchSleeves...

Thanks again !! :)

*said

My lo started solids at 4 months & one week. He was big for his age, wanted to feed every hour etc.

It was explained to me that the only reason to hold off till 6 mths was if there was a strong history of allergies in the family. Otherwise this is a WHO guideline targeted more at developing countries.

who explained that to you, laward?

laward, everything you've said is contradicted by current NHS guidance. I've recently read the leaflet on introducing solids.

25.5 weeks here. We were in no rush, i just went by DDs lead. Shes had finger foods from the start, we never bothered with purees.