Signs Baby is Ready for Weaning

[MyOtherUserNameIsAUnicorn]

I'm jumping ahead of myself slightly, I don't intend to wean til 6 months at the earliest. What signs are we looking for to know that DS is ready to start real food?

I wasn't going to until 6 months but at 5 months dd wanted food.

She would watch us eat intently, move her mouth like she was chewing like us. She wanted to hold food and put it in her mouth. I could just tell that she wanted more than milk

I was going to start small but to be honest she just wanted a whole small jar or all of what I offered. She is now 9 months and still going strong and tries everything I give her.

Every baby is different though.

There is a proper list if you google. Bit tjings like sitting unaided, no tounge thrust are the big things. Interest in food and ability to be spoon fed ate not on the list.
Fyi I also weaned before 6 months because baby showed the signs and the hb said we should wean.

My boy had a growth spurt at 5 months and massively increased his formula intake. I think possibly this is why people start weaning earlier than the recommended 6 months.
As for the signs, for us and our chosen approach to weaning (blw), it was very important that he could sit unaided and put the food in his own mouth. Regardless of the signs, I waited until 6 months on the dot. I think I'm a little over cautious in comparison to most though.
It meant not eating in front of him for a couple weeks.
A lot of friends/family who used purées started a little earlier, around the 5 month stage. But my son was definitely not sitting up well enough at 5 months.

Advice says wait until they can sit unaided, feed themselves (hand eye co-ordination for finger food) and don't push it out with their tongue thrust.

As milk is more calorific and they don't know any different, they are usually fine to wait. In hindsight we started a bit early but we were just giving her slices of cucumber etc. A few weeks later it was a lot easier for her to hold and suck them.

When they can sit well enough to not tip back or to the side and when they can start bringing food to their mouths. We started at 6 months with our first but she really wasn’t sitting up as well as she could have been until about 6.5 months.

www.nhs.uk/conditions/pregnancy-and-baby/solid-foods-weaning/

I'd say don't get too stuck on the 6 months idea. Our first had the signs (sitting unaided, no tongue thrust, hand eye coordination) at 5 months, plus he was putting on weight too fast so some veg and finger foods wasn't a bad thing for him. DC2 on the other hand didn't have the signs until 7 months and needed the extra milk, so we started her later and slower.