Weaning before 6 months

[Becky199327]

Hi All,

My DS will be 6 months in 2 weeks time. I feel like he's ready to begin weaning as he already sits with us at mealtimes in his high chair, is draining his bottles and grabbing things and putting them in his mouth. He also watches us intently as we put food in our mouths. He's a big boy, almost 22 pounds and I know people will say just offer more milk, but hes draining 10oz bottles so I feel like hes ready.

So there's two weeks until he is 6 months old, would it be okay to start him weaning now? I'm a FTM so feel a bit overwhelmed
I want to just try a few baby jars to get us going, can he have the 6 month old ones even though he's just shy of that age?

Could i still try him with finger food as he loves holding things? And then move on to some steamed veg, mashed avocado etc. Could he go straight onto that or is he still too young ?

Thank you from an overwhelmed FTM 💜

Xx

He's practically 6 months. Babies don't just magically become ready fir food on the dot of 6 months. Some are ready earlier , some later. If you think he's ready then start him.

I weaned all 3 of mine at around 5.5 months-ish. It's not like the very day he turns 6 months he'll somehow mature overnight!

I started slow with all of mine though - just a few mouthfuls of baby porridge a day to begin with and then gradually some mashed veg etc and then finger foods. The new tastes and textures can be quite a lot for them to deal with so we went slow and mine only took really small amounts to start. Milk remained the vast majority of their diet for ages.

Don't worry!!
I started weaning all mine before the 6m and on my second I was told sooner due to colic and reflux and never did any of them any harm and they are all great eaters !!
Carrot sticks ,celery, peppers etc all great finger food to get them used to different tastes and great for teething gums. Oooooo ❤️
Il also say I didn't use the jars either I used to just give them what we had an blend it (I don't cook with salt ) they just wasn't cost effective when they wasn't eating the full jar and I had enough Iv cooked to feed them with !
X

@romdowa

He's practically 6 months. Babies don't just magically become ready fir food on the dot of 6 months. Some are ready earlier , some later. If you think he's ready then start him.

Yes this is true. Some people make it out that it has to be 6 months exactly , and then it makes you feel guilty for thinking otherwise. Stupid I know Thank you x

@GrapesThatThrive

I weaned all 3 of mine at around 5.5 months-ish. It's not like the very day he turns 6 months he'll somehow mature overnight!

I started slow with all of mine though - just a few mouthfuls of baby porridge a day to begin with and then gradually some mashed veg etc and then finger foods. The new tastes and textures can be quite a lot for them to deal with so we went slow and mine only took really small amounts to start. Milk remained the vast majority of their diet for ages.

Thats good to know, thank you! I think I need to get this whole 6 month thing exactly out of my head. Its just so driller in its hard to focus on anything else 🥴😳 so finger food should come in after they've got used to simpler textures first then?

Thank you!! X

I definitely need cost effective! Only thing is, I cook using some ready made jars of squves which I know will be a no go for my DS. Did you use any specific recipe books for your cooking with a little one? X

The baby led weaning Cookbook was great with my second, such sensible advice and simple family meals 👍 much easier. She didn't do completely baby led and pouches too.

I used baby rusks or porridge to start getting them used to the soon etc then at tea if we had mash an veg with something I'd do some of that, i would freeze some an defrost if we was having a tea that wasn't baby suitable ! Then slowly started to add more in
One they loved the most was scrambled egg an beans !!!
I do like bbc and Jamie Oliver's recipes Xx

Oo great ill have a look, thank you! X

I weaned DD from 5 months. Like GrapesThatThrive I started with bits of purées and steamed veg sticks, just playing and tasting lots at first.
Have a look at the solid starts app, it’s a free database of how to prep any food for baby. Their instagram is really good too.

Oo scrambled egg is a good one i didn't think of that! It's hard as my DP is such a fussy eater so I dont want to have to cook 3 meals just for one tea time lol xx

I actually just found this a few hours ago, so helpful!!!

Go for it.
Just let them eat off your plate for a start.

Tonight my 6m old ate nearly all of my garlic bread 😂 if he wasn’t cute I’d be fuming.

We started a couple of weeks before 6mth with youngest, she loved it and eats really well now at almost 8mth. Our son started early at 4mth, he was big at birth and grew rapidly (he was over 9kg by 4mth), he still drank lots of milk too.

I started with really simple textures and flavours to get them used to the spoon, bowl, wearing a bib, swallowing each mouthful etc. Then progressed to soft finger food.

One of the cheapest ways to do it is definitely just to take a bit of what the family is eating and modify it for the baby. For example the other night I was steaming carrots and broccoli for the rest of the family and I took some out and mashed it for the baby. Put a couple of portions in the freezer to use over the next couple of weeks. When the baby is older, I'd have just taken the veg and handed it to her to feed herself, along with a bit of potato, sliver of chicken, little bit of pastry etc. Just whatever we're having.

Don't worry it will come naturally to you and you'll get to know his likes and dislikes. It's just daunting as a first time mum.

Ooh your DS IS a big boy and he sounds more than ready to me! Feed the lad.