Weaning advice - 5 month old

[Greenfrog2427]

Hi!

I have a 5 and a half month old and have recently started weaning her as she was showing all the signs of being ready and wow, I am astonished at how ready she was🤣

She absolutely LOVES eating it seems and I tried to start with the few spoons of homemade veg purées but she throws a fit and wants more so I have been giving her a little more and trying to follow her lead but I don’t want to give her too much? I know for the first year milk is still the main source of nutrients and food is just for fun but my god does this girlie like to eat.

So far she has tried sweet potato, cauliflower, courgette, broccoli, peas, carrot, mashed potato and strawberries and bananas. She also has some of the Aptamil baby porridge type mix for breakfast. All have been absolute hits but I don’t know if I’m going to fast?

I was hoping to move on from just the veg purées and serving a little of what we are having for dinner instead (like spaghetti Bol etc - obviously unsalted etc) but unsure if it’s to early for this and I should just stick to the veggies?

It’s all a bit of a minefield🥴 any advice welcome!

Have you properly tested all allergens? If so, and provided it's correctly modified, go for it.

Remember, no honey before age 1.

Does she have good head control and is she able to sit up?

Yes to both🙂

Sorry to be an idiot but what do you mean exactly by testing for allergens? I’ve not given anything other than veg or fruit so far.

Oh dear. She wasn’t “showing all the signs of readiness” because one of the main signs of readiness is being six months old.

Early weaning has been proven to cause lifelong gut issues like IBS and Crohn’s, and you won’t know if you’ve done that to your baby until adulthood.

You can’t go back in time, but someone else thinking about trying early weaning might see that and hopefully pay attention to the guidance.

You are right that milk is their main source of nutrition until they are 1. What you should also note is that those first six months are not about filling baby up but about baby exploring different tastes and textures, learning to chew and swallow, take appropriate size bites, learn what mealtimes are, learn to use cutlery etc.

None of which baby is learning to do by being spoon fed.

When baby is ready for weaning (and yours is not yet because she is under six months of age), baby can be given exactly what you’re having, just cut appropriately as per solid starts (and that does not mean tiny pieces), and mind the sugar and salt content (obviously no honey before 1 either).

No need to feed them, totally unnecessary and a huge hindrance to the learning process of weaning.

Thank you for your advice but my health visitor was the one to advise that we start weaning when we did.

How on earth can you look at an adult with gastrointestinal issues and say ‘yes, that was definitely caused by weaning at 5 and a half months instead of 6 months’ 🙄

This is wild.
Babies are weaned between 4-6 months in different cultures across the world.
And there is acturally increasingly evidence and research that waiting too long to wean and introduce certain foods increases allergies.
All babies develop at slightly
different rates, and good on OP
for trusting her maternal instincts. Her baby is clearly ready!

Aw okay, I see now that you’re a crackpot x

Oh dear. Such ignorance.

It is on the NHS website specifically that one of the signs of readiness is reaching the age of six months.

”Maternal instincts” bullshit does not trump science.

6 months is a guideline not a law. As a pp said babies are weaned from 4 months in other countries and they don't all end up with gut issues. And there is absolutely nothing wrong with spoons feeding a baby ffs. OP if your little one is enjoying the food keep going, you're obviously off to a great start. Just be careful around allergens and salt content and you'll be well away

Oke doke👍

They don’t all, no. But what kind of parent takes that risk with their child? 🧐

It’s not law that a 2 year old should be rear facing either. It’s not against the law to sell sleep nests or cot bumpers.

But what kind of parent takes these risks?

Allergen testing is introducing one food at a time so you'll be able to see if there is any sign of a food allergy/reaction before introducing the next one, as you've been doing. Do this with other foods before introducing a mix of ingredients in one go/full meals.

Mine doesn't have an allergy, but my word, could have got an Oscar at first taste of cauliflower which he hated, and still does. Can't slip it in anywhere unnoticed 🙃

Why have we gone from feeding puréed cauliflower to a 5 and a half month old to discussing car seats?

Are you okay?🙄🥴

100%

Are you okay? You seem to be perfectly happy to ignore all guidance to keep your child safe?

Can you explain what qualifications you think a health visitor has that can give the go ahead for early weaning?

I’m still waiting on you providing your qualifications 🙂

I actually have a 7 year old and SHOCK HORROR brace yourself!!! I let him suck puree from an Ella’s kitchen pouch as a baby and he is miraculously still alive🧐

This is very helpful thank you! 🙂x

Guess what? Sometimes, the ‘experts/science/NHS/WHO’ get it wrong.
Just an example - look at the huge increase in allergies and how they have reevaluated and changed the advice on peanuts in pregnancy and introduction timelines to babies.

So that would be a no, then.

I’m not surprised, given you didn’t understand the link I mentioned earlier about car seats and cot bumpers etc.

Look, I get it. You don’t understand how to use research, nor do you have a willingness to learn how to keep your baby safe. That’s fine, that’s absolutely your choice.

Personally, if I were actively doing something that could harm my child, I would be grateful to the person pointing it out and stop.

Every parent is allowed to make their own decisions though, and your poor choices will only reflect on your children.

So I guess there’s nothing more to be said. Your ability to bury your head in the sand and fly by the seat of your pants is astounding.

Sounds like you are doing great! We weaned our son at 17 weeks under pediatric gastro guidance (they checked he was ready with neck strength etc) due to CMPA. We were told no gluten until 6 months but oats and quinoa as well as fruits and vegetables which were pureed were fine. Once they have tasted one, you can then combine them. So for example, day 1 sweet potato, day 2 peas, day 3 sweet potato and peas.

Following his lead and their guidance by 19 weeks my son was on 3 meals a day (first week one meal, second week two meals, third week three meals) so you shouldn't worry about being early and it sounds like she is eating a normal amount. Also, our consultant dietician was clear that by 1 the aim is for most nutrition to come from food, so to give food before milk. This seems quite different to what people say on here.

We were also told to feed peanut butter and tree nut butter regularly in porridge (after a couple of weeks) as having these early and regularly is shown to reduce the chance of allergies.

Some babies love milk and struggle with food and some babies are just foodies. My son is the best eater in his nursery class and if I am lucky enough to have another baby I will wean at 17 weeks again.

Let me know if you have any questions x

I’m astounded that you think some magical thing is going to happen in my child’s gut in the next 2 weeks that will make them then, and only then be ready to try a bit of puréed veg?

And again, still waiting on your qualifications which you don’t seem able to give🙁

Thank you very much for this, lots of helpful information💗x