Weaning wisdom please!

[sungirltan]

I have a dd who is 5.5 months. I am ebf at present and plan to start weaning at 6 months in line with latest government advice/parenting books/health visitor/etc.

i am getting a bit of stick for this, especially from a friend (mother of two dds) who thinks waiting until 6 months is ridiculous and weaned hers both at 3 months.

am i doing the right thing or is there something i'm missing here?

it is much easier to wean at 6 months IME and IMO

firstly they have mainly lost their tongue thrust reflex so food stays in the mouth

you don't have to puree - they can handle finger foods

they can eat what you eat (obv watching out for excessive salt and sugar)

waiting until 6 months ensures their guts are ready to handle food and allergies are less likely

i waited until DD was 24 weeks - by which point she could guide a piece of food into her mouth and chew it - i reckoned she was ready!

she is still breastfed as well

Yes you will get all sorts of pressure to wean but the best advice, I think, is to look at your baby and judge for yourself. Are they interested in food? Trying tobgrab off your plate? Looking at you hungrily when eating solids? Those were always my cues with mine.

I started mine on solids at about 5 months and it was fine. I'm sure holding off til 6 months will be fine too.

Well, the thing is that it can't do any harm to wait, may possibly do harm to wean earlier, and it's much easier to give them food when they can eat the same as you and feed themselves.

You know you are doing the right thing. It will be so much easier if you wait.

Milk is so much easier, don't jump into the weaning pot until you absolutely have to. Take it from a Mum covered in fruit puree, chicken sticks and veg sticks all over the kitchen floor and banana bread in my hair. My 11-month old son isn't too partial to watching mummy tidy up either.

I agree with the others that leaving it until 6 months makes it so much easier!

Also remember that when people like your friend say things like this it is more about them, than about you IYSWIM! It's as if by doing things differently, you are saying that what they did was wrong, so by poo-pooing your thoughts and trying to get you to do as they did, it cements in their mind that they were right!

I get this all the time as I BF and waited until 6 months to wean, whereas my Mum FF, gave us cows milk at 3 months and weaned us at 3 months. I get the "well, you lot survived" line all the time, but I just nod and smile!! No point in arguing about it!!

thanks everyone i feel a bit more resolute now!

ladyem - i think you a right about the doing it differently suggests others are wrong idea and i realise this might come up again in the future...alot!

I think it's very difficult for somebody who did things differently to accept that there are genuine reasons why that way is ill advised and not recommended any more (not that 3 months has been recommended for many, many years). It's hard to see it as anything other than a comment on their decisions and therefore a criticism.

I don't think people respond well to 'well I'm following guidelines' ime. It is okay to say 'I'm following my baby's lead/signs'. Not watching you eat and waking at night (red herrings) but sitting unaided, loss of tongue thrust, development of pincer grip, ability to chew and swallow. Explain if they ask but equally feel confident in smiling and saying 'we're doing it this way'.

And life is much easier if you wait. No baby rice/purees etc, ghastly nappies put off a bit longer.

thanks saintgeoff - how dod you know they have lost the tongue thrust? dd can't quite sit up unaided - do i wait a bit longer then?