sagitta, I agree with denny, I've buggered off for a haircut for half hour and left dp with DS1&2 and then to pick Dd up from school, that was with DS2 asleep!
He is as much a parent as you, make him have a go, just so he can see what you are doing.
Niceychops. Weaning,. Right where do we start?
The research behind weaning shows that when born baby's stomachs are permeable, to allow them to absorb the milk easier to digest. Only milk should be entering the stomach when it is permeable to avoid possible allergies or stomach/digestion problems in later life.
Somewhere between 17-26 weeks the stomach becomes impermeable, and 'seals' which is when the baby is physically internally ready for solids. Unfortunately we can't tell which baby is ready at 17 weeks, and which is ready at 26! That's why they say to wait.
It has been suggested though, that once your baby can sit unaided, grab food, put it in their mouth, chew and swallow that they are likely to be ready internally, until then nature wouldn't allow us to be developmentally ready and we would fail at some point in the process.
So weaning onto food before six months is risky and not suggested, plus purees are no longer really needed.
With the finishing Bf thing, if you want to go onto formula, then you can do it at anytime, it's up to you when you start. I won't mention the 'risks of formula' here because I don't want to seem like it's a dig at anyone who had to stop BFing, but they are easily found out,especially if you started a thread asking, you'd get plenty of replies.
Exclusive breastfeeding is recommended until six months, but then they expect you to start weaning and continue breastfeeding, normal cows milk is allowed to eb introduced to the diet at 12 months, although WHO suggest breastfeeding until two, and using cows milk only for food.
Think that's about it to let you decide what you want to do, any questions, just ask
HTH