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Weaning

Find weaning advice from other Mumsnetters on our Weaning forum. Use our child development calendar for more information.

When is it okay to start giving LO finger food to play/experiment with?

19 replies

messylittlemonkey · 13/08/2010 11:53

My DD2 is 21 weeks. She is FF and almost at maximum capacity bottle for each feed. She's also a large baby. In the past few days she has begun to sit unaided for a few seconds and is quite strong physically. She takes toys (and whatever else is handed to her) quickly and accurately to her mouth although she still has some degree of tongue thrust.

My question is (with a view to BLW)when should I give her the chance to try food? I know a lot of people talk about not weaning before 26 weeks, and presumably on that basis don't give their babies food in any form until then. I've read Gill Rapley's book and like the idea of it, but can't quite get my head around it sometimes. My DD1 is now almost five and was weaned at 21 weeks on purees as was the norm then.

What I'm getting at is this. Surely to be allowed to BLW the baby needs to have access to food in the first place so I'm wondering when it is considered safe/acceptable to offer it. At present, DD2 sits with us a breakfast (in bouncy chair),is asleep over lunchtime and sits with DD1 whilst she has her tea.

I'd really appreciate any advice or experiences.

OP posts:
TrinityRhino · 13/08/2010 11:53

6 months

messylittlemonkey · 13/08/2010 12:07

But surely if she isn't allowed anything until 6 months, then that's not true BLW, because if she is ready before then she won't have the chance to do 'lead' iyswim?

I'm not trying to be contentious, just can't believe that babies suddenly become capable overnight as soon as they rech six months. I've seen with DD2 how she is doing lots of things quite a bit sooner then DD1 did.

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Lulumaam · 13/08/2010 12:15

yes , the whole point is that babies are ready around 6 months.. so if you offer at 21 weeks and she can grab, get the food to her mouth , chew and swallow then she's ready. if she has some degree still of tongue thrust, then you 're not going to get very far, but i don't see the harm of giving her some chunks of food to explore.. no gluten though before 6 mths..

you could just try some veg/fruit and see ..

if she can't do anything with it, then you can leave it another week or two

good head control, sitting unaided, getting food to the mouth etc are good signs she is ready.. so you could give it a whirl or wait a few more days

baby led weaning is exactly that, the baby leads the pace

Lulumaam · 13/08/2010 12:16

www.babyledweaning.com has lots more advice

reallytired · 13/08/2010 12:17

It all depends on head control. A baby needs a reasonable amount of head control to be able to swallow food.

Can your dd sit up without support? Is she mouthing objects.

I tried to wait until 6 months to wean my daughter, but she had different ideas. She grabbed a handful of curry off my plate at 23 weeks old. My daughter is very talented, but she is not gifted enough to be able to read the NHS guidelines.

I suggest you sit your dd in a high chair. Get some sticks of banana, or melon, or some other really soft fruit. Place the fruit on the tray and see what your dd decides to do with it. If your baby is not ready then the food will not be chewed or swallowed.

I agree with you that is a bit anal to think that every baby in the country is ready for weaning at 26 weeks.

messylittlemonkey · 13/08/2010 12:23

Thanks, Lulumaam, that is my way of thinking too.

Actually just googled 'BLW at five months' and found a post on another forum asking a similar question to mine. One of the responses was from a woman who'd attended a seminar by Gill Rapley and was told that it is okay to offer fruit/veg as finger food for tasting from 4 months - from the horse's mouth.

I think I will give DD2 some soft veg/fruit and see what she does with it.

She is currently still sated by milk alone although has been waking about an hour earlier than usual for the last week. Anyway, there is no immediate rush to wean her, I'm just interested.

OP posts:
messylittlemonkey · 13/08/2010 12:25

Yes, DD has excellent head control, sits for ages with a little support and just started sitting unaided for a few seconds, takes everything to her mouth and chews it!

OP posts:
Lulumaam · 13/08/2010 12:25

you could try the hungrier baby milk for a wee while, just to put her on a few more weeks.. as even if she starts tasting food , she's not going to get enough to satisfy her hunger, so if she is draining every full bottle, you could try the hungry baby milk, or just offer more frequent feeds for a while. another one or two smaller feeds might be a big help

messylittlemonkey · 13/08/2010 12:37

She currently has five and a half feeds in 2 hours.

240ml at 7am
210ml at 10.30
210ml at 2pm
60ml at 5pm (a hangover from her early days when she couldn't last til her bedtime feed)
240ml at 6.30
150ml dream feed at 10.30pm (don't want to increase this one if possible as it will hopefully be the first to be dropped)

There's still scope to increase her mid morning and mid afternoon feeds, so that's not a worry right now.

OP posts:
reallytired · 13/08/2010 13:20

You do not need our permission to introduce solids. We have never met you or your dd. You are her mother and you know your child best.

Guidelines are just guidelines and change all the time.

StealthPolarBear · 13/08/2010 13:22

I asked a similar sort of question and then chose to offer fruit and vegetables from 24 weeks (23 with DS) and then bread, cheese etc from a week or 2 later.

LibertyGibbet · 13/08/2010 13:25

Guidelines don't change all the time for the record. They've been the same for 7 years and before that didn't change for 20 years.

I agree with others. The principle with blw is that if they can sit up unsupported, pick up the food, chew and swallow then they're ready.

Enjoy it as a process too. They don't eat much if anything at first. Milk to requirement and then food for fun. It's a real pleasure seeing a child explore foods for the first time.

messylittlemonkey · 13/08/2010 13:26

Oh, I know! Thanks reallytired. I was just after advice about safety as much as anything.

Good job we don't need permission from fellow MNers though, can you imagine?!

OP posts:
mamaloco · 13/08/2010 13:38

Fruit and veg are OK between 4 and 6 months then the rest. The slow approach is 6 months cereals, 6.5 dairy, 7 months meats, 8 months eggs, 9 months fishes but it is not a MN or UK way. I will be flamed again Wink.
As did yours, DD2 didn't wait to do BLW, she was grabbing food much earlier than that. She too didn't read the guidelines very well Wink. You have to control BLW as baby don't know what is good for them. DD2 also loves eating paper (the more ink the better) IYSWIM.
I am amazed that you don't have to sit her on your lap to have your meal! That is how DD2 choosed to show us she was ready for food at 14 weeks. I did wait till 18 weeks, before being flammed, and only started weaning on medical advices, I was ready to wait longer but she wasn't.

21 weeks is a normal age to start slowly weaning. See what she does and stop if she doesn't seems interested or still has the thrust reflex.

mamaloco · 13/08/2010 13:41

If you truly do want to BLW, remember that she might also prefer purees than whole food. Try both and see what she likes.

QueenofDreams · 13/08/2010 13:48

I don't think there's any harm in giving a baby sticks of fruit/veg before six months. the whole point of baby led weaning is that if the baby isn't ready for food they won't actually be able to eat the food.

We used to give DS florets of broccoli/sticks of carrot etc while we were eating. As much as a way of occupying him while we ate as anything else. he wouldn't eat any - just hold it, bring it to his mouth then look confused as he couldn't figure out what to do next! He started actually eating solids just shy of the 6 month mark when he just grabbed some food out of my hand one day and ate it.

AngelDog · 13/08/2010 15:34

The NHS guidelines on feeding babies and young children recommend nothing but breastmilk until 26 weeks. However they also say that if your baby is showing signs of readiness before that - sitting up, picking up and tasting finger foods - then they should be encouraged to continue with solids.

The NHS birth to five, and the BLW book says any food (apart from undercooked eggs / honey) is fine after 6 months, so you don't need to hold off on things like meat & eggs etc. Certainly my DS was enjoying them before 7 months (we started BLW the day he turned 6 months).

Being able to sit (with support if necessary) is the most important thing IMO as it reduces the risk of choking.

messylittlemonkey · 13/08/2010 16:18

After posting this morning, I decided to offer my DD a stick of banana which she took, waved around and then started sucking/slurping on! Only problem was it didn't last long before the end she was 'eating' fell off leaving the rest squished in her hand. She certainly liked the taste though.

We haven't got her a highchair yet, but she obviously needs one so she can sit up properly at the table with us, then I can put bits of stuff on her tray and she can help herself more.

OP posts:
Flisspaps · 15/08/2010 21:10

DD is 22 weeks and we have started BLW - she's sitting up in her highchair, and is putting food in her mouth, tongue thrust reflex has gone and she is gumming/chewing food and appears to be swallowing small pieces. All of that is an added bonus TBH, I just wanted to prepare her for sitting in the chair with us at mealtimes. There isn't a magic switch which goes off at 26 weeks :)

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