OK, get your judgey pants ready...

[gaelicsheep]

I never ever thought I'd be asking this. If your DC was showing the following signs, what would you do?

• sitting unsupported

• can get hold of items and put in mouth

• has been grabbing at plates of food for weeks

• making chewing motions with their mouth when we eat

• looking at me with sad eyes (OK, that's just me being soft)

She's almost 20 weeks (I truly can't believe I'm posting this). I started weaning DS onto purees at 5.5 months before I returned to work. I'm sure she doesn't need the nutrition per se, but then solids aren't about that for several months anyway.

So, do I stop moving my plate away from her or not? Or if I happen to be eating steamed carrot and broccoli do I just see what she does? She's EBF, although I shouldn't think that makes a difference.

Tongue thrust reflex? My gut says see what she does, and yy, I waited till 26 weeks with dd and almost as long with ds, but those are key signs, esp the first two. Odds are she'll not get much down for a few weeks anyway.

Tongue thrust, I don't know since I haven't tried putting foreign bodies in her mouth really! She spits out a dummy in disgust, but I think that's just the dummy. All I can say is she was on IG and the last few times I administered it, she didn't bluuurgh half of it out (p'raps she just liked it though ).

Yeah, I said TT because that's on the usual list, but I was never sure how one tested it! What's IG?

Sorry, Infant Gaviscon (too used to the reflux thread!)

Personally I'd let her grab the food and see what she does with it. DD was picking up food at around 22 weeks but was at least 25 before she actually swallowed any. She had fun in the meantime, though.

Wow, I expected to have lots of people coming and quoting the WHO guidelines at me! Thanks for giving me confidence to go with my instincts.

I guess I'm kind of hoping it might stop her chewing germ ridden cafe tables and menus.

Guidelines say 'around' and 'about'. They aren't as prescriptive as to say 'you MUST wait until 26 weeks'. They describe the signs and the only firm stipulation is not before 17 weeks unless under medical supervision. So they encourage you to look at your child, acknowledge that the average child will show these signs at 'around' 26 weeks but also to follow your baby, not force it and enjoy it.

Nah, it won't do that. Moths to a flame, I'm afraid...

sorry, that was to gs's last post!

Well I can but hope! Not that she'll be seeing too many more cafes now I'm down to basic SMP.

I'd just see what she does, the six month thing is very new anyway.

They all cope what ever you try imo

Ds1 and 2 started solids at 14 and 16 weeks on hv advice. (14 and 13 now) And never had any problems.

ds3 onto purées at 20 or so weeks, hv advice again to help boost poor weight gain. Coped well but didn't eat anything other than purées for ages (muscular/speech/sensory issues all diagnosed at a later date which contributed to this)

dd1 24/26 weeks ish but would have probably waited longer, she wasn't a fan of purées and was almost straight onto finger foods so followed more of a blw approach

Give it a try, if she's happy go for it!

Follow your instincts I say.

In reverse to you, my the WHO guidelines were start weaning at 4 months when ds was a baby. It just didn't feel right, he wasn't interested and I felt very uncomfortable at the thought of it. I didn't want to give him solids then and put it off for as long as I possibly could, eventually giving in at 5 months and 3 weeks. Forward on a few years and having dd and the guidelines are now 6 months.

Feel irritable whenever I think of that and how worried I was and being pressured to start solids by HV.

So imo it can work both ways.

None of those signs are really signs of readiness, gaelic, including the sad eyes thing, which is absolutely not a sign :)

No, she doesn't need the nutrition.

But if you are mad keen to try (why?) then handing her something to see what she does with it will almost certainly be harmless at this age.

The weaning guidelines have been 6 months since at least 2003, though, shimmerysilversparkler. Sounds as though you just had a lousy and ill-informed HV.

Even before they were 6 mths, they were 4-6 mths, not 4 mths!

Agree about the ill-informed HV :(

I'm pretty sure it was 12-16 weeks in 96/97! I was the last of my group to start weaning ds2, most of our ante natal group were on baby rice by 12 or 13 weeks, I was looked at as unusual!

There's still several people I know this time round who were giving rice very early on their Mum's/ Nan's advice

While I do think it's better to wait til the 6 month mark as per current guidelines it's very new and millions of babies have been weaned well before this and we're all still here and healthy!

Do what you feel is best for your baby and don't feel bad about it

While I do think it's better to wait til the 6 month mark as per current guidelines it's very new and millions of babies have been weaned well before this and we're all still here and healthy!

Much as my dd was weaned (according to advice at the time) at about 12 wks, the above is such a non-argument - it applies to everything (how did babies survive when we all smoked round them; lay them on their fronts; ate unpastuerised cheese etc etc. The point is, many didn't)

"Looking at me with sad eyes"

Aww bless .

Ds2 was much the same and I weaned him at 23 weeks. I tried to find out as much as I could about the risks of early weaning including reading a few articles from the BMJ and it would appear that that not before 17 weeks is the key. Also found information that said baby should be close to doubling their birth weight.

It's never been officially 12-16 weeks in the UK (I am a collector of baby books and leaflets including vintage and it was only in the 1970s that official guidance was laid down as a country-wide thing. I have an old Bounty book from the 1970s which says three months. This had changed by the early 80s to 4-6 mths).

Weaning at 6 mths - new? Most of the human race (aged 200,000 years and counting :) ) never had anything but breastmilk until toddlerhood, as far as we can tell.

So in that sense, weaning at 6 mths is new.

It is a bit of a daft argument, just as grumpyvamps says, to point to survival and say 'we were all ok, so it doesn't matter'. 6 mths excl bf does appear, from research, to give the best health outcomes, as a public health policy. It doesn't have to be a 'prescription' for each and every individual baby, though.

Bet your baby weighs approx 16lb
Seems far more relevant to me than age

Well she grabbed a banana from me today and had a good chew, so it's rather academic now anyhow. Previously I have made sure she was not on my knee as I ate it or would have kept turning away from her. But Tiktok, what exactly are the signs then if not the first two I listed plus loss of tongue thrust? I was joking about the sad eyes you know!

She weighs around 13.5 lbs which is close to doubling her birth weight.

I am absolutely not going to start spooning purees into her, but I don't see anything wrong with letting her play with and chew on suitable food if she initiates it. I am as keen on 6 months EBF as any of you - have you seen my angst ridden threads in the subject?! But it does seem that DD thinks differently.

MayDayChild my DS weighed 10lb at birth and at 12 weeks weighs nearly 16lb. There is no way he is ready for anything other than breastmilk.

Weight has bugger all to do with readiness for weaning.

I think if your baby can grab the food and put it in her mouth then she's ready for baby-led weaning which it sounds like you're doing anyhow. My DS first food was medium rare steak and chips from my plate when he was 22 weeks. I would steer clear of anything that might trigger allergies like eggs. I was probably a bit foolish to give my DS medium rare steak, although it didn't have any ill effects. I couldn't resist the begging eyes either

Yes Mummy2Robbie, I think that is what we'll be doing. DD's choice not mine, as up to a week ago I was all ready for going the puree route at around 6 months, as we did with DS. Horses for courses and all that - I'm trying to listen to my baby as an individual I guess. Time for a good peruse of Aitch's blog I suppose.