Do I have to start at 6mos?

[MegumiEto]

DS2 is coming up to 6mos and doesn't really seem ready for solids yet. He's got no teeth, isn't sitting up or even rolling over, and isn't in the least bit interested in food that I'm eating yet.

He's sleeping well and seems satisfied with his feeds. Bfing him on demand and he hasn't seemed to need more.

Is it ok to go by instinct on this? Or is there any danger he won't be getting the right nutrition etc? He has dropped off his curve weight wise a bit since Christmas but is still around the 75th centile and very chubby and squidgy!

Until they're one year old then milk is a child's main source of nutrition, so don't worry about that (lots of babies don't 'eat' much until they're a few months older yet)

Teeth aren't an indicator of readiness to wean, but usually sitting up unaided is. You say he's coming up to 6mo so he might learn to sit fairly soon anyway.

Some babies are ready to wean at about 23 weeks, some at 26 weeks dead on, others probably a couple of weeks later.

Have you spoken to a HV?

I waited with dd3 until 7 months as she just wasn't interested. It still took her till 1 to get food and use it as food not a plaything she occasionally swallowed.
If you think he isn't ready then leave it a few more weeks.
It sounds like he is doing fine on breast milk and he is presumably chewing on toys so working his jaw muscles

I'm sure I read somewhere that actually it was important to have introduced wheat by 7mo. Something about coeliac (sp?) disease I think. Hang on, will look.

Sorry, can't find much, but there does seem to be research saying wheat should be introduced after 4 months but before 7.

Mentioned here:

news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/4554661.stm