Is 18 weeks to early to wean?

[koalabear]

she's not grabbing at food, but is consuming 7 ounces of milk every 2.5 hours during the day

Agree.

Sorry Pagan, I meant to ask Koalabear why she was considering early weaning but didn't scroll down properly and typed your name instead. Sorry for the confusion !

As for what did the human race do before scientific research ...... people died younger.

was considering early weaning due to voluminous consumption of milk

now not considering early weaning due to attainment of further information

hence:

initial purpose of thread achieved

My little one Adam will be 5 months old in a few days. I am going back to work in a few weeks and I am keen to start weaning but when I tried a few days ago to offer him rice/pear he not only showed very little interest, but he cried through the whole experience of the spoon being introduced to his mouth. My first boy took to food at almost 5 months with enthusiasm and he slept through the night at 4 months. Adam is waking up 2-3 times a night still and does not seem interested in food at all. I guess each baby is individual and leaving the weaning as late as possible and nearer to 6 months seems safer but as I dont remember the last time I slept through a night with a baby of 5 motnhs and a toddler of 15 months it would be nice to get a few nights sleep b4 returning back to work and I was hoping that the weaning would bring that result. I guess Adam sets the pace!Any advice on how to proceed would be very helpful. Do I persevere and try a spoon or two of rice and pear each day so that he gets used to the movement of the spoon into his little mouth and the different taste to the milk even if he spits it our or should I give it a rest altogether and try again in a few weeks? time?

I weaned DS at 13 weeks because he was drinking 48 fl oz of milk a day ... and was advised to by my doctor for this reason.
DD was breastfed and I weaned her later at about 20 weeks.

Samara, in my experience (and others') introducing solids has NO effect on sleep - sorry. I read somewhere the other day on here that baby rice has something like 8 calories per tbsp and that wouldn't be enough to nourish/satisfy a baby who really needs more calorific milk. I think it's one of those old wives' tales. I'd give as much milk as you can in the evening, cross fingers, and hope for the best. IMO babies sleep through when they're ready. HTH

Wait till Adam is interested, Samara - you'll know when he's ready because he will be desperate to get the spoon in his mouth! Till then if he is pushing the spoon or the food out, or getting upset, please wait. He is telling you he is not ready and it will only upset both of you.

I do sympathise about the sleeping, but I agree with Pruni, it very often makes no difference. He just needs to grow up a little bit and learn to sleep for longer periods, this won't last forever :)

Totally agree about solids adn sleeping. In fact, when we started DS on solids, his sleep actually got worse for a couple of weeks while he got used to the new experience. I have now concluded that some babies are just not good sleepers!