Reassurance about waiting till 26 weeks

[MyGoldenNotebook]

DD is almost 23 weeks old and has always been a little poppet. She has been on or just under the 25th percentile since birth. I took her to get weighed today and she has dropped the the 9th. The HV says this is fine and I should still wait a few weeks to wean her. She seemed like a nice intelligent woman, but did write in the red book 'official guidelines quoted re-weaning' and I thought 'But not all children are the same. Are these the right guidelines for DD?'. I can't help feeling anxious.

She is having lots and lots of milk, and has two 6oz bottles ovr night now on top of another 6 bottles during the day, so there is no problem with her milk intake.

Part of me is thinking that I may need to break out the advocados sooner rather than later. But it would be better for her in the long run if I wait till she is 26 weeks wouldn't it? Can anyone reassure me?

TIA

Look for signs of being ready, not weight, or age or anything. Can she sit up, can she move things into her own mouth etc.

I was told milk is better for weight gain so, provided she is taking enough milk, starting solids won't help weight gain.

Milk has so many more calories in it than a tiny teaspoon of pureed carrot or baby rice that most babies will be fed as their first solid meal. so waiting just a few more weeks really won't make much difference. Maybe try and give her bottles a bit closer together? Eg if you're currently giving her a bottle every 3 hours, try and give her one every 2 3/4 hours? This might increase her milk intake slightly.

Current guidance is around 6 months. Does your baby show signs of being ready (as mentioned by Fred)?

IMO the evidence about waiting until 6 months is a bit sketchy anyway.

As others have said, milk has SO much more calories in than some steamed apple.

If it's weight gain that's your reason for considering weaning early then don't!

You don't want to fill her wee tummy up with 'diet' foods like carrot and apple so she has less room for calorific milk

milk does not have more calories than milk &baby rice - adding rice pretty much doubles calorie value.

and the op mentioned avocados which are much more calorific (though some babies don't like the taste, even mixed with milk) than milk.

there is no evidence against weaning from 17 weeks in this country.

still, weaning may not help the OP.

kellymom weaning foods, note they prepare the rice with water not milk

Thank you all :) I think I will wait a little longer, but not till 26 weeks ... my gut is telling me to start sooner than that. 24/25 weeks seems like a good time for me, and seems to fit with the 'around' six months guidelines.

Anais and Fred She sits very well with support and is picking things up and putting them in her mouth all the time. She loves sitting on my knee at meal times and quite often tries to grab at the food.

I mentioned advocados as a possible first weaning food as I know they are high in fat, but of course she may not like them! I may try banana and mixing Plum baby porridge with her milk in the early days too. Ideally I'd like to move onto full BLW asap, but for some reason I feel more confident with the idea of spoon feeding for the first few days. I don't have a high chair yet (so hard to pick the right one!) but I will make sure that I get one next week (after pay day!) and get her used to sitting and playing in it.

Hopefully her weight gain won't slow any more. I think I'll take her back to the clinic for another weigh in a few weeks.

MyGoldenNotebook I wouldn't focus on carb-y vegetables, grain and fruit, but stick with protein and fat as that's what baby needs to grow - the big carb needs arrive once they start moving around more, but of course fruit and veg are often convenient and the food won't be very important nutritionally anyway.

If you think she meets all the signs of being ready, then starting a few weeks before 6 months is completely fine and no need to go for a restricted diet - avoiding honey and choking hazards is all.

Hope it goes well for you op - i loved watching DDs reaction to different foods.