Wanting to wait until six months, but....

[Honkyponk]

She licked my apple and her little face lit up with delight. Only six weeks to go lovely, I said. She cried!

ah, just give it to her, she's clearly ready!

my DS2 did the same aged 4.5 months, he actually grabbed my apple (we were flying at the time!) and kept on sucking on it so hard it was comic! (he's 9 and still loves his food!)
As soon as we got home I did a massive shop and started batch cooking for him!

I know that BLW is all the rage, but just peel, core and chop some apples, cook in a bit of water, then puree till very smooth.
she can have a few spoonfuls once a day at lunch time, freeze the rest in an ice cube tray for small convenient portions

other great starter foods you can prepare the same way - pears, butternut squash, carrots and courgettes. mine started with baby rice then I mixed this with the fruit and veg

fab book for inspiration and menus (plus great advice) is Suzannah Olivier's "What should I feed my baby?"

These threads always have people talking about babies being "clearly ready". Really? Babies really know what's good for them, do they? Or do their parents have responsibility for taking decisions on their behalf because, well, because they're babies. If a baby sits next to a pot plant and starts digging its hand in the soil and eating it, would you expect the parents to let it carry on on the basis that the baby knows what it's doing?

Follow the guidance on waiting until 6 months, based on up-to-date analysis of lots of studies, or don't. Do, though, accept that it's your choice, not you doing it because your baby is "ready".

yes, babies show signs of readiness for certain things, with eating it is typically things like - looking with interest when you eat, following the food from the plate to your mouth etc.

yes, of course they will grab your hair and put absolutely everything in their mouth, but how does that prove that they are not ready? they will do that with a breast or a bottle too, and it is not only a deep instinct, but a way of learning!

also a lot of developmental stages ARE "decided" by the child - rolling over, crawling, sitting, standing, cruising, walking, talking and so on.

and eating a bit of soil is not the end of the world......

If your baby is acting like this she's clearly ready
Remember even a few years ago the official advice was weaning from 4mo
Pretty sure babies haven't changed since then!
I personally use the mashed potato test
If baby can reach mashed potatoe and get it into her mouth, then she's ready to eat it!

exactly svrider

If you read the BLW book you will see that there is research (admittedly a small study) that shows that if they're able to sit with support (NOT reclined at all, huge choking risk) and get the food to their own mouth then they're ready for weaning anyway. Which doesn't mean leaping straight to 3 meals a day plus snacks, but if you're eating and they're getting frustrated you can offer them a bit of something to explore.

I wouldn't personally do purees at this age, if anything they are more curious than hungry and you want to keep them on as much milk as possible.

I'd disagree that "licking an apple" is a sure fire sign, though. I'm pretty sure a baby would smile if fed chocolate sauce at 2 months old, that doesn't mean you would start feeding it to them.

Also I'm sure you're aware that she didn't cry because she understood what you meant