DS ready for weaning???????

[nattylou]

He is 18 weeks old and has been sleeping through from 12 weeks (7.30pm to 5.30am, can't complain!) Now he has started waking agin at 1.00 and 3.00 in the morning as well as increasing feeds from every 2.5 - 3 hours, to every 1.5 - 2hours ( I am breastfeeding).

Have tried with baby rice today, very small amount between changing sides and he wolfed the lot in about 2 minutes flat and didn't seem happy when it had all gone.

I was determined to carry on bf until 6 months, as dd didn't take to it at all and he is feeding like a dream.

Is he ready for weaning or just greedy?

He sounds ready to me!
It was standard practise to wean at 4 months when i had dd1 but i was hoping to wait til 6 months with dd2 but she had other ideas

When my dd was in that position, we kept her going another few weeks to about 23w by giving her a bottle of formula after her last feed in the evening. When she started actually following our hands from the plate to our mouths, and reaching out towards our plates, we decided that she was definitely ready to wean and didn't wait any longer.

But, please, don't give him that ghastly wallpaper paste. Give him stuff like carrots or sweet potato, which have some flavour (and turn the poo an entertaining shade of orange) and won't constipate him.

He already follows our hands from plate to mouth and looks shocked when he doesn't get any!

sounds like a growth spurt

These are the actual signs of readiness for solids, as set out by WHO and the Dept of Health:
? Baby is around 6 months old
? Baby can sit up
? Baby has lost the tongue thrust reflex, which pushes things out of his mouth
? Baby shows interest in food, perhaps shouting and struggling to reach your food
? Baby is able to pick up food and put it in his mouth
? Baby wants to chew and may have teeth
? Baby is still hungry after a feed and demands feeds more often. (But increase breastfeeding for a few days first, as this might be a growth spurt and your baby may settle back to less frequent feeds again after your milk supply is increased).

So, no, he's not ready for weaning!