Baby rice at 19 weeks

[MrsGiraffe12]

So, my DD is 19 weeks tomorrow. I know the official advice is 26 weeks but I think she may be ready

She's gone from needing 5 6oz bottles a day to 7 7oz bottles a day in a month and screams when it's empty. She has started waking at night. The other day she grabbed a cucumber stick off my plate and put it in her mouth.

Is 19 weeks too soon for baby rice in your opinion x

Yes. It is too early. There are also much better first weaning foods than baby rice. Babies wake up more for many different reasons and taking stuff off your plate and putting it on their mouths means absolutely nothing.

Seriously, don't bother. Baby rice has no nutritional value.
Give more milk and hang on for a few more weeks.

Yes, it is too early. Weaning before 6 months isn't advised from the point of view of allergies and babies' guts are not able to cope with solids at that age. She also won't have lost her tongue thrust reflex and I'd imagine struggles to sit up - both put her are higher risk of choking.

There are far more calories in milk than the amount of solids a baby takes in to start with. Increase her bottles if she seems very hungry.

As PP said, waking at night can be for a myriad of reasons. Baby rice will not fill her up enough to make her sleep better - 4 months is often a time where babies' sleep patterns regress.

I'm not worried about the sleep, my eldest never slept till he was 3 so DD is a breeze, I was just concerned she is hungry.

But thanks, I will leave it for now x

We were on the Antenatal group together =)
My LO is enjoying a variety of things already, firstly in purée and now in lumpy/mashed form. He is a very big baby (despite being 3 wks early) and I am just following my instincts and being led by him which is working very well. Apple, banana, sweet potato are a good place to start. I add baby rice to thicken only.

Very unlikely to do any harm after 17 weeks, so up to you really.

Weaning should not be before 17 weeks, and baby rice is deemed suitable for under 6 months (along with fruit/veg), so it is unlikely that any harm will be done by offering some. Whether it will actually help with anything is unclear. Night waking at this age is very common and unlikely to be connected to hunger. Giving a few spoonfuls of baby rice isn't going to give more calories/nutrition than milk. It sounds like a growth/developmental leap to me, and if she's hungry I would just give more milk more frequently.

Grabbing the cucumber is not meaningful, she's just curious about it. They grab toys (anything!) and mouth them at this age, doesn't mean they need food.