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Weaning

Find weaning advice from other Mumsnetters on our Weaning forum. Use our child development calendar for more information.

Original poster

A question about 'signs of readiness' for weaning

78 replies

fluffyanimal · 11/04/2007 11:54

Hoping this won't kick off another rumpus but...
would genuinely like to know what people think about this question that has been rumbling around in my mind.

If I understand it correctly, Gill Rapley who did the BLW research reckons that when a baby has the motor skills to self-feed, this is a good sign that internally, i.e. in terms of gut maturity, the baby is read for solid food. (BLW experts: please correct me if I'm wrong, it might just make my whole question irrelevant.)

So what do you do if your less than 6mo baby helps itself to some of your food and happily puts it in mouth, chews and swallows? Do you think, OK, must be ready for weaning, or do you hold back just in case?

Also, if you then accept that this external sign of readiness for solids is valid, is it not possible to accept as valid other developmental stages that are frequently referred to as signs of readiness for solids, e.g. night waking after sleeping through, or should grabbing your food and eating it be the only external sign you should trust?

I'm just interested because the thing about external motor skills matching internal development is frequently mentioned in BLW threads, so just wondered how it tallies with the advice to wait until 6 months because you can't tell if their gut is mature enough.
[friendly peaceful happy debating emoticon]

OP posts:
hunkermunker · 11/04/2007 18:10

Yes, I'd probably have waited, thinking further about it.

Largely because milk's less mess

PinkTulips · 11/04/2007 18:13

my decision ultimately came down to the fact that it meant i could eat my dinner too as up to that point i'd spent mealtimes wrestling with him... he didn't want milk, just wanted to attack my plate!

HoratioMcCain · 11/04/2007 18:16

Hunker that is also a very valid point.

I hadn't quite realised how much mess one small person could make until I was clearing rice cake out of dd's neck creases earlier

3andnomore · 11/04/2007 18:21

lol Manictiger...am used to talking to myself..really good at that, too....hm...what does that tell you about me

What is the LoM thread?????? [confused emoticon]

3andnomore · 11/04/2007 18:21

Manictigger even, lol

AitchTwoOh · 11/04/2007 18:54

yeah, but i reckon there's a couple of weeks either way, though, what with babies being late/early whatever to be born. so i'd have no problem if it was around the 6 months mark, but i probably wouldn't be bothered with the hassle at 4 months. can't help but feel that my innate laziness would win out every time.

Original poster
fluffyanimal · 11/04/2007 18:55

Life on Mars. Please don't discuss it here, I've taped it and not played it back yet.

OP posts:
AitchTwoOh · 11/04/2007 18:56

it was great... hope you enjoy it.

3andnomore · 11/04/2007 19:01

oh...life on mars

caughtintheact · 11/04/2007 23:32

I have been wondering about the digestion thing too. Although I agree with Hunker that you can't actually tell whether or not purees are better digested, it would seem logical that pureed/mashed/minced food will be easier to digest as it has a higher surface area for the enzymes to get busy with.

But whether babies actually need us to do that for them...probably not based on the growing sample of BLW babies on here

My experience of 'signs' for weaning is similar to Horatio's - DD swiped a chip, so I started BLW a tad early. She had great dexterity and could get food easily to her mouth, chew and swallow but only ate really minute amounts. It is only this week (she is just 8 months) that she has started to eat a significant amount- fingers crossed it continues. I don't know if she was limited by her chewing/swallowing skills (I want to say oral skills but it just sounds So Wrong) or her appetite...

BizzyDint · 12/04/2007 09:06

i believe the skill and the appetite are two different issues. the appetite is dealt with by their milk intake, which should remain high until the 1 year mark. alongside this, from 6 months, the skill at eating develops, getting better and better until they are also able to use cutlery. the ability develops as the need for food develops. so, with 'caughtintheact' your baby didn't really get good at self feeding until 8 months, which is about right because she doesn't need much food until then.

GloriaMumble · 12/04/2007 10:03

quick question on the whole "sitting up" sign. In this context does "sitting up" mean "baby pulls itself to a sitting position from lying down" or "if placed on the floor in a seated position, baby can hold herself seated and not fall over" or "baby can sit in a highchair (non-reclining) without slumping over".

My DD can't do any of these yet but I'm just interested cus everyone else seems to know what sitting up means except me !

MrsBadger · 12/04/2007 10:07

ooh, interesting - I read it to mean 'stays sitting up if placed on floor in sitting position and if starts to topple can catch self and sit up again'.

AitchTwoOh · 12/04/2007 10:30

i'd be inclined to agree with mrs b. which is another reason why i'm not in love with babies eating in bumbos, because i always wonder if the core body control is there yet as the bumbo is doing a lot of that work. and i wonder if that control might be important in a choke? [absolute theory] [no idea if it's true]

caughtintheact · 12/04/2007 11:04

yeah the definition of sitting up has bothered me too!
In the context of readiness for weaning I think it must have originated as advice to guard against choking, and not necessarily as anything to do with their digestive readiness..in teh birth to five book it says "can sit up - even though he or she may need some support"
I have met a (healthy) baby who still can't sit up unaided at 7 1/2 months - interestingly he is not too bothered by solid food despite his poor mothers diligence at following AK...

MrsBadger · 12/04/2007 11:07

(would not neccessarily consider the Birth To Five book a source of irrefutable fact though )

caughtintheact · 12/04/2007 11:20

what do you mean ! shurely it is the One True Word??

oh, and Bizzy I agree with what you say about appetite and milk, but at some poin tthey must realise that solid food can satisfy thier hunger as well as milk and I would love to know when that is for my dd!!

PinkTulips · 12/04/2007 11:33

weirdly, ds who is 8 months can have a huge milk feed right before dinner and still eat lots of food, but having a huge dinner won't stop him from guzzling milk right after so i don't think they're as closely related as health professionals would have us believe.

have always taken sitting well to mean can sit in the highchair without slumping around the place and can sit for at least a short period completely unaided

3andnomore · 12/04/2007 11:37

I always translated the "can sit up" as in can sit up unsupported....which usually means they can get themself into that position aswell...I mean, I realise you can sit a Baby up and they may cna hold that position for a bit, but at that stage they still need to concentrate a lot on the Balancing to do anything else, lol!

Original poster
fluffyanimal · 12/04/2007 11:39

My ds wouldn't sit unsupported on the floor at 7 months, but I didn't wait that long to wean him. A high-backed highchair (set in its most upright position) and a bumbo were invaluable for us.

Have to say I don't really see how core muscle control is going to help you if you are choking. I choked on a piece of cucumber once (as a teenager) and I don't remember using my back/stomach muscles to help extricate it.

Bumbos are well cool. They make excellent hats (as seen modelled by me when walking round the village to visit friends, so that ds would have something to sit in at their house).

OP posts:
BizzyDint · 12/04/2007 11:54

i take the sitting up to mean basically is lolling about when sat up. so to me that means if they are upright in a high chair they stay upright, have some back strength and don't slide over to one side. at this stage they would be able to sit for a few moments on the floor unsupported, but perhaps not for a huge length of time.

3andnomore · 12/04/2007 12:00

but fluffy, I do think that being able to sit up properly sort of aids eating...as in, it can't be very comfy to be a bit flopped forward..i.e. putting pressure on the tummy, etc...!
Not saying a child needs to be able to sit for hours on end..btw...just that usually when they can sit properly then usually they also tend to have the ability to get themselfs into that position and out of it!
Also, I would think that proper sitting up also means that headcontrol is there, because I suppose, that is why sitting up can be partly so difficult for a BAby, as their lil heads are a bit out of propertion to their body!

Original poster
fluffyanimal · 12/04/2007 12:29

Curious isn't it. DS sat nice and straight in his high chair, didn't loll around or squash his tummy. Same in a bumbo - he is tall for his age - sat nice and straight. But if I put him on the floor, he'd just lie straight back. Maybe he was lazy. Also, he had been able to hold his head well from a very young age. [baffled]

OP posts:
3andnomore · 12/04/2007 12:35

Kids...eh...greatest mystery there is...

AitchTwoOh · 12/04/2007 13:23

i thought that the heimlich manoeuvre used a movement from under the ribs and pulling up sharply, so i suppose my point about core strength comes from that, that maybe if you choked yourself you would somehow be using the same part of the body to clear it? i've never choked though, so i don't know.
loads of people like bumbos, but dd hated hers and i know a physio who thinks they are the absolute work of the devil in terms of core strength development, so i am definitely wary of them for feeding. but one of my very good friends isn't, she never bothered with a high chair and went for the bumbo all the way, so it's horses for courses.