A question about 'signs of readiness' for weaning

[fluffyanimal]

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]

Really pleased to have seen this thread. DD2 is 21+2 wks old (but was 10 days late) and has just made a swipe at my banana. She swallowed some and went back for more.

I was determined before this happended to not start weaning until around 26 wks. She's fully breastfed but these have increased recently and waking during the night has also increased.

However she can't sit unaided so was v interested in that part of the thread..so question is should I postpone until she's 26 wks from her birthday or do I use her due date to work out the 26 wks?

Oh and apologies as I know there are a million and one other very similar threads....!

tbh as a rule of thumb i'd stick it out to 6mths if the baby is okay with it, just to be on the super-safe side. other than that i'd proceed veeeery cautiously on non-allergenic stuff. don't be surprised if you see horrid black threads in her nappy tomorrow, that's what bananas do...