Not sitting up but otherwise ready?

[birdybirdbird]

My just turned 5 month old has been very interested in food for a while and now watches us avidly as we eat whilst making open mouthed chewing actions. He’s taken a few swipes at our food and puts everything in his mouth. I was thinking of starting to wean him in a couple of weeks but I’m worried about the sitting up thing. He has good head and neck control but can’t sit up independently (on the floor) at all. He slumps over at the middle or lists to the side. I guess he can sit ok with support but I’m never really sure what this means! If I put his bouncy chair into its most upright mode he doesn’t slump or he’ll sit still on my lap with light touch hands on his sides without wobbling around too much. Does that sound ok or do I need to hold off? I’m planning to do a traditional mixed approach if it makes a difference. Thanks!

I'd wait too
Put off the faff of it as long as possible I'd say

Also an I the only one who has quite enjoyed weaning?

@Tinyteatime @Starburst8 new NHS guidance actually says to wait until 6 months to wean.

www.nhs.uk/start4life/weaning

OP have a look though most recent advice from NH. I would wait until as close to 6 months as you can. I think DC should be able to sit up in a high chair (depending which one you have, may have a slight recline anyway).

Although it feels like ages to wait, your child is then going to keep eating forever so there really shouldn't be any rush to experience the weaning stage.

@Starburst8 The timings keep changing don’t they? Dc1, born late 90s, told to wean at 4 months. Dc2, born 2000, told to wean at 6 months. Dc3, born 2001 in UK told to wean at 4 months, refused as had just been told 6 months and then when child was 5 months guidance in the UK changed.

I breastfed and found it much easier to continue breastfeeding when I didn’t start weaning until 6 months.

@BigGreenOlives They do and I think that's where the confusion kicks in. There's too many conflicting articles regarding weaning.

My eldest son couldn't sit up unaided until he Was 8 months old i still fed him at 5 months but did it in his bouncy chair

Let him sit in a high chair and perhaps start with purées until he is sitting better. The sitting in the chair will probably improve his sitting skills anyway and within the next few weeks you can add food to the high chair tray for finger food as he turns 6 months etc.
But weaning is messy and stressful, so enjoy the last few weeks of semi pleasant poop!

My dd is 7 and I remember hearing that the guidelines were “just about to change back to 4 months” when I was weaning her!!

My dd couldn't sit up by herself until after she could walk! I doubt many 5 months old can sit independently! Surely you start feeding them in a bouncy chair?

Basically anytime between 4 and 6months (but definitely no later than 6) is fine. It depends what works for you as a family but 4 months is slightly optimal in the developed world as it does decrease risk of food allergy by quite a bit. Look into the LEAP and EAT study. We certainly shouldn’t be waiting to introduce allergens. When dc1 was weaning I think the NHS advice was to wait until a year to intro certain allergenic foods and that’s been kicked to the curb by the most recent research. People like to get a bit evangelical about the 6 months thing, but most other developed countries (USA, Australia, much of Europe) now advise not before 17weeks, not later than 6months but around 6months, giving parents a bit more leeway to make their own decision. Dc1has ended up with a bad food allergy so I’ve been weaning dc2 from 17 weeks with allergens such as egg and peanut butter.

The advice is " around 6 months" in the UK, not prescriptive at all.

But i feel there's no real benefit to starting much earlier, however as we can't tell for sure which babies are 'ready to digest food' by looking at them, why not wait a few weeks. (Baby food companies like it to be earlier to sell us more food for babies to spit out. )

It's not like you won't spend the next umpteen that's trying to get them to eat food ;)

My dd is 7 and I remember hearing that the guidelines were “just about to change back to 4 months” when I was weaning her!!

I was thinking the same thing Arf. When I was weaning DS, I also remember reading posts from people who'd heard from their doctor/health visitor that the guidelines were going to be changed back to 4 months very soon. He's also 7 now and the guidelines are still the same...

However, it's also silly to think something magical happens at day 183 that makes them suddenly ready to eat!

They are not going to change from 6mo, because the authorities know perfectly well that whatever age they set, the majority of people will cave and end up weaning a couple of months earlier.

If you say 6mo, the greater part of people introduce food at 4-5mo. If you say 4mo, people think they have been given the green light to start at 2mo and they begin putting all sort of crap in tiny babies' bottles etc.

The authorities in the UK switched to 6mo in the early 2000s because they were concerned at the numbers of people who were thickening very small babies' bottles with rusks, cereal, ready brek, puddings and all sorts of things based on a vague idea that this would make babies sleep better.

After they switched to 6mo, the numbers of people doing these (foolish) things have fallen a lot, which is exactly what the authorities were hoping would happen. Most people don't make it to 6mo, but the authorities don't really care whether they do or not. Giving small tastes of appropriate solids on a spoon at 4-5mo is unlikely to be an issue as far as public health people are concerned. They just don't want people force-feeding 8 week old babies with mashed weetabix and Farley's rusks in a bottle.

I started at 4mo and will do so with my current baby, for what it is worth.

And echoing Tiny, I will be even more proactive about giving allergens early on in a systematic manner this time. Egg, shrimp, sesame, peanuts, wheat and so on. They only need very tiny amounts.