At what age did you start your baby on solids?? Not sure my lo will make it to 6 months!!

[zulubump]

My dd is 18 weeks tomorrow. Just last week I was thinking how satisfied she seemed on breastmilk (sleeping well at night, putting on weight etc) and that it would be a while before she required solids. Then in last couple of days she has started waking at night for feeds again and generally seems ravenous. Am bit taken by surprise! I was in no rush to start solids, but I don't want her hungry and unhappy either.

I don't know anyone with a baby that has waited until the recommended six months? Is it realistic? Am curious what age people have introduced solids for their lo's and what they took to be the signs that they were ready?

I agree with you.

i think perhaps that's the point, though, LMB, she should really be sticking to the guidelines if she's speaking to you in a professional capacity, not speaking personally iykwim?

anyway, the good thing about BLW is that you could in theory sit your child at a highchair tomorrow in front of a smorgasboard of finger-friendly delights and the day he or she will pick it up and eat it is the day he'll be ready... but it'll be a waste of food cos it's normally around 6 months.

I meant I didn't like the taste of breast milk myself.

Mine tasted alright - only when fresh though , and I cant drink cows milk.

again i'm not convinced by the sweet/bland thing either. i think people want to make weaning a lot more complicated than it really is, you know. dd ate whatever, whenever and pretty much still does. interestingly she was sick recently and i have never seen her eat so much fruit and veg as iin the last couple of days. seriously, bags of fruit and bowls of veg. they know what's good for them when they need it, i think.

DD1 weaned herself at 25 weeks with a slice of toast that she nicked off my plate while sitting on my lap. otherwise I woudl have waited.

Oh, and she grabbed hold of a bottle of BM the other day and drank it, having not had any for nearly 10 months, and declared it was 'yummy juice'

Aitch- I do agree really. Its just she's lovely and very exprienced and i felt an erge to protect her.... But you are right she shouldn't really mention weaning earlier than 6 months.

Can i ask when everyone introduced drinks? Becasuse isn't breastmilk a drink and food?

i was ffing by 6 mos so i offered water then. i think that bm is pretty perfect, though.

So when you stop bf. Or as you cut down on feeds? ...Sorry i think i've hijacked.

I should really start my own thread or do some research on google.

oh i was a rubbish bfer, never managed to do it exclusively so i mix fed for 18 weeks and then it gave me up...

I began weaning my dd at about 25 weeks (and for the record she is a very bonny babe on the 91st centile )

Signs that she was ready? She sat on dh's knee, swiped his apple out of his hand and started merrily sucking away. The next day she grabbed his sandwich and gummed it to death

I do remember a fairly intense growth spurt just a few weeks previous though, so my advice would be to ride it out for a while ...

LMB - I did bf exclusively until (very nearly) 6 months (when the potato incident introduced weaning).

I only offered water once she was on solids, and only a little as there is still alot of water in food. I held off from juice for as long as possible because of the nasty sugar and sugar replacements (which may be worse?)

What are these 'instincts' to wean that a mother is supposed to have?

Would a baby's instincts which translate into an inclination to pick up and lick/squash/slurp/chew a bit of finger food be more reliable than a mother's instinct that now's the time to get the spoons and purees out?

Are these insticts a bit like being psychic?
How do we know whether our instincts are right?
Would it not be easier - surely - to leave it to the baby?

I'm weaning third child at 4 mths,having never lasted out this long,all BF.
DD grabbed juicy nectarine and gummed half of it around 3mths and DS would swipe veg off my plate as soon as he was able.
Didn't know there was such a thing as BLW I thought I was lazy mother who couldn't be bothered preparing specially for baby.
I can see why it makes sense to wait till 6 months and not worry about kind hearted grannies giving them some wholly inappropriate delight!

Interestingly my dd had her longest night ever without a bf last night. She fed about 8. 30pm and then went off into a lovely deep sleep. I usually try and give her a feed before I go to bed, but I didn't have the heart to wake her and assumed she'd wake me around midnight for a feed. But she didn't and wasn't even crying out for a feed this morning!! I think she can last a bit longer on the old bf.

dd and ds1 were about 4-5 months as that was guidlines then.ds2 was 6 ish months.

Im really glad i waited until 6 months to wean DS. He was a hungry baby and of course i considered trying something like baby rice beofre but i understand that the latest research shows that babies benefit from being weaned at 6 months and if you are exculsively breastfeeding this is particularly important. Not sure if someone else more knowledgable on the latest can clarify this? only most of my friends who were exculsively breastfeeing like me were weaning at 5 months and at the time i thought that was such a shame (but they seemed to think they knew their babies best...!) dont the guidelines say something about it not being as significant to wait until 6 months if you are not excusively BF, say if you are mixed feeding or just formula feeding?

Well yesterday I witnessed something I read about on MN quite frequently, ie a HV telling the mum of a slow weight gain 20 week old baby that he needed solids... this was at a babycafe. The mum is bf.

I am waiting till 6 months, my 5-month old shows no interest whatsoever in food yet, cannot sit up unaided and is HUGE on breastmilk alone. The other mums in my antenatal group have all begun with baby rice and purees before six months, and all but one have introduced some formula too. I'm keen to go the BLW route but they haven't even heard of it. I'm keeping quiet about my plans because I figure I'll make myself very unpopular if I start evangelising about something I've not even started doing yet. I'm just so glad I found MN and learned that what HVs say is not always the right or even the only way of doing things.

And if another HV tells me I should babyproof my home or ask if my home is safe now that DD is rolling over... FGS I don't let her play with the kitchen knives.

I only come across HVs at the baby cafe, I don't even go to weigh-in anymore.

Should babies show all the signs of needing to wean or would some do? I'll explain... ds is 20 weeks old and is waking more often at night, can't sit up but can get things in to his mouth, has always shown an interest in my food but hasn't grabbed anything yet, possibly because I haven't let him. His weight gain is steady, same tragectory as it's always been. I've tried him a couple of times on baby rice and bm, first time didn't know what to do with it, and cried so I left it... tried a few days later, he wolfed it down. Left it another few days and tried some cooked apple with baby rice and he didn't wolf it down but he did eat quite a bit. He did pull a funny face, obviously experiencing something new. I'm not sure if I should carry on or not. It seems like he's halfway there, the baby rice and apple was a bit of an experiment. Should I stop now as if he was 100% ready he'd always wolf it down, rather than just nibble at it cos it's something new?

Personally, I think I'd hold off for a bit, to be honest - you'll do no harm, don't have to faff around preparing food for a few more weeks, and his skills will have developed that bit more so he can manage a greater variety of types of food. Just watch him over the next few weeks, and see what develops. Try offering him more milk, if you think he might be more hungry. Disturbed sleep can be due to teething, developing new skills, or the Great God I Will Stop Your Baby Sleeping For No Apparent Reason. He's not easy pacified, that one.

Hi... im new to mumsnet and i was just wondering what you would recommend feeding a six month old. she is starting to get really hungry and there is only so much milk her little belly can take! One of my friends recommended Babylicious products - i think they are frozen and claim to be really healthy but you never really know with something that is not your own food. I would cook but i just don't always have the time... Any thoughts or opinions would be welcome... Thanks

Beckio, you may want to start your own thread in weaning just hit 'new thread' at the top of the screen.
A six month old can eat almost anything, I know they cant eat honey, and some spices can be a bit much for them but really, just give her what you're having most of the time, and remember they dont need a three course meal, a chopped up apple or some toast or can be enough if you're eating something that is ready made.
Try having a look at Aitchs blog

sound advice habbibu... I've held off a bit for now. He's back to sleeping ok again, and he's managing about 3-4 hours between feeds during the day so I guess the boob milk is enough for now. I think if I'm being honest I was starting to think about weaning because my mum keeps banging on about weaning him, swearing it'll make him sleep all night (I'm not so convinced about that)