Taste testing before weaning ?

[IssyKuhle]

Hi all.
My baby will be 5 month next month and I am very excited to get him to start trying some food. He isn't ready yet to have proper solids as he is too small for his high chair and can't sit up yet. But I was wondering if I should be letting him taste food before actually eating for about a month. Perhaps pureeing a sweet potato and putting it in one of those food dummies - or similar !?
What are your thoughts ?

What is a food dummy? The closest thing I’ve seen is for medication and they’re definitely not designed to get them to taste some sweet potato. Wait until he’s ready. He doesn’t need to be totally sitting unaided but he needs good head control, decent hand eye coordination (able to pick up an object and bring to his mouth) and to have lost the tongue thrust reflex (google this one if you’re not sure). Weaning is a faff compared to milk though, I know it seems exciting but there’s not a lot to be gained by rushing things.

Why worry about this, is it because you want the novelty? I don't mean that in a horrible way, because I get it.
Just wait a few weeks and give him a bit of soft veg or something to stick his fingers in, it's all experimentation at first.

A food dummy is a little dummy looking thing that you put for into and they can taste the food. He has down syndrome so his tongue is constantly out. I think maybe this will impact his feeding. But I am not sure! His head control is pretty good. He does bring things to his mouth, but he prefers fingers.
Maybe it's best to wait another month. I just wasn't sure if they were meant to start tasting food so that they are ready to eat at six months

No, I’d just wait until he’s six months and start then. There’s absolutely no benefit to letting him ‘taste’ (eat small amounts, same same) food at 5 months. Hope you get on well 😊

No need for tastes so I’d just wait ☺️

Book driving lessons in.

no you don't need to give food in any form yet, leave his digestion alone. Theres no need to mess up his digestive system for life for your amusement.

yes, the age for weaning has changed over the years, yes some people have been fine weaned earlier but lots of adults have digestive issues, possibly (likely) from being weaned too early.

Oh I thought they were for putting stuff like frozen fruit in so baby can chomp on it for teething relief? I find the idea of sticking sweet potato in it really strange tbh, after all you can spoon feed a 4 month old, not that it’s recommended to start weaning that young anymore but they’re perfectly capable of taking food off a spoon. The advice is around 6 months, not exactly 6 months, but to look for the signs of physical readiness. Because baby has Downs syndrome it would really be best to see your health visitor or doctor to discuss what you should specifically be looking for because it doesn’t sound like tongue thrust will be a thing for you, and I don’t know if sitting might come later too.

Weaning, when they are ready, is about taste tests. Just wait.

weaning at first is just tasting ,the guidelines are in place for 6 months i think you should just wait a few more weeks his digestive system will be better equipped to deal with food.

OP I think it would be worth speaking to your paediatrician and asking their advice - much as with premature babies, I think a baby with downs needs special consideration when it comes to solids.

Putting food in one of those net things and letting baby chew is weaning. Early wearing is mainly about taste and texture, and manipulating things in your mouth. For lots of babies, very little is actually eaten in the early days.

Weaning can be messy and time consuming. I'd just wait.

Our HV clinic had sessions on weaning, it was really helpful and stopped random "wondering". Eg start with fruit and veg, nothing other than that if you're starting before 6mo, you don't need to puree everything but "baby-led weaning" can be weird about using baby spoons so just ignore that, I had success with using eg pitta strips to dip into hoummous etc. But ask HV if anything different is suggested for your baby.

They have to learn to pass food to the back of the throat and swallow it, which is actually quite a complex set of movements, so it's all learning that stuff, and tasting.