Just remind the reasons to hold off weaning till 6 months. DS2 is reeeeally wanting food at 16 weeks.

[Nbg]

And I should know, he is my 3rd so I'm not making it up.

His hands are permanently in his mouth (no teeth and no signs), he drools at meal times watching us eat , he's waking 3 times in the night for feeds and was sleeping through and 2 days ago he actually managed to grab a carrot off my plate and get it into his mouth (i took it off him obviously).

I know milk has more calories blah blah but should I really wait with the signs I'm getting?
I weaned dd at 16 weeks which she loved and did very well, ds1 was a nightmare and never ate until he was 11 months and did BLW through his choice really.

I'm confused.

they have a growth spurt around this age don't they? could it be a matter of riding it out for a couple of weeks?

Yeah there is the famous 4 month spurt isnt there.

I'm glad you said that because I mentioned it to dh the other day and wasnt sure if I was making it up

Its been 2 weeks though already.

milk does have more calories blah blah blah so up his milk feeds before you do anything else

and at 17wks, if you really want to and he is sitting up well, you can stick him in a highchair with some carrot sticks and see what he does. Chances are he'll pick them up but very little will go in.

Nbg, you know the "guidelines" obviously but imo, you do what you feel is best for your child. If you feel he is ready then personally I would go for it. Each child is different, my DD1 was 16 weeks when weaned (as was the guidelines then) and DD2 is now 6.5 months and is still not particularly interested. Obviously there are certain implications to weaning earlier but it never did the majority of our children any harm who were weaned at 16 weeks. Good luck!

You think MrsB?

I suppose I could give him some really soft carrot sticks to entertain him but like you said he's not going to get any of it is he.

Should I offer him a bottle in between his normal feeds?

thanks HE

i seem to remember ds' lasted 6 weeks before he started to settle down again and start going 3-4 hours between feeds rather than 2. have you already increased his milk feeds?

Yeah he's drinking a full 8oz bottle now.

hmmm we had 10 or 12 oz bottles for ds. might be worth getting some of those?

Message withdrawn

Yes I should wait and make more bottles.

Nbg ,those symptoms of wanting food are just normal developmnetal stages.

He would watch you chopping up a line of coke if he was nearby. it's you that is interesting not the food.

Moputh is also primary sensopry organ at this stage-operates for a baby much like fingers do to us.

(I am a salt btw and work a lot with very small babies.All this stuff is part of our professional training.)

What I mean is that he doesn't want food (well he does in form of milk, not wallpaper paste), he just wants to watch and join in and check things out with his mouth.

how often is he having bottles? could you offer them more regularly and maybe he would sort of stock pile them and go for longer later on in the day?

lol at line of coke

I forgot all these things really.
I didnt wean ds1 at all as I mentioned so the last time I did it was 4 years ago.

I'll hang on and just offer him more milk. If he doesnt take it then he can't be hungry.

I'm still amazed by him actually grabbing the carrot and getting it into his mouth though.
Pretty damn good co-ordination for 16 weeks.

very good - ds didn't wat until he was 9 months cos his co-ordination was so crap.

eat

what are the negatives of weaning early? is it kidney damage?

no, it's an increased risk of allergies and intolerances, and conditions like crohns and coeliac. Their digestive system isn't ready for gluten, dairy, eggs etc, and it can ruin it.