Should I ignore the signs?

[Maciemia]

FTM here, my baby is 14weeks old, losing interest in his bottles and putting EVERYTHING in his mouth. He stares at any food he sees. The other day I gave him some of his milk from his bottle on a spoon to see if he was interested and he LOVED it. So much more interested than just straight from a bottle. My plan was to start weaning at 4 months as that was what my mum did with me and people have always done as far as my knowledge. I’ve now found out that health care professionals are recommend to wait until 8 months?!?!? If he’s showing interest should I just listen to his signs or should I wait?

It’s around 6 months for weaning, not 8.

www.nhs.uk/start-for-life/baby/weaning/

Please do not wean your child at 14 weeks. His gut is not ready. Unless you have been told otherwise by medical professionals just wait. You might think he's ready but surely he can't even sit in un aided at 14 weeks. Just wait there's no rush give his digestive system time to develop or risk problems down the line. He's probably chewing as he's just found his mouth or a tooth will be moving it's not because he wants to chew food

He’s not really showing interest beyond a normal baby tendency to put things in their mouths.

4 months hasn’t been the recommended age for quite a while. But it’s not 8 months either, it’s 6.

I didn’t know it had been raised to 8 months. Was 6 months with my youngest. There are plenty of studies to say food allergies and things like IBS come from early weaning so I’d be inclined to follow the rules as much as you can. 14 weeks is really little. Weaning seems awesome until you realise what hard work it is 😂

Definitely don't introduce anything before 17 weeks as you could damage his digestive system and leave him more susceptible to bowel problems as an adult.
Advice now is to wait til nearer 26 weeks.

If you put anything on a spoon he’d love it. 14 weeks is far too young.

Babies at this age will watch you do anything. They’re like little sponges and they’re interested in everything you do. If you use hair straighteners he’ll probably watch you do that, it doesn’t mean that he wants to do it himself

4 months is quite young and the guidelines haven’t been 4 months for a long, long time. My eldest is 21 and the guidelines were to wait until 6 months then.

Your Mum might think that the way she fed you was right and she probably did the best she could with the information available at the time. Things have moved on though since she had her babies. There’s been lots of research in early weaning and allergies and generally it’s best to wait, unless you or your LO’s Dad have severe allergies?

Like I said, watching you isn’t a sign of readiness. You should wean your baby when they are showing these signs of readiness.

Plus of you wait it’s much more fun because you can give them a larger variety of food and they can pick it up and eat it themselves.

If you’re unsure though of what to do i would speak to your HV

My 5mo is OBSESSED with watching people eat and is a complete grabby toad, so much so he nearly nabbed some cake from my fork whilst chatting with a friend the other day! Still, there’s no chance I’ll start weaning him until he’s at least 6 months old, and only then if he’s meeting the required benchmarks as there’s enough data these days to suggest premature weaning causes digestive problems later down the line.

Babies love playing with the steering wheel of the car. Doesn’t mean they’re ready to start driving.

Those aren't signs of readiness. Babies out things in their mouths.
Have a look here. https://www.nhs.uk/start-for-life/baby/weaning/how-to-start-weaning-your-baby/

It's 6 months

It's been recommended as six months for ages, my daughter is 18 and it was the recommendation when she was a baby.

Putting things in their mouth is normal for babies and not a sign of being ready for weaning.