Weaning at 5 months with signs of readiness, wait until 6 or start a little early?

[maria199]

My baby is 5 months old and is currently showing all of the signs that she is ‘ready’ for weaning -

• she can sit in a high chair and has very good head and neck strength
• she has good hand eye coordination, reaches for things and puts them in mouth
• she is very interested in food - she will watch us eat
• if food is put near her mouth she opens her mouth to try and eat or put it in her mouth (we don’t actually let her put it in)

The only sign I am unsure on is if she would swallow because I haven’t tried giving her any food.

I know that the NHS guidance is around 6 months and it is when they are showing the above signs of readiness, which she is showing all of them. I am not a person who is so strict on guidelines that for example at 5 months and 30 days I wouldn’t give her food but at 6 months on the dot I will, however I know there are guidelines for a reason and 5 months is a little way off of the recommended 6.

She is gaining weight and seems fine with just breast milk, however she has always been a particularly hungry baby. I am definitely not in a rush to wean her, but as a first time mum I’m not 100% sure what the right thing to do is as she is starting to get very interested in food and if she seems ready to explore I am happy for her to.

I am just looking for some weaning advice from people who have had similar experiences? My thoughts were to maybe start when she’s around 5 1/2 months if she continues showing interest in food as she is and whether this seems reasonable?

I would wait just because weaning is a faff tbh. I miss the days when my dd only had milk! So much mess, so much cleaning, so many extra baths! And the nappies get so much worse haha.

At 5 and a half months and showing all the signs, she'll be completely fine, if you do want to start though!

I waited until 6 months old. Babies are interested in everything at that age. The readiness signs are exterior but you never can know if their digestive system is ready for solids.

We also weaned about 5.5 months. DC was showing all the signs of readiness and have been a very refluxy baby. HV had said some babies just take better to food than milk. Which was true for us.

As I was checking whether they were ready I did hand them an empty spoon to see if they coordinate putting that to their mouth. The utter heartbreak when they realised the spoon was empty. I hadn’t got foods in for weaning or prepped anything so had to rush around a bit as they were clearly ready. So I would probably prep a bit for the next few weeks, get the storage bits in, work out what your plan so if she takes to it well, you can just start weaning. If she isn’t ready when you try then you can push it back until she is.

DD demonstrated the signs of readiness at 23 weeks by grabbing a sandwich and eating it. I’d do the quiz in the link and see what that says but do agree with the PP on keeping the simplicity of milk for a bit longer if you can

Just wait. It’s only an extra month, very small in the grand scheme of things (for you) but very long for a baby. No need to rush this. You should start introducing a small amount of peanut butter (smooth!!) though, as per the new guidance. Maybe start there.

My second was super into food before she was 6 months. She would watch us, sit on my lap and grab it out of my hands. Sometimes she shoved some in her mouth and I kept an eye on her to make sure she was ok, but we didn’t sit her in her high chair and give her own food until 6 months. You could also try this sort of relaxed style.

Main thing I would say is: feed baby what you eat, pretty much how you eat it so no mushing it to paste, no different meals for baby, cut some things (grapes!!) but leave other things whole (broccoli,etc) so it’s easy to pick up. Mine are both fab eaters and we only ever gave them what we eat (not meant to be preachy, just it worked so well for us).

I would just wait. It’s just a few extra weeks.

Apologies for hijacking, OP, but… @Nocalmwaters - you never puréed or smushed foods (bar grapes etc and other obvious choking hazards)? Just straight into large chunks of whatever food and if they managed to get some food in their mouth and swallow, all good?

I weaned my second at 4 months. My first at 5.5 months.

There’s no need to wait until exactly 6 months- the NHS advice is around 6 months which 5.5 months pretty much is… That said you do want to make sure the tongue thrust reflex is gone, this is easy to do by touching their lips with a clean finger or spoon and if their tongue pushes it back out then it’s still present.

I’d just wait, if she’s gaining weight and happy on milk then I’m not sure why you’d rush it to be honest.

Another saying just wait. I’ve had 3 babies. I weaned 3rd at 7 months and by far the easiest to wean

Yeah, so I read a lot into it with my first and then followed the same principles with my 2nd. With my first we did a bit of both at the start, but it was such a faff I just stopped the purrees. I also never spoon fed either of them, they picked it up and ate it themselves, or were given a spoon with a bit of food on to eat themselves. I’m 2 years away from this now as 2nd is 2 and a half, so trying to remember!

This is the most helpful resource: https://solidstarts.com/baby-led-weaning/?hcUrl=%2Fen-US
I know it’s American, but it was started by a mum who had an older boy with complex food issues and she wanted to be proactive with her twins. Very evidence based. That website even shows you how to cut things for baby at what age, so usually starting with bigger pieces they can pick up and then moving smaller. If you search for a specific food it will show you how to prepare it.

They will do a bit of gagging (not as much as you think) so just be aware of what that should look like (info on the NHS weaning page).

If you think about it, if all food had to be puréed for babies the human race would not have made it far. Baby led weaning is supposed to be very positively scientifically backed, for various reasons.

I weaned both mine about 5 and a half months. But I just put them in the highchair and gave them food to play with and to see if they would eat. DD ate a whole banana straight away and was a champion eater after that!

I was going to say the same, there's no rush. I miss the breastfeeding only days so much, in terms of prep and cleaning up!

Also really recommend the Solid Starts app, it shows the best way to serve all different foods depending on the babies age.

Blimey, glad I had my two nearly 30 years ago!

First born was a very hungry baby and at just over 3 months he was exhausting 8oz bottles at a time. Saw my GP who advised it was fine to start weaning then, and I did. Okay it was baby porridge, nothing else, but it made a huge difference.

@maria199 Ask your health visitor or GP would be my recommendation.

I would personally wait, as it's not just sitting unaided and losing the tongue thrust reflex (which are both essential to reduce the risk of choking), but also the development of their digestive system, which of course you can't determine externally so is easier to judge by waiting the recommended 6 months.

Btw, being interested in food is often touted as a sign of readiness, but it's actually not: they're super interested in what everything is and what everyone is doing, including eating, but that's all it is. They're not actually looking at the food as a means to eat/resolve hunger because babies' only concept of food is milk. They'd just as soon put a sock in their mouths if they saw you doing the same.

I would wait. Even at 6 months+ it was a shock to my baby's digestive system despite all the signs of readiness etc. No need to rush.