other than the magical 6 month marker, what are the real signs of being ready to wean?

[BlueDragonfly]

genuine question, i am not trying to start a debate, lord knows we have enough of those on this topic

sitting unaided
losing tongue thrust
pincer grip
able to chew

Can sit up unaided
Can grab food, and put it in their mouth
Can chew food, move it to the back of their mouth, and swallow

how do you know if the can chew food without giving them food?

It's a bit of a give-away when they grab the food from your plate and shove it in their mouths (my dd at 5m).

I'mm not convinced by the tongue-thrust business - both ds1 and dd still had it and where knocking back the solids with gusto. Similarly the sitting unaided.

loss of tongue thrust is usually a good indicator, sitting alone with excelletn head control, able to pick up, chew and swallow food ... kellymom.com has some really good info about readiness to wean

and things like feeding more frequently, and more night wakings do not necessarily mean baby needs anything other than more milk

Bluedragonfly - because its all sequential. Once they can sit up unaided, if you put them in front of some suitable food, they are ready to eat it when they can do all of these things that are necessary to eat it.

Tongue thrust is there to stop them swallowing stuff too early - spooning purees into them can overcome the reflex, but doesn't mean that they are ready.

bluedragonfly, ds2 used to sit and chew on nothing. but it was definitely good chewing action

Tongue thrust is there to help them breastfeed. My first two would have been prime candidates for BLW - they were shoving fistfulls of food into their mouths before they could sit up unaided, yet they still had the tongue thrust reflex.

Guidelines - not rules.

Guidelines for the average baby - your baby is a unique individual, not an average clone.

Yes toast-swiping was the main clue with DS