Signs of readiness?

[babyOcho]

I plan to wait until at least 6 months until we start DD with BLW. She was 5 months on Friday.

DD has grabbed at food 3 times - once was a choc chip cookie and I was very proud

I let her smell stuff that we eat. Today when smelling a banana that I was eating she opened her mouth! We thought she's doing that to everything, so I shoved my finger in front of her nose and no mouth opening!

I am reading this as another sign.

What other signs should I be looking out for?

She is showing all signs.
Please let her have some baby rice. She is opening her mouth..let her taste the goodness of food.
My dd1 was weaning at 16 weeks...she was damn hungry! Mind you that was 13 years ago, and now they reccomend you starve them.

Just experiment, and let her taste.

yes she is ready.....go for it!.

i weaned mine at 4 months.

no-one recommends you starve them these days!

recommended weaning age is around 26 weeks

if your baby can sit unaided, has lost the tongue thrust reflex, has their pincer grip, can pick up a piece of food , get it to their mouth , chew and swallow it, they are most likely physically ready to eat

you cannot see inside your baby's gut to see if it is mature enough for food, so best to watch out for these signs

also, if she seems hungrier than usual, in terms of volume, milk is more satisfying and calorific. weaning is not about getting 3 big meals a day into your baby, but getting them used to tastes and textures other than milk

PurpleOne, I don't see how "the goodness of food" and baby rice can be mentioned in the same sentence - have you tasted the stuff? It's tasteless and pointless. Babyrice is more like starving than breastmilk as it has less calories.

Babyocho, the reasoning behind BLW is when their gut is ready, their physical development should be in sync, so let her pick up food and put it in her own mouth, if she is able (don't do it for her or she may not be ready still). She won't chew or swallow until her gut is ready. I waited until 6 months to wean DS BLW-style - I enjoyed that last month of simpler life, now I have lots more cooking, shopping, washing up and cleaning to do - I don't understand why people want to wean sooner!

She doesn't need baby rice.
And it is not starving them to wait until 6mos - babies only need milk which is calorie dense until 6months.
Fruit, veg and baby rice have less calories than either breast milk or formula milk.
Purpleone - I realise you were going on the recommendations that you were given at the time but there has been a lot more up to date research which suggests it is much better to wait until 6months.
BabyOcho - try offering finger sized chunks of melon, banana, broccoli trees - I started this at 23 weeks with my little one, and he loves exploring taste and texture but didn't really start chewing and swallowing until her was about 27-28 weeks.

She doesn't need baby rice.
And it is not starving them to wait until 6mos - babies only need milk which is calorie dense until 6months.
Fruit, veg and baby rice have less calories than either breast milk or formula milk.
Purpleone - I realise you were going on the recommendations that you were given at the time but there has been a lot more up to date research which suggests it is much better to wait until 6months.
BabyOcho - try offering finger sized chunks of melon, banana, broccoli trees - I started this at 23 weeks with my little one, and he loves exploring taste and texture but didn't really start chewing and swallowing until her was about 27-28 weeks.

We are going to wait until 6 months, it's only a few weeks away... DP has a bunch of allergies and in the grand scheme of things a few weeks is nothing.

She doesn't seems any hungrier. I am testing her so that she can ease into it, so she understands that there is stuff other than breast milk. Also, she can sit up but not that well, I actually think that she will be quite a good sitter by 6 months.

Babyocho - that is exactly what I did.
Sounds like she is getting ready

Why not have a look at this?

babyOcho, that sounds a very sensible plan especially if your DP has allergies. Waiting until they can sit is a good thing, as it minimises the likelihood of choking if they have a straight back. I think tasting and smelling are good things too. Good luck with it all!

I weaned ds at 20 weeks. He literally went on hunger strike, refused milk and dropped right down the growth charts.
The madoldbat lovely hv said that he was "bored" of milk and I should try solids. I thought that was mad advice but gave it a go anyway and it turns out she was right as soon as I introduced solids he started taking his milk feeds again.