Should I wean early or late?

[Craggy426]

We want to do blw but both my dh and I are away working exactly around the time we should be starting. I think it makes sense to wait until I'm home, making dd nearly 27 weeks, especially as she was 4 weeks early and therefore unlikely to be ready early anyway. She's fully bf and I'm intending on having enough ebm for her for while I'm away. On the whole she seems a little bit behind full term babies of the same age. The hv thinks I should start early surprise surprise and hadn't heard of blw, grr. Advice very gratefully received!

Late! Babies of that age don't 'need' solid food as milk is better nutrition and more calorific!

Yep, you should base it on your baby's due date rather than their actual birth date so if she was 4 weeks early you may want to wait until she's 30 weeks to start BLW?

rather than aiming for a specific date, look at yuor DD , see if she is physically ready for solids: can she sit unaided? has she lost the tongue thrust reflex? can she grab a chunk of food, get it to her mouth, chew and swallow?

if she is happy enough on breastmilk for the time being, then i would not worry, milk is the main source of nutrition for the first year

have a look at www.babyledweaning.com

but yes, waiting until you get home won;t make a difference!

Thanks everyone. Thought the hv was "just doing her job". Shame really that they can't be more on the ball with things. (She didn't know what blw was when I talked about it) Will definitely go with what my dd is ready for...then there are the grandparents to contend with while I'm away. I'm sure they'll think she ought to be weaned by then but I'll just have to put my foot down!!