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Weaning

Find weaning advice from other Mumsnetters on our Weaning forum. Use our child development calendar for more information.

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Original poster

My 21 week old stole my banana!

17 replies

Aranea · 07/03/2009 20:28

My very assertive 21 week old dd2 has just pinched my banana. She screamed every time I tried to take it away from her!

It was very funny but I had been planning to wait till she was 6 months to give her any solids.

Do you think it's OK to let her have bits of food like this? It feels like the right thing to do, but I do know the guidelines and assume they are based on some sort of research though I haven't been able to find out what!

OP posts:

LadyOfWaffle · 07/03/2009 20:32

She will prob. just gum it, if she brings it to her mouth at all. DS was trying to pinch my dinner all the time and when I finally BLWed him he just grabbed at food and mushed it about anyway! She might just want to explore/touch/feel it - she may not think of it as 'food' yet.

Original poster

Aranea · 07/03/2009 20:33

Well it spent quite a long time in her mouth and she appeared to be chewing. I don't know how much went down, but definitely some!

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MrsMattie · 07/03/2009 20:35

I had no intention of weaning my DS until 26 wks, but at about the same age he started grabbing at bits of food, shoving them in his mouth and...urm...eating them!

Original poster

Aranea · 07/03/2009 21:41

MrsMattie - did you just carry on from there, or sort of try to go slow till 26 weeks?

And does anybody know anything about any research that may be behind the guidelines?

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Katiei · 07/03/2009 22:54

Feel smug that it was a banana. At 20 weeks DS grabbed a big fat fistful of my chocolate cake and shoved it into his mouth - such a healthy way to start weaning! He'd been vaguely grabbing at food for a week or so and looking lustfully at anything that we were eating but suddenly all of his co-ordination came together when I was least expecting it
After a couple more weeks of avoiding swipes at food and feeling very guilty at meal times (as we really wanted to wait until 6 months) we then went on to do BLW and just let him do it at his own pace. I couldn't have been without the BLW website (www.babyledweaning.com) as this has loads of tips and links to relevant articles that refer to the research done.
I would say that for the first few weeks DS was mainly just getting a feel for the taste and texture of the food and very little actual ingestion went on which made me feel a little better about the early start as did the fact that he was in control rather than me feeling that I was "shovelling" stuff into him.

Katiei · 07/03/2009 22:58

Should have been more clear....

we eventually started BLW with DS at about 22 weeks (hence the guilt at the early start), he is now nearly 2yrs and the whole process went really well

Original poster

Aranea · 08/03/2009 11:12

LOL at the chocolate cake!

Thanks for the website address - I've been reading avidly. I suppose if I just carry on letting her have bits & pieces to chew on as she wants, then by 6 months she will be actually consuming more significant quantities and maybe it'll actually end up more in line with the traditional timescale anyhow? I mean, if I'm not shovelling puree down her now, then she won't be swallowing nearly so much I imagine.

Did you cook special food for your DS, or did he just have whatever you were having?

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Katiei · 08/03/2009 21:35

To start with we just gave him the veg from whatever we were eating - bits of steamed broccoli, green beans, carrot etc.

At 6 months we started slowly introducing wheat, eggs, milk, meat etc in cooking and I did start making some things especially for him but mainly so that he could take muffin style things to the childminder with him. The recipe section on the website is really useful for inspiration and I've found that loads of it can be made in batches, frozen and defrosted as necessary so really useful.

As far as most meals go he just had whatever we had, I just made sure that it was in chip/ fist shapes so got a little creative with the way I cut things but as soon as his pincer grip kicked in (about 7.5. months for us) there was very little that he couldn't work out some way of getting it into his mouth!

It was nice leisurely going at first and he probably actually ate v little for the first couple of months but now he's nearly 2 he eats like a horse and literally has everything that we do including the occasional piece of legitimately gained chocolate cake!

AitchTwoOh · 08/03/2009 21:37

ooooh, thank you katiei, that's my site.

to aranea, sure, i'd totally do what you're suggesting. no gluten yet, obv.

Original poster

Aranea · 09/03/2009 11:26

Loving your site, Aitch. And thanks for the reminder about gluten - I had forgotten that there were issues, as I waited till 6 months to give dd1 any solids so didn't have to worry.

Well, she's now had some broccoli (interested but not wildly enthusiastic), a raspberry (desperate for more) and a bit of nectarine (turned her into a voracious T-Rex). Her reaction to fruit is a bit scary.

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StealthPolarBear · 09/03/2009 11:34

Don't let her anywhere near the grapes! My Ds would eat grapes until they came out of his ears

Original poster

Aranea · 09/03/2009 12:03

she'll have to get past dd1 first...

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MrsMattie · 09/03/2009 14:16

We did start weaning then, yes, but very cautiously. It was all about tastes, textures and getting used to food. I never imposed some sort of structured meal routine or anything. He probably wasn't scoffing down 3 meals a day until 8/9 mths-ish, and even then, he was always a light eater and drank loads of milk.

I am going to try to stick to the 26 week guideline with DD, though, as she seems a different baby entirely. DS was sitting up and grabbing at things very early on, whereas at nearly 4 mths DD still seems like a little newborn, really...

CherryChoc · 11/03/2009 13:28

I am glad you posted this. DS is 22.5 weeks now and has been grabbing at food and trying to eat it since about 21 weeks. I let him pick up and play with a piece of carrot the other day and he loved it but was a bit concerned as it seemed so early. I posted on the BLW forum and was shot down as I mentioned he can't sit unaided yet (but does have very good head control and can sit with help from a bumbo etc for ages) so felt a bit like I was doing it wrong.

Anyway we went out with some friends at the weekend and their daughter (who is 8.5 months) is having a mix of finger foods and purees and DP insisted DS felt left out and gave him a cooled unsalted chip ( at the drop in standards there from carrot!!) which he gummed, broke in half in his mouth and 30 seconds later coughed up a mushed piece of potato - and I saw he was fine and he didn't even want anything after that. So I have decided if he is being particularly persistent in trying to get hold of some food at a meal we are having, just to let him play with a bit of something - he probably won't eat it anyway - and to leave it at that but just watch out for the gluten, dairy, meat etc until he is 26 weeks - which is suddenly looking very soon!

Katiei · 11/03/2009 13:55

Aitch, your site was recommended to me by a friend and I can honestly say it was one of the best pieces of baby advice I was given, I'd recommend it to anyone, so thanks very much.

Aranea I hope it's all still going well a couple of days in. My DS is exactly the same with fruit and veg much to DH concern (an avid carnivore to my veggie! )

amybswansea · 11/03/2009 14:08

Yep - be happy it was a banana - my DD (weaned very recently) grabbed and ate most of a slice of dominos pizza - pepperoni and all before I realised! She was 24 weeks but still...

Looked so pleased withherself and screamed the place down when I prised it out of her chubby little fist!

Original poster

Aranea · 11/03/2009 19:23

Well I've not really given her much more so far tbh. I let her have a look at a bit of veg, but she didn't seem excited at all really, so I think maybe I'll go v slow for now and just let her have things she actually wants to steal.

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