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Weaning

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

Original poster

What age did you wean - be honest!

246 replies

Rhian82 · 12/03/2009 11:06

So yes, I know the official advice is six months and that we all think waiting till then is best, but in honesty, how old were your kids when they first tasted solid food?

I don't think I know anyone in RL that waited till six months!

OP posts:
Mollyfloss · 19/03/2009 22:27

About 4 or 5 days before she turned six months, just rice cereal for a while, then carrots etc.

nancy75 · 19/03/2009 22:36

abit over six months, maybe closer to seven (cant remember exactly) tried at 6 months dd was so not interested i just waited a bit longer

McRobi · 19/03/2009 22:54

21 weeks - though I hear the government is apparantly considering changing their advice back to 4 months as so many babies are strugging with solids + finger foods as they get to meat and fish so late after trying al the puree flavours!hmm

I think following your baby's lead is the best advice!

SparklingSarah · 20/03/2009 01:14

My oldest who is now 7 years
at 4 and a half months - the advice was around 4 months.

I gave her puree'd carrots which she thoroughly enjoyed!

my son who is now 10 months I gave him mashed potato at 4 months - he was ready for food showing every sign of being ready to wean.

He has eaten merrily ever since
happy thriving content baby!

Personally I think keeping it at around 4 months and letting us as parents decide rather than being unhappily coping pouring milk breast or formula into them to manage their hunger, explanations of what is a suitable food for a tiny stomach.

Going with what we feel is right rather than hiding from the HV that we are infact weaning
like it's a guilty secret that as a mum my gut instinct is spot on - my baby is ready to wean so I will start I am intelligent enough to know what is suitable and I make my choices based on what is right for my child.

Happy parents = Happy children
Happy Family

AlBud · 20/03/2009 09:07

All three of mine were weaned at 4 months. Didn't do them any harm at all...Advice changed between my number 2 and number 3 moving from 4 to 6 months. But as 4 months worked for the first two - I did the same for the last.

Astrophe · 20/03/2009 09:17

DD - 2004 - 6 months or very close to it. She then faffed about and didn't really eat much until about 8 months.

DS - 2006 - just before 5 months I think, on the advice from the HV who said he would sleep better (yeah, right). I wish I'd waited, as it was stressful, and a pain, and didn't help anyway.

Pregnant with DC3, and will plan to wait until 6 months

haemomum · 20/03/2009 12:50

I started my ds (12months) at 12 weeks and 4 days (started on the weekend so DP could be there!). Just baby rice for breakfast for a week, then added pureed carrot, potato or swede for tea. I just gradually built him up from then, by the time he was 6 months he was eating food 3 times a day, and having 4 bottles. He's now thriving, not at all fussy with food, no allergies. Ireally don't think you ned to be as strict as they say. Our health visitor seemed to think we'd need a long chat about how to wean, little did she knowwe'd been feeding him for 3 weeks by then! She told us to wait until 24 weeks if we could, but if he needed food sooner, no earlier than 17 weeks. And there was the usual " don't feed early just to get him to sleep through" - ds was sleeping through by 8 weeks!

Liz01 · 20/03/2009 16:28

I am a mum of four my DD1 and DD2 went by the official 6 months guide and took to solids straight away. My DS was hungry from the word go and I put him on solids at four months. My DD3 loved pureed food but absolutely refused to move onto lumpy food and didn't do so until she was 16 months. By child no4 was totally chilled out about the process and knew she would do it in her own good time with no prompting from me - she now eats everything in sight!

hotCheeseBURNS · 20/03/2009 18:46

Five and a half months, didn't quite make it!

daffodill6 · 20/03/2009 21:30

3 and a half months - at the time guideline was 4 months but she was hungry and took to it with no problems.

DamonBradleylovesPippi · 20/03/2009 21:33

5, 5 1/2.

MamaHobgoblin · 20/03/2009 22:28

23 weeks. DS had a suck at my nectarine (ok, several serial sucks over a few days. It was a different nectarine, though) at 23 weeks. I felt a bit guilty, then a bit silly about feeling guilty, and he didn't have anything else until a blackberry or two at 25 weeks, and then we went into BLW a few days after that. He gorged himself more or less from Day One. I'm a bit bemused that he's now being really picky and hurling food about at age one, but I'm hoping it's a phase...

BruceBabe · 21/03/2009 20:21

DS at 5 months - by that point was having 8oz bottles every feed - must have been starving. Ate all round him when started and at one point would've eaten two cooked dinners a day! He's still a great eater at 4.5 yrs and eats most things - and volumes of food. DD was much later tho was BF til 1 year (not my idea - hers), and wasn't interested in solids til 7-8 months and then only jars of food (refused home made stuff) - This child is very much her own lady! Good wee eater now at 2.5 but no where near same volume as big brother!
I understand the advice, but like every thing else it's advice - not law, and each child is so different. Why 'regret' starting early - they wouldn't eat if weren't ready.

terramum · 22/03/2009 12:37

DS (now 4.9yrs) had his first solids, steamed carrot sticks, at 29 weeks.

RustyBear · 22/03/2009 12:58

Interesting that people are saying HVs advised them to wean early because their babies were big, when my HV 21 years ago was telling me DS needed solids because he was so small.
I preferred to follow guidelines, which were 16 weeks then, luckily I was supported by my sister who was an NCT bf supporter to continue exclusively bf till 4 months.
By the time DD came along 2 years later (with exact the same pattern of slow weight gain) I knew that introducing solids wasn't going to have any effect, so I was much more relaxed about it - only to find that DD had no enthusiasm whatsoever for purees and actually adopted her own version of BLW when she was about 6 months old, grabbing some of DS's dinner of his plate and stuffing it in her mouth. After that I gave her finger foods most of the time.

Louise0212 · 22/03/2009 18:00

DS was 6 months, and I was one of the last in my group to do it...I liked the idea of avoiding purees, tbh, so went straight for BLW and finger foods. He's now nearly 2 and the only thing he doesn't like is hard boiled egg white. I never gave him purees, baby rice or jars of food - it has been proper food all the way, and my life has been much easier for it
I could never understand why people were in a rush to feed - it's much harder to navigate your life around baby meal times, never mind carrying all their junk equipment around with them.
I would definitely wait again, and would fully recommend BLW.

number3onway · 26/03/2009 10:54

16 weeks for the 1st, big baby and exclusively BF (as refused bottles) and was feeding every 1 and 1/2 hours during the day and very hungry. thought baby rice gresat and kept wanting more. no interest in feeding himself for ages as we could get it into him faster . guidelines were for 6 months at the time but health visitor advised us to start earlier
4 months for the 2nd but she wasn't so bothered

Salme101 · 29/03/2009 13:50

First attempt to feed DS banana @ 6 mths exactly. Introdcuced a bit of formula milk at about 5.5 months to try and make sure he was getting enough fluid, but he was pretty take-it-or-leave it on both formula and solids for a while (still partially bf @ 9mths).

swanriver · 29/03/2009 17:02

Ds1 2000 18 weeks (slept and ate well)
Dt1 2002 17 weeks (reflux resolved slept brilliantly and ate well)
dt2 2002 19 weeks did not sleep brilliantly (for next two years) and had real difficulty accepting "lumps" and chewing till 1 yr which might have been prevented by later weaning. All normal babies with normal weight gain etc to date. Weaned as advised by hv.
So I possibly might have delayed to good effect.

BabyBaby123 · 01/04/2009 21:16

15 weeks for both of mine

charitygirl · 03/04/2009 16:30

25 and a half weeks.

ISeeDadPeople · 03/04/2009 19:04

26.5 weeks

headinclouds · 06/04/2009 18:15

sorry havent read this entire thread but up to page 2 a few pp have mentioned the wish they'd waited until later if they started weaning 20 week give and take, can i ask why? thanks

Marne · 06/04/2009 18:25

Dd1- 4 months (it was ok then)
Dd2- 5 months (weaned herself)

mrswill · 24/04/2009 09:58

I am the only one out of anyone i know who waited til 26 weeks, i think i thought a bolt of lightening would hit me if i weaned earlier than that! Waited until she could sit up unaided and put things in her mouth at about 24 weeks, then thought i may as well wait another 2 weeks. Gave her mush to start with but she soon had other ideas and now at 9 months shes eat anything but not mush, finger foods, mush on finger foods etc. The only time she'll eat mushed up food now is from the occasional jar, and point blank refuses homemade mush, so i have to put bolognese pasta on rice cakes etc. Whereas my cousin who weaned very early, her baby refuses anything but very finely pureed food at the same age, you cant win!

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