DD is 24 weeks today, please come and tell me whether the signs say she is ready for solids

[wem]

I keep dithering about starting dd on solids. If you tell me it's just another couple of weeks, stick it out, I'll do that, but I can't help wondering that maybe she's ready and I'm artificially stretching it out to an arbitrary deadline.

• she is showing an ever growing interest in other people eating. Every mouthful is watched intently.

• she can sit in the highchair for a little while by herself, but needs a bit of bolstering to stay happy for any length of time.

• a couple of weeks ago she started chewing motions on her tongue. That seems to have stopped now, but I think it means she can move her tongue around her mouth.

• everything she grabs goes straight to her mouth, her aim is very good.

I'm not sure how relevant each of those points are, but they're what's been on my mind.

She isn't getting fussy with her feeds. (Although since yesterday she has started being sick like when she was tiny and possetting all the time. Any thoughts on what that's all about?)

She has been a consistently rubbish sleeper all of her short life so I guess my motivation is the small hope that solids might help.

I'd try and leave it until 6 months if at all possible, have you got a weaning guide? They should have a timetable of what you could start with so if you wanted to start experimenting with a few things you could if you were really sure she's ready

Thanks compo. I was hoping to start on finger foods and not bother with all the pureeing business. So I guess if it's puree now or wait two weeks for finger foods, I'll leave it til 26 weeks.

I'm not at all sure she's ready, just keep idly wondering whether she might be

why not offer a few finger foods just now as the reasoning behind BLW is that if they can get the foods to their mouth, chew and swallow it then they are ready for weaning. Your lo may be ready just now but you wouldnt know until you offered the foods.

I would just wait
miss out purees all together

A lot of what you describe isn't readiness for weaning but normal childhood development.

They do watch you eat, they watch you do everything. They think you are fascinating. Think of it this way, if she watches you drive a car, is she ready to drive?

Putting everything in their mouths is normal and could be down to myriad reasons. They have so, so many nerve endings in their mouths and throw in teething and of course they like to suck/gum/bite things.

True signs of readiness are sitting up unaided, loss of tongue reflex, ability to chew food and transfer it to the back of their mouths and swallow.

I always thought will it hurt to wait? Probably not in most cases and the benefits of waiting were enormous. I was sure she was ready and I didn't have to give a single puree.

ShowOfHands - half the time that's exactly how I feel, that it's all just normal development, but with the staring thing in particular she seems to stare so much more whenever anyone's eating, and it holds her attention in a way that nothing else does

Also - how do you know whether they can chew food and move it round their mouths unless you give them some to try? Never worked that one out.

I'll probably just wait. Like you say, no harm in waiting. I just woke up from yet another awful night and was grasping for something that might make a difference.

come on, ShowofHands, 24 weeks is quite a good age to start.

If she can sit well in a highchair, I would give it a try. If she doesn't seem interested, try again in a few days or even a week. However, I don't think solids will help with the sleep, at least not from the start.

Nowt wrong with 24 weeks at all but I figured the OP is hesitant and unsure and it's 2 weeks. And in the grand scheme of things, what's 2 weeks?

I'm not militant, the guidelines are 'around 26 weeks' but if somebody's wobbling about it then I think for their own peace of mind a couple of weeks is nothing.

We were lucky, dd just helped herself from my plate one day and we never looked back. I assumed she was ready.

It's extremely unlikely to affect sleep, sometimes goes the other way in fact but I do so hope it helps you.

My dd bfed every 2hrs day and night until 7 months. She eventually started sleeping better at a year. I do sympathise, utterly.

See, I'm fairly sure that if I left my plate within grabbing range she'd have helped herself by now. She's a bit flail-y though so I'm generally more worried about my dinner going everywhere. Gonna have to get over that one before I let her at the finger foods eh?

bfeeding every 2 hours sounds familiar. She does have periods of going longer, but it only ever lasts a couple of nights. Sheesh. She'll get there eventually I guess.

She will, she absolutely will. I still feed my 23 month old but she sleeps through the night most of the time now.

Co-sleeping saved my life, wouldn't have slept otherwise.

Now I'm going to tell you something absolutely true. Babies that don't sleep well and are curious and interested in the world around you are classically intelligent. Honest (my hv told me this when I was lost in an absolute fog and yes, probably designed just to get me through but my how I clung onto it- at 23 months she's so clever I mean she can put everything I hold dear into the bath in one go and turn on the taps, that's gifted isn't it?).

Don't get too hung up on the calendar, if she reaches out for your banana then let her.

And well done you for exclusive feeding for so long. You've done brilliantly.

Well, I ate a banana and held it within range. She grabbed a bit and gave it a good squish, but at no point did she try and put it in her mouth. So I guess I've got my answer . Thanks for talking it through with me.

And yes, your dd clearly has an enquiring mind, clever girl .

I just started my 22 week old. This was on hospital advice. DS has reflux so has always had meds etc and we were hoping solids would help, they aren't yet! He just has few spoons baby rice and is bf as usual 8-10 times a day. He started waking every hour at night after sleeping right through. He also sits on his own and holds a spoon and can pick up things. My other DC were weaned at 4 months.

My DS2 is 24 weeks too, and I've just put the baby bar back on DS1's high chair.

He's just sat in it for a bit, very smiley so at tea time tonight I'm going to sit him at the table with a few bits of banana on a plate, and see what happens.

As you say, you don't know if you don't try, but I'm not shovelling it in against his will, and if he's not ready then he won't eat it, simple as that.

Wish me luck!

Good luck Jojay! I might wave a broccoli floret at dd at dinner too.

Hope it goes well for you too - I think it's the best way. Even if they don't eat anything they'll enjoy sitting up at the table with everyone else

wem I could have written your post myself - even down to the offering them a bit of banana and not interested and the random newborn type possetting (oh and the sleep ). He loves sitting in the highchair with a toy so have been doing that at mealtimes and also chucking a few bits of carrot and broccoli on the tray occasionaly. He can pick them up and put them in his mouth but doesn't get any off yet. Am holding off with anything else though as at least at 26 weeks don't have to worry about forbidden food (except runny egg and honey?)

Yep, my Ds does the possetting too, nad the rubbish sleep

Well I sat him in the highchair at tea time last night and plonked some banana in front of him while we ate. He held it but didn't try to put it in his mouth. He loved being part of the action sat at the table though, so i think we'll carry on. Could be a while before he eats anything though.

How did it go for you wem??