What is the official line on wheat?

[MrsHD]

Hello. I have an immense 16 weeker - he's the weight of a 7 month old and the height of a 9 month old, and has now sprouted teeth! He's been EBF up til now, well he still is, but now that we have teeth I'm considering trying to wean him. also he takes in a vast volume of breastmilk and I think he might be wanting something a bit more substantil. I had wanted to go BLW but he's a bit young for that so if I do go for it it's going to be purees, yawn.

He has a bit of eczema, which I know is a reason to hold off weaning but even so... Is wheat a food to be avoided at all costs for the first year? I don't eat it now as I think it has upset his tum in the past, so I'm not keen to give it to him, but I wondered what the official line was. I've heard it should be avoided, but I hear mums talking about giving their LOs Weetabix and rusks and bread, so am confoozed. Really I'd like to wean Max onto real food, not baby rice yick, but again unsure how to go about that. You'd never think I'd raised and weaned one child already, would you?!! Went the very prescribed puree etc route then and feel a bit more adventurous this time

Wheat should be avoided till 6 months regardless of when you start weaning. I think even in families with a history of coeliacs it should still be introduced at 6 months to see if there is any reaction.

coeliacs and weaning

If you did decide to start before 6 months then avoid, wheat (gluten), meat and dairy, nuts, honey, salt and stick to fruits, veg, baby rice, etc until your lo reaches 6 months and then you can introduce the rest (apart from honey which should be avoided till 1 year).

no gluten before 6 months

is he showing any physical signs of readiness for weaning, other than drinking lots of milk and being big, neither of which are reliable signs?

is he sitting unaided, with good head contorl, with a good pincer grip? could he pick up a piece of food and get it to his mouth and chew and swallow? has he lost the tongue thrust reflex?

all those are reliable signs his gut is physically mature enough to digest something other than milk

if he is showing signs of allergies, then early weaning is not the best idea. regardless of whether you avoid wheat

No, he's not really showing any signs, but I did wonder if teeth was a big hint. Not in a rush to do it,. just lining up my ducks really.

i';d just wait it out

you have clearly fed him beautifully thus far on breastmilk, so if it ain;t broke, don;t fix it!