Help I am been mugged for all my food.

[Florasblanket]

Ok I know the advice is six months but DS is 21 weeks he is fullly BF and fit and well.
No history of allergy in both families and DS is showing all the signs.

He is swooping in on food and trying to make a grab for it yesterday he tried to swoop toward my mango with his mouth wide open and tried to stick his face in a bowl of spag bog.
He also watches you chew and copies with his mouth (tis quite funny).

I am not talking about offering him purees and stuff but surely having a suck on a bit of mango or crumpet when he is obviously wanting to try can't hurt him can it?

If I were in your position I would offer him a slice of fruit or veg and see what he does with it. I am of the opinion if he can sit up unaided, bring the food to his mouth and suck/chew, then he's ready.

Stay away from wheat, dairy and gluten until 26 weeks, so no crumpets.

He can't sit up unaided but sits very straight when held or in bumbo.

Thanks for replying .

My DS was 21 weeks (and I was determined to wait til 26!) when he was making such a fuss sitting at the table that I shoved a piece of banana in front of him thinking he wouldn't be able to do anything with it. And he picked up, bit a piece off and swallowed it

I carried on cause it made meal times easier without him yelling and screeching but only fruit and veg til 6 months.

Just offer and let him find his own way

Oh seeker go away and be sarcastic somewhere else.

Next year the guidelines wil say wean at 9 months and we should all be sleeping with baby.

Do you actually realise how ridiculous you sound if you have nothing constructive to say on this thread then ignore it don't cme on and try and be oh so superior.

I was asking for advice not sarcastic comments.

I see you have a 13 year old so the advice then would have been to start weaning between 12 and 16 weeks so did you follow guidelines or did you know better than everyone else then too?

Give him summat to suck on or chomp on - Jeez, he's only three weeks off the prescribed time for starting. I don't think the police will come if you go before the huge alarm clock at the WHO rings to tell you "it's time!"

Fb i'm not sure what you should do.Only you know your DS.But i would worry about giving bits of banana,incase he chokes.I don't think a baby of 21 weeks is ready to chew,they still drink the food more than chew at that age.
Maybe i'm abit out of touch because my youngest is now 4yrs,but i always thought you start by offering puree veg/fruit.
You are right about guidelines changing when DS1 was a baby 21yrs ago i think weaning was around 12 weeks..But they are only guidelines not law.

My point exactly doodlez.

Seeker if your read this I am sorry for been rude in my last post I was just a bit taken aback by your sarcasm and abrubt post when you are usually a very nice poster.

I weaned my 13 year old at 6 months. The WHO guideline were 6 months then too.

I was sarcastic, yes, and I'm sorry. It's just that EVERYONE knows that babies shouldn't have solid food until 6 months, and why. But people are always coming on here and asking permission from a bunch of strangers to do something which MAY (I stress MAY) be harmful tho their babies.

If someone came on here and said "I know they guidelines say that my baby should be in a car seat, but she just LOVES sitting on Grandmas's lap in the back and I think that is the best place for her", people aren't going to come on here saying "You know what's best for your baby - a mother's instincts are always right"

The vast majority of babies WOULD be quite safe on grandma's lap - just like that vast majority of babies are fine after eating solid food at 4 months. But just as you don't knwo which journey is going to be the one where there's an accident, you don't know which baby is going to suffer bowel problems and allergies and be genetally ill and miserable because of early weaning. So risk it?

But seeker, evidence has shown that a baby's gut seals at the same time they are able to pick up food, chew and swallow- hence BLW. OP isn't considering purees, just bits of fruit/veg (second the no wheat/gluten/crumpet till 6 months). If he isn't ready, he won't eat. Simple

Link to the evidence, please?

Sorry, I'm not an expert and don't have links to hand- and can't be arsed to hunt around for Gill Rapley's book. Try Aitch's blog?

Do you have any evidence that a baby weaned at 21 weeks (or indeed after 17 weeks) is more likely to encounter allergies than one weaned at 6 months?

I could hunt for the evidence, but it is clearly staged by the food Standards Agency, The NHS, the WHO.......

As far as I understand it, there actually is no evidence showing harm weaning post 17 weeks, just that there is no evidence of any benefits iyswim? I do completely understand where you're coming from and I waited to BLW my DD at 6 months- but babies ARE all different.

It stands to reason that if the majority of babies are ready to wean at 6 months, some will be later and some earlier- a few weeks earlier obviously, not at a few months old. The problems come when people misinterpret the signs that show a baby is ready for weaning and begin when they start watching you eat/ waking up at night etc. If a baby is ready to eat, s/he will eat just as you and I do, picking up chunks of food, chewing and swallowing. Purees obviously have no part in this.

I have Gill Rapleys book and while she rcommends having baby at the table with you to be a part of meal times to wait until 6 months before introducing solids.

That being said I would offer cutlery and crockery for the ops baby to play with and as 26 weeks gets nearer maybe offer some juicy fruit as its likely baby will only suck on the food--thats if they manage to pick up the food and find their mouth!

Sorry to restart this but I am in a fuddle, which might be slightly sleep deprived, so if you are thinking FGS, have mercy on me.

I understand the idea one should wait until 6 months, as one's baby's gut may be developed some time between 4 and 6 motnhs, but one doesn't know when. I also understand (from here, and Gill's book) that signs of readiness are sitting upright and trying to steal your food to stick in their mouths.

I struggle slightly with the concept that my daughter wouldn't show signs of readiness if her gut wasn't ready on the basis thats he is only a baby, but this may be narrow minded of me.

My aim is to wait until 6 months, but what I don't want is to wait for the sake of waiting, ignoring signs that DD is ready.

Does that make sense?

TIA, not least if you managed to get to the end of this waffly post.

I'd give him some and see what he does with it. He might just want to wipe it all over his clean clothes... or he might eat it and be ok, only one way to find out. Good luck!!

There is NO evidence that giving solids after 17 weeks is detrimental in terms of allergy. There is actually now SOME evidence that actually waiting to give some allergenic foods such as wheat and dairy until 6 months MAY acutally INCREASE the incident of allergies. The jury is out, there is evidence is being gathered some of it contractidary.

There is no right answer. I have seen a number of doctors about allergies in me and my children.

When people start badgering on about the WHO guidelines, they only have credence IMO if they BF their babies until they are 2 years old as WHO advises. - why follow one WHO guideline and not all of them. All doctors agree once you give formula, not giving solids to protect them from allergies is out the window.

I'm not saying that 6 month olds NEED food, they can do just as well on milk but who knows at the moment if it is better they wait or not.

Do consider that all animals, instinctively have the urge and need to eat to survive.

Baby birds sit with their beaks open in the nest so that their mother will give them food.

Wolf cubs will lick at the corners of their parents mouths so that they will regurgitate their kill and so allow their young to feed.

Your baby may, just may, be telling you that he IS ready for something more substantial.

I weaned DD at 17 weeks on advice of HV. It was the right thing for us. Speak to your health professional and see what they think, someone qualified who can see your son and help you decide if the signs that he is ready to eat, outweigh the signs that he is not.
Best of luck!

My DD has just turned 20 weeks and I'm not looking to wean her until she is 26 weeks as other than shaking with excitement whenever I put anything in my mouth she's not shown any other signs yet.

However, I do find it quite distressing when I read threads like these where OPs are literally looking for advice from others who MAY have been in a similar situation and then receive very unhelpful and sarcastic comments.

My HV told me that she always advises that parents wait until 6 months to wean, "as per the guidelines", but she is not against weaning after 17 weeks if the baby is ready. Her view is that she will provide parents with all the literature and advice that they need about weaning but allow the parents to make their own decisions.

Iwantitnow, I also heard that information last week. I believe it also said that waiting until 6 months can actually cause problems with Speech Development (although not so sure about that one...) and that it is recommended that it's certainly not left until AFTER 6 months to start weaning.

There are 5 of us in our family and we were all weaned between 9-12 weeks old, as there were no guidelines back then. Some of us were BF, some were FF. NONE of us have any allergies at all!!

So basically OP, other than all that waffle, try speaking to your HV first to get some advice and then follow your mothering instincts. The trouble is that these days we have so much literature and information thrown at us (most of it contradictory) that we sometimes fail to see what are natural instincts are telling us. If you'd never read a book about it or come onto Mumsnet, what would your instincts be telling you?

xxx