In hindsight, Riley was ready at 5 months but I held off to make sure the 3 signs were all well and truly there. He had bits of fruit at 5.5 months and we started weaning the day he turned 6 months.
Probably a controversial opinion but I don't see the point in baby rice. It has no real nutritional value, although I can understand from a texture POV.
I never used purée and very rarely used jars. I went straight onto mashed - I batch cooked, smushed everything together and froze. I defrosted and warmed up with milk and spoon fed. That was lunch and dinner. Breakfast has always been Weetabix or porridge, with a recent introduction of toast. He always fed himself his snacks, so it's a mixture of spoon and BLW. I've always followed his cues wih how much to give and I firmly believe waiting until 6 months meant that he was clearly able to indicate when he was full. He wouldn't have been able to do this at 4 months.
I agree that comments such as "it never did me any harm" are quite dangerous as research, nutrition and healthcare have all changed in the last 20, 30 or 40 years. Doing your own research and making an informed decision is a much safer option as you are armed with real facts rather than anecdotal experience.
Unless there is a real health reason like reflux, I genuinely do not understand the need to wean pre-6 months. Babies technically don't need food until 12 months, give or take, as someone else mentioned food is complimentary so it doesn't make sense to me to give them something they don't need. Just up their milk. I recognise this is easy for me to say and every mother knows their child best but, like Starlight, I don't really understand it.
