Weaning help

[claire2711]

HV was round today for Riley's 3 month check, and she said that we should wean him from 5 months. She didn't mention starting weaning according to when he's ready, or by weight etc.

I think he will be ready then, as he's ALWAYS watching us eat

Should we just start at 5 months or go by lil man?

Oh, and we don't see her again till he's 8 months.....so she's nae much help!

What did you guys do?

Claire xxx

 

[LisaJ1986]

I didn't wait til my HV say so, i did it when she was ready, which was 18 weeks.

I tried baby rice, but when my HV found out she said to scrap it and start on veg and fruit. Best thing i ever did. So much cheaper and gets her used to different tastes, whereas rice doesn't really have any flavour, it's to get them used to texture. I think because of this it helps Angel eat everything i put in front of her! I've not seen her turn her nose up yet!

 

[Magic Monkey]

I would follow LOs lead, all babies are different and some need weaning at 4 months, others at 6. We weaned at 5 months, as Ella was desperate for food, taking it off our plates!

 

[rachie29]

We generally have always ignored our h.v team cos they are useless. They tell you one thing one week and something else the next!

We were led by Holly. We knew she was ready for more when she demolished a 6oz bottle of expressed milk and the was back on the boob an hour later! I used the Annabel Karmel book as it had a great diary in it which gives you loads of tips.

 

[purple13]

there are a lot of reasons why you should wait until 6 months to wean. a recent study in the USA suggests that it may not be necessary to wean until around 10 months.

i started connor on solids about a week before 6 months and went down the BLW route (which you can't do any sooner than that). there are some babies who do need weaning before 6 months, but they're an exception rather than a rule.

bear in mind that there are far more calories in milk than in solids, particularly with what you're able to give them before 6 months; babies get almost all their nutritional needs from milk up until the age of about 1 - until that point, food should be more about taste exploration and fun.

IMHO too many people are in a hurry to wean - gawd knows why when you see the mess & the nappies

 

[Sherlock]

What purple13 said. Don't be in any hurry to wean her just because you've been told. Babies don't need weaning before 6 months and as has been said, for the first year food is for experimenting, learning what its all about over nutritional value etc. Milk will carry on providing for LO just fine but baby needs to learn how to chew and so on and the best time for this to happen is around 6 months. Before then its pureed food really.

We weaned around 5 1/2 months and have gone the baby led weaning route rather than purees and feeding our LO off a spoon. He does it all himself and is eating veggie sticks, fruit sticks, had a fried egg, rice cakes, yogurt... had his first taste of raspberries today and loved it.

The good thing about BLW is that baby is at the age of being able to chew (around 6 months) and therefore you skip the puree stage and should have less problems with gagging and swallowing food. Galen will be eating his tea with us tomorrow and having roasted veggies and chicken to try. Followed by more raspberries if he wants them

 

[CoreysMummy]

Food before one is just for fun!

We had to wean early due to DS's terrible reflux, it helped lots, but I would ony do it that early (about 14 weeks it was) under the supervision and on the advice of a pead.

Anyways, by 5 months he was eating loads of stuff, carrot sticks, rice cakes, baby food - now I give him a sarnie for lunch, toast for breakfast or cornflakes etc... he eats what we eat pretty much. So although he was started on purees because of his age I didnt keep it that way, and hes been chewing since 4 months on the food, loves lumpy things - not a tooth in sight either.

Go with your baby, and even if you decide to start on purees theres no reason you cant veer towards BLW route at 6 months.