When to wean...???

[Suzie and Faith]

The health visitor came round last Tuesday for our 'weaning visit' (that's what she called it). She basically told me to look on the net or read a book about what to do! She also said it was up to me when I weaned Faith! I was kinda hoping she'd have said do it in x amount of weeks or something.

Faith is 4 months old today - I was told weaning is fine from 17 weeks. My mum says why not start now (she said 'it never did you lot any harm' referring to her 5 kids! But then my MIL keeps telling me '6 months'.

And me? I haven't got the foggiest!

Faith empties her bottles and she tends to take 180ml (6oz) every 3 or so daytime hours.
She weighs in at 13lb 3oz (birth weight was 7lb 14oz).

And she constantly watches us eat -she stares and puts whatever is nearest to her in her mouth - but that could just be a baby thing....

HELP!

 

[1sttimemum]

i personally am waitin until caitlyn is 6 months. my nephew got weaned at 4 months, did him no harm but caitlyn isnt interested on food. i gave her a stick of cool boiled carrot and she did nothing, put a bit in her mouth & she spat it out

ultimately, its your & matts decision

 

[LisaJ1986]

I weaned at 18 weeks. Purely because she was eating constantly, was watching us eat and had her mouth open mimicking us. I gave her little testers of like mashed food. Only a spoonful here and there. One night i just went for it. Besides the odd bad day she loves it! She has eaten everything i've given her so far. I knew she was ready. In the first 2 weeks she slept all night too. Never since but i helped! Lol
You decide what is best. Me and OH discussed it before hand and both thought we'd try. If it didn't work we'd stop for a while.
I make my own food, and won't puree 100%, it is a little lumpy and she prefers it to smooth food.

 

[Sherlock]

I'll drop you a PM hun

 

[purple13]

there are lots of reasons why you should wait until 6 months to wean but my advice is that if faith is happy and gaining weight on just milk then IMHO you should hold out for as long as possible.



xx

 

[Teej]

Hi Suzie,
I can't advise but can say we've just started with Sam who is almost the same age as Fi.
Yesterday he had his first taste of baby rice and wasn't sure about it, today he hoovered up the whole lot and was looking for more!
It was lots of fun
Sam's also been taking 6oz every 3 hours during the day and waking ALOT more often at night, being interested in eating etc. He's around 14lb8oz at the mo (same birth weight as Fi). I plan to just stick to baby rice for at least a week to see how it goes.

 

[Geordie&Bairn]

hoping to get to 6 months so far Colliers gaining weight , Then bring in weaning though if collier shows signs of needing it earlier then of course i'll introduce food

T

 

[kelsey]

there are lots of reasons why you should wait until 6 months to wean but my advice is that if faith is happy and gaining weight on just milk then IMHO you should hold out for as long as possible.



xx

i agree with this hun - i've done the 4 month weaning with my elsest as that was what u did then through to blw and imo blw is the best by far. xxx

 

[lauramumof2]

you could always try her with something and see what she does. Jess showed signs of being ready but wasnt because she didnt know what to do once the spoon was in her mouth with the food. So I stopped and tried again a wee while after and it was fine.

I cant remember with Joe but it wasnt as late as 6 months. Poor Joe, a milestone missed. Maybe if he had stopped crying at that age I might have had time to write things down.

 

[Llys]

If you're in the Hipp Organic Baby Club, you'll get an excellent chart to help with weaning at about 5 months.

It's really really good and what I'm planning to follow.


i.e. day one, tip of a spoonful of rice after one meal, same for day 2
day 3, a couple of spoonfuls,
by day 7 2 - 5 spoonfuls after one meal.

Then at week two, go for giving some spoonfuls after a couple of meals
and by week four, it's breakfast lunch and tea!

We've already got Lewis on that milk pattern, so it shouldn't be toooo hard to keep him to those mealtimes when he weans now

 

[keli]

Coopers the same age as Faith and i really don't think he's ready yet. Yes he stares at me when i eat but he stares at me all the time! lol. Last time i had him weighted he was 14lb birth weight 8lb1 and that was at least 3 wks ago. Everything goes in his mouth! He can nearly sit up got great head control and he wakes up at least 2/3 times a night if not more for feeds. So he is showing all the signs BUT he is happy and content between feeds. So i'm going to wait and hopefully make the 6mths and go down the BLW route. Its upto you really if she seems happy on just milk i'd wait xx

 

[Babylicious]

I weaned harrison at 17 weeks but then he weighed 17.4 ounces (birth weight was 7.4 3 weeks early) he was hungry all the time and took to it well.

All babies are different though

 

[Charlie:-)]

Weaning ideally should be done at 6 months because babies digestive system is mature enough to cope with different types of food, however if Faith is showing signs that she is ready then you could try her with a few different things and see how she reacts.

Personally I'd like to try and avoid messing about with puree's and go straight onto lumps so Im going to give BLW a go after reading Beanie's BLW Blog so I'll be holding out till Maia is 6 months old. She doesnt show any signs of wanting anything other than milk. I generally sit and have my breakfast infront of her and sometime lunch and she does look and watch me eating sometimes but thats about it. She is gaining weight and so long as this contines Im happy to carry on giving her breast.

Just found this article which you might find useful

http://www.babycentre.co.uk/baby/startingsolids/introducing/

 

[maldives]

I'll wean at 6 months , He's gained lots of weight from milk it self. and he only takes 2-4 OZ at a time. but quiet frequently so I don't think weaning is a good idea now..

 

[daftscotslass]

It's really up to you but have you tried more milk? We started weaning Becky at about 4 1/2 months but she was draining bottles (8oz) and started to wake up twice or more a night after having slept through for 6 weeks. We rode it out for a while but she was starving constantly. We had a month or so on one meal, then added another and she's just started on breakfast in the last couple of days. We're a week until 6 months and will be moving towards a BLW type approach as she has loved what finger foods she has been allowed in the last week or so.

Totally up to you, you know your baby best and if you try and it doesn't work out the first time you can always try again when she's older.