How will you know when to start weaning?

[Shadowy Lady]

The signs you are looking for to show they are ready for weaning is sitting up well, able to pick up food and bring it to their mouth.

^^WSS.... I think 4 months is the old guideline. In Canada the guideline says 6 months for weaning. We did it at 5.5 months as she was reday and her pediatrician told us to go ahead with it. We did baby cereals/puree veggies for maybe a week max then moved to finger foods.

 

[catty]

I weaned my son from 4.5 months because he seemed ready to me. I wouldnt have done it any earlier than this however and when I began he was only having a small serving of porridge once a day.
My main reason was that he was taking almost the double recommened milk amount and he had jumped many centiles. ( I know alot of people on this forum dont agree this is any reason to wean early) but for me im vety happy with my choice. He is now 6months and on 2-3 meals per day. He has gone from wanting 8oz bottles every 2 hours to every 3.5-4 hours which seems to be a much more 'normal' amount of milk.
I think however before 4 months is too early.

 

[greenpear]

I'd wait till 6 months to wean. As for feeling hungry - feed baby more often, especially since there are lots of growth spurts. Mine fed every 2 hrs till she was almost 9 months!

 

[Pielette]

The baby food that these companies make say 4-6 months because they are capitalising on the earliest a baby can be weaned. However, the closer to 6 months the better, unless there is a medical reason where the benefits outweigh the cons, such as severe reflux etc.

I started with DS1 at 6 months but he wasn't properly interested until around 7 months.

DS2 started himself when he began stealing food off my plate and gnawing on it at 6 months.

 

[mlyn26]

6 months is ideal. Have a look at risks of early weaning (chest infections, digestive problems as adults, allergies etc). I weaned my son early at 5 months and will definitely wait til 6 months this time after researching.

 

[lozzy21]

Food can say from 4 months because when that was the recommendation the government introduced legislation that 4m was the earliest it could be advertised at. When the guidelines changed to 6 months the legislation did not so company's can still advertise it from 4 months.

Take Rusks for example, they state they can be given from 4 months even though they contain gluten which should be avoided untill 12 months.

 

[Cccbb61013]

I've just started researching this & from what I've read so far, it looks like the (I'm in the US) American academy of pediatrics is recommending waiting closer to 6 months. The only reason they really give is concern for obesity. Another source states the AAP recommends it until 6 months because some mom will start breast feeding less when they start the baby on solids & the baby should still be breast feeding as much. In yet another article I read on webmd, they stated you should not go past 6 months because the baby may then refuse solids. Most of what I'm coming across says 4-6 months. I started my first son at 4 months & unless I come across something other than the reasons stated above (which I very well could), I plan on starting this baby at 4 months as well, as long as he's ready. Which he seems to be.

 

[zorak]

Ideally wait until 6 months.

That being said I was advised to start weaning at 17 weeks by my peadiatrician. LO is on the 97th percentile for height and weight but he will often only take 25oz of formula in a day. Doc wanted me to start weaning to get some more calories in him as long as he still took his milk. We discovered he actually takes more milk if he gets a little food too. So for us weaning has been really a tool to encourage him to drink more milk. It is odd but it works. He used to just push the bottle away and often would only take 1 oz at a time.

So far he has only had baby rice; pureed apples, banana, avocado (hates it!), peas, broccoli and carrots. We are making it more of an exploration thing at the moment until he is bigger.

 

[Shortstuff88]

Well I will definitely speak to my HV again and see what she says.