Is my 5 month old ready for BLW? Advice needed.

[LorraineMM]

Gosh I haven't been online since my daughter was born! Very strange to be back.

I need some help with weaning, I realise the recommended age is 6 months before starting to wean. I started baby rice with our Penny around 4 months as she had a big appetite for her age. Always has done. She did fantastic for a around 2 weeks and then lost interest so I didn't force the process on her and decided to give her a break. She increased her bottles by a whole feed of 7oz. She also started to wake at night again.

I begun weaning again to see how we got on, I started a day or two with baby rice she did great and then onto purées (fruit) which she loves! We are still in the purée zone. I give her one for lunch. I would much prefer her to start BLW for so many reasons as I agree and believe in the whole process, it makes so much sense to me going down that route.

Penny has amazing hand control and can bring another to her mouth. I was out for breakfast and I had a small pot of natural yogurt and gave her the empty pot. She licked any remains out and absolutely loved it!

I gave her a rusk today as I knew they melt very easily just to see how she got on with it. She brought it straight into her mouth and devoured it. She was smiling and enjoying every bit.

If I'm eating anything she will watch me out it into my mouth and watch the whole process. I was eating chocolate from the other side of the room and she was watching me like a hawk. She's does want the food and she enjoys the food she gets.

My problem is that she is only 5 months and 1 week old. I worry it's too early to start actual baby led weaning or to stick with purées until she's 6 months? I just don't know.

I've read they need to be sitting up unsupported. She can sit up on my lap and she can reach forward to her knees or feet and get back up most times. But she cannot sit unsupported she's too wobbily.

It's such a confusing process for me. What do you think?

Also if I start blw do I introduced breakfast lunch and dinner with water in a first sippy cup. Won't all the food affect her feeds?

I have so many questions!
Hope someone can help!

Thanks!

 

[HBGirl]

I was told by an OT that you wait for 2 out of 3 things. Sitting unsupported, showing interest and grabbing at food to help themselves. Helping themselves to food trumps the other 2 and you just go ahead.

We started BLW at 5 months as my DD leaned forward and grabbed a handful of my food and shovelled it down. She has a huge appetite and is very adventurous with food.

 

[MindUtopia]

Can she sit up well in a high chair without slumping forward, to the side or needing to be propped back in a recline? If she can and you really feel she's really, there's probably no harm in offering her some thing to suck on to see how she does, like a cucumber stick or a half plum with the seed removed (something that's big enough she won't just shove the whole thing in her mouth). If she truly can't then no I would wait a few more weeks. Personally, I'm a big believer in there's no need to rush with BLW, but only you know your baby. But they don't eat much when it comes to finger foods at the beginning, so it really is just play. If you are feeling like you need to satisfy her appetite, you should expect to up the milk feeds (which are more important anyway) if you're going to decrease the pureed food as she won't take in much finger food to start. There's also no reason to offer 3 meals a day to begin with. It can be a lot of work (and also some added expense because a lot of food gets wasted in the first few months). You can start with 1 meal a day (this goes for TW too, not just BLW), but just make sure she's getting plenty of milk on demand. They really do increase their milk intake substantially between 4 and 7 months, so I would expect that should happen anyway. But certainly, if you think she's ready, offer finger foods (fruit and veg as she's less than 6 months) for a meal a day and see how she takes to it. You can built up to more in time. We started with lunch every day at 6 months, added breakfast at 7 months and then supper by 7.5 months. That said, my daughter wasn't really eating much until 9 months, which is normal for many BLW babies, so again, I would definitely keep though milk feeds up and don't hesitate to pull back on the solids if you feel she's dropping them too quickly.