Weaning question

[MummaMoo]

At what age did you start your LO?

I have read about waiting until they can sit up - do they mean unaided or as long as they can sit up with help like in a high chair/Bumbo?

Sophie is 4&1/2 months, I'm not looking to seriously start weaning now, but wondering whether it would hurt to let her play with mushed veg and stuff as she's SO interested in what we're eating. She's already had a sneaky sample of banana as she grabbed the skin and started licking the inside of it the other day.

Just wondering if other mums started sooner than the recommended 6 months, or just let their babies play with it before starting weaning properly.

 

[MindUtopia]

It should be sitting up unaided, if you want to follow the recommendations. That's something most babies can do relatively well by about 6 months. It's basically about being able to sit them up without them leaning backwards or slumping forward (both of which present a choking risk and just make it darn hard to eat). My daughter wasn't sitting up perfectly for long periods of time by 6 months, but she could sit up well enough in a high chair that she could eat safely. You sometimes see babies in high chairs at around 4 months that are leaning backwards (like in a baby bouncer) and that's not good. A strong baby who can hold themselves up is a good sign they are ready for weaning. As for whether to wean early, my personal advice would be to wait. There is absolutely no rush and once you start, there's no going back. It's so easy before they're on solids. You can go anywhere at anytime without having to pack food or make your friends meet you for lunch at weird times because it's baby's lunchtime. You have so much more flexibility. Weaning is fun, but it's a lot of work and a lot more complicated than just doing milk feeds. Enjoy the time you have now to not think about it for a couple more months. You wouldn't be able to feed her the things off your plate she's grabbing for now anyway. If you want to do BLW and let her have real food (personally, I think it's the best way, my daughter loved it!), then just wait until she's a little older. There's no rush.

 

[MummaMoo]

Thanks for your comment

I'm not in any hurry really, it's just that she gets so excited when she sees us eating it makes me feel a bit guilty because it's obvious she REALLY wants to have a try.
We'll definitely be going the BLW route as in letting her get very involved with it, let her play with it and eat it if she wants to.... that sort of thing.

It's just like having a little puppy sat watching you expectantly at the dining table!

 

[CaptainMummy]

I have disagree with the sitting up part. ALOT of babies don't sit up unaided at 6 months, but as long as they sit with minimal support and are able to hold themselves upright in a highchair or similar then that's good enough. Both oft girls sat totally unaided at 5 months but we still waited until 6 months to wean.
Personally, I would also wait. I agree with it being so much easier with just milk, you don't need to faff about with food and weaning is messy! (Especially if you do BLW.) that's another reason I would wait, because then you can skip the purées and go straight to BLW where baby eats the same as you, which saves a lot of hassle!

I actually sometimes think 'I wish she was still on just milk' because sometimes I'm just not in the mood for cleaning up a messy floor, highchair and baby! Lol.

Ultimately, it's up to you. As long as you feel comfortable and confident in your choices, and are feeding appropriate foods etc, then it's entirely our choice

 

[liz1985]

Yeah I agree that they dont have to sit unaided. I know lots of babies that cant sit unaided at 6months. I think it more sitting with support without flopping or falling to side and can hold their head steady. We used to sit ds in his highchair with us at table from about 4month and give him toys to play with. At that age they are just interested in everything you do, its not particularly that they want to eat. Its definitely easier the closer you wait to six months.