Too early to wean??

[Anonymous]

Hi Ladies,
Hailey is now 18 weeks old & is very interested in what everyone else is eating around her.the thing is I’m confused by conflicting information from various books,nurses & doctors as to when is the right time to wean.

A lot of them say to wait till 6 months if either of the parents have allergys.i have hayfever & IBS…. it says you can cause an allergy in your child if you introduce food too early,so for the sake of another 6 weeks of waiting so she doesnt end up with a lifetime allergy?…. im not sure what to do as she looks like she cant wait to have a spoon in her mouth & everyone is saying to me to start feeding her….

Any advice from mums that have been through this stage would be appreciated thanks

[Jedt]

each baby is different and I think you can get a good idea by listening to your child about what they want. is she picking up toys etc and putting them in her mouth?

She maybe ready for some soft foods, like steamed & mashed sweet potatoes, apples, pears, that kind of thing or a little bit of baby oatmeal.

We started our baby on some solids at almost 5 months. She was waking up 4, 5, 6 times a night for feeds and seemed to be really hungry. the first time we gave her solids she demolished it! it usually takes a few goes before they get the hang of it but she took it straight away.

Like you, I had people advising us not to give her solids but we took our cue from our baby and it seemed to be the right thing for her.

I am not a fan of baby rice so we started our little one with milled oatmeal & steamed, mashed apples and that did not upset her at all. Her nappies were wet & dirty as normal. although her poo did look a bit different and more solid after a day or two.

She loves her food now, she is almost 8 months and we are giving her a mix of fruits & vegetables and she is still getting breastmilk too and she is much more content.

I notice on the days where she does not eat her solid food, she will wake up for me during the night 2-3 times but if she eats well, she will only wake once or sometime sleep through.

I am sitting here trying to get some more broccoli & cauliflower into her now so she will sleep well tonight!!

[lyn11]

I started Lorcán at 17 weeks. Had planned on holding out to 26 weeks but he started to breast feed every 45 mins at night especially and I couldnt cope, I was so sleep deprived and knew he needed more. I began to give him pureed steamed fruit and veg letting him taste lots of things. Now 3 weeks on he has baby porridge in the mornings and veg/fruit in the afternoon and is sleeping much better. He looks at everything we put in our mouths and reaches out for food and has been since before I introduced solids.

Dont be pressured by other people, you know your child best and what suits her.

[CaliGal]

When the gag reflex of the baby spitting the food out stops and being able to swallow signifies when your baby is ready for food. If baby is sticking tongue out and spitting every mouthful out baba is not physiologically ready for food.

There’s comes a point when baby grabs your spoon to eat and you can not avoid feeding them anylonger. That’s when they are good and ready for food 😆

The human gut is still immature prior to the six month mark and if fed too early, babies can develop intestinal issues. The longer you can wait near the 6 month mark the better.

[Jedt]

In our case, Summer was 5 months old and she did not spit out the food, she gobbled it up. We waited as long as we could, hoping to make it to the 6 month mark on just breastmilk and the odd bottle but she was so hungry we could not wait any longer.

She dictated when she was ready and we did what we thought she wanted. In her case, she ate what she wanted and as soon as she had enough, she would close her mouth shut tight or stick her tongue out to let us know she did not want anymore.

Its amazing how well they communicate with us – take your cue from Hailey, if she is receptive to the food and can handle it, she will take it from you. If she is not ready, she will most likely push it back out of her mouth.

Let us know how you get on, best of luck!

[Author]

Posts