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Weaning

Late starting?

10 replies

PrettyCandles · 04/05/2007 14:20

How late did you start solids?

Ds1 started at 4.5m (advice was 4m at the time) and with dd we had difficulty holding her off until 5.5m because she was so desperate for solids (advice was 6m by then). Now, with ds2, we're puzzled. He's 6.5m and is basically uninterested in solids. We've tried him, on and off, over the last 3w: he loves sweet potato (is unimpressed by anything else) and can swallow it down easily enough, but never wants more than about 1 tablespoonful of food. If he does eat more than that his bowels go haywire. He certainly doesn't seem to miss it if he doesn't get his solids. He seems no hungrier than before. Other than drinking sparkling water from my glass he's showing none of the classic signs of readiness. So how long should we wait? How long is normal?

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ruddynorah · 04/05/2007 15:07

just put food in front of him and let him pick it up and eat oit if he wants it. no need to worry about it. he's only 6 months old. the only real indicator that he's ready and wants food is when he picks it up and eats it.

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MrsBadger · 04/05/2007 15:09

... and (out trots the old line) milk can be their main source of nutrition till they're one, so you have till nearly Christmas before you need to be actully worried about it.

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Malaleche · 04/05/2007 15:15

maybe your dc have been reading the guidelines?!
I started DD2 on purees/babyrice, and in a let's try BLW confusion, rice cakes and chunks of banana, at 6 months but it was a month before she really swallowed much...nows shes 7 1/2 mo and eating 2x a day, as well as having the same number of bfeeds as before starting weaning. Offer your dc stuff and one day they'll suddenly want it/get the idea/be ready....

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terramum · 04/05/2007 16:13

DS had his first taste of solids at 29 weeks & even then he wasnt really bothered after the initial excitement. He wasnt really eating solids regularly (ie at least once a day) until he was nearer 8 months. Like others have said babies dont need solids for nutrition until they are are at least one so just making food availble to them will be fine. I know people irl & online whose babies have literally eaten no solids until they were over a year old.

I would also say that 1 tblsp of food is actually plenty for a baby of that age. Their stomachs are only about the size of their fists

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lulumama · 04/05/2007 16:30

the la leche book i am ploughing through talks about weaning at 8 / 9 months being ok, there is no window they can miss, if they don;t start bang on 6 months

be guided by him, milk and lots of it is still absolutely fine, if you were giving him solids, would only be a few bites, not like he is missing 3 full meals a day, milk is obviously satisfying him for now

try leaving chunks of food for him to play with and nibble when he is ready

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DontlookatmeImanervouswreck · 04/05/2007 16:44

I was late starting with my ds. He was about 7/8months before he was interested inpurees and well into 10 months before he started havinglumpy food. He just wasn't intested.And despite the HV scaring me by saying if you miss the 6-8mnth windowtointroduce lumpsyou'll have a fussy eat. Obviously ds didn't hear her because he's now eating me out of house and home, lumps and everything

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DontlookatmeImanervouswreck · 04/05/2007 16:46

Oops sorry aboutlacks of spaces, spacebar is dodgy after ds got to it lol

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PrettyCandles · 04/05/2007 19:17

1 tbsp doesn't seem much to me because dd would eat 3 or 4 tbsp at a sitting within a few days of starting solids, and was on 3 full meals and snacks within a month or so. Even ds1, with his much smaller appetite, ate more than 1tbsp at a sitting.

Can you point me to some reputable sources that I can show dh to stop him obsessing about ds2's solids?

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terramum · 04/05/2007 22:59

"My child wont eat" is an excellent book to have....its written by a spanish paed (Carlos Gonzales) & published via LLL so imo is very reputable!

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Highlander · 05/05/2007 19:52

DS2 is now 7mo and I've just started him on solids. He is a total pudding (totally BF, just went through a growth spurt). I saw him chewing a piece of cardboard the other day so I reckoned he was ready to cope with a bit of scoff!! At 6mo he was just not interested.

Weaning will be individual for each baby, although it'd hard to know what to watch out for with your first. Looking back, I should have waited until 7/8mo with DS1 as well.

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