What signs to show your baby/ies are ready for weaning?

tifftifco2 · 18-01-2010, 18:59

My twins are 4 months old now and its a long time since i weaned my daughter who is nearly 6! They say to wait till 6 months old now but im not sure if my babies are ready now. What tells you that they are ready? They have started snacking on bottles and been more unsettled. whats other peoples experiances?

Saff · 18-01-2010, 19:09

One sign is if they watch you when you are eating and seem interested in it. Another thing is if they can hold themselves up quite steadily (don't need to sit alone, but not flopping forward in a bumbo). They say breast is best til 6 months but after 4 months it can be Ok to start try them on solids. May be a good idea to talk to your health visitor next time you see them.
Personally my daughter wasn't ready til she was a lot older she just loved breast milk, but my sister's baby has just started trying stuff at 4.5 months and she's loving it and sleeping really well too.

crazy_chick · 18-01-2010, 19:29

I would say if they are not settling after u have fed them a bottle, then maybe it is time to move on to solids, just start them with a bit of baby rice in the morning and see how they take it, have some gripe water in just incase.

jenz245 · 18-01-2010, 20:40

I felt my daughter was ready at 4 months however looking back I think that I could have waited.
Its so hard knowing when the right time is. She was showing a little interest in our food and could sit well supported etc.
I started her on baby rice and now at 7 months she is eating a well balanced and varied diet and some meals a baby led others are pureed home made stuff with a few jars chucked in as well.
At around 4 months they go through a growing spurt and drain there bottles start wakeking in the night etc and generally seem like there hungry so it could be the growing spurt and not actually mean they are ready.
I don't think for one minute that weaning my daughter has caused her any problems and I believe that as long as you stick to no wheat, pasta etc until they are old enough you can't go far wrong.
Just bear in mind your HV may not like it either.
Good luck and have fun x

tifftifco2 · 18-01-2010, 21:17

forgot to say babies were 5 weeks early too x

jenz245 · 18-01-2010, 21:26

Quote:

Originally Posted by tifftifco2

forgot to say babies were 5 weeks early too x

def speak with hv or get some accurate info as i know this does change things etc.
HV IMO are against weaning before 6 mths so they may just fob you off.

tifftifco2 · 19-01-2010, 21:36

hi everyone thanks for your advice. The babies are showing some of the signs people have mentioned but been to see HV today and she said no way! im upping the teats (again) to the next level and going to go bk in 2 weeks as she is very concerend about there low weight, dont no what else i can do if they wont drink they wont drink i keep trying different bottles and teats but they gaining weight too slowy. we will see what happens....

Zebra · 19-01-2010, 23:30

Don't worry too much about their weights just now, keep an eye of course but don't allow someone to alarm you. My twins were 3 weeks early, so technically term, but they were scrawny little things. We began weaning very slowly at 4 months and 3 weeks IIRC and they loved it, just a spoon or two of baby rice here and there.
So, although I agree entirely that you should wait a bit longer to take into account your twins being early, don't fret too much about the weight just yet, so long as they are having plenty of milk and not losing any weight at all.
Also check in the red books that the weight gain hasn't hit a major stumble.

My girls are now four, both average weights but very high height percentile and the slimmest waists possible. If I can locate the red books I'll post their weights for similar ages in a mo.

Zebra · 19-01-2010, 23:49

OK, I'll post weights for one twin but keep in mind that in the later stages there were around 2lbs between them so there is a variable. In the earlier stages it was more like 2 ounces.
This is the heavier twin btw.
Birth 2.58k/5lbs 9oz
6 days 2.33 k
6wks 4kg/ 8lb 13oz
9 wks 4.46 k/9lb 13 oz
14 wks 5.10 k/ 11lbs 4 oz
16 wks 5.36 k/ 11lb 13 oz
18 wks 5.6k/12lb 7 oz
20 wks 6.02k/ 13lb 4oz

So, for me that illustrated that from 14 to 20 weeks was this huge jump and as someone else has mentioned, babies do go through stages of huge growth spurts here and there, yours won't connect much with others because of their prematurity.

Tiggeriffic · 26-01-2010, 19:01

We've taken the Baby-Led Weaning approach with our son and feel that it's one of the best parenting decisions we've made so far, I realise it's not for everyone though (Tiglet's 14 months old now)

We waited until he was 6 months old to start on solids (as per the official advice) and watched for signs - sitting unaided, putting toys in his mouth, staring at me eating, grabbing for my food etc. Then one day he just grabbed my hummus on toast and into his mouth it went!!

Right from the start he's been eating all his meals with us and has exactly what we do, (cut in Tiglet sized pieces at the beginning to help him to pick it up!) Some of his favourites are chilli & rice, spagetti bolognaise, curry, steak, fish, black pudding, olives, ANYTHING really!!!! We've not looked back since!!

I found these sites helpful,

http://www.baby-led.com/

http://babyledweaning.com/forum/

Good luck!

Yummylicious · 28-01-2010, 19:05

I would speak to your health visitor but my little girl started on baby rice around 4.5 months, she didnt seem to be full up after her milk and was very interested when we were eating, I think all babies are slightly different and you just need to go with your mummy instinct what is best.

Good luck for this fun and interesting stage.... x