Ahh, the almighty question…When is the right time to wean? Well, (as recommended by the World Health Organisation and backed up by midwives everywhere) the correct time to wean is at six months. When it’s put like that it seems so simple, but in reality, it aint! Not so long ago the guideline was at four months, so what’s changed? How are babies so different? The way I see it, for the first six months the baby’s mantra will predominantly stand as “Eat, sleep, poop”, so I really don’t understand why the guidelines were changed.

Now I’m going to be honest. I did something god-awful and weaned my baby at around eighteen weeks – shock! Horror! I was even worried about telling my midwife and told a complete porky. As far as she is concerned, my little one was weaned at 23 weeks. I decided to wean early though because I just knew it was the right time for my baby. I am by no means trying to talk down the medical professionals advice, but I don’t think that they truly appreciate how much stress it can cause when a mother thinks her baby needs more than just the milk, but is worried about being ‘told off’ by their midwife. So, please don’t feel guilty or bad about it. You know your baby better than anyone else and a mother’s instinct is worth following, in my opinion.

Here are a few tell tale signs that your baby is ready to be weaned:
• Waking through the night in a baby that is usually a sound sleeper.
• Being able to sit unaided.
• Lots of interest/grabbing at your plate when you’re eating.
• Always seeming unsatisfied with just their milk feeds

Quite recently a new way of weaning has developed – Baby Led Weaning. Basically you don’t use purees and spoons, you wait until your baby is six months and just start offering them finger foods and let them feed themselves. It’s literally letting the baby lead the weaning.

There is such a wide range of baby foods to choose from now too. That’s another point I’d like to raise – if it was ‘dangerous’ to your baby’s health to wean before the six month marker, then how is it legal to sell baby food that has an age range that starts from four months? They wouldn’t be allowed to do it, would they? There’s baby rice (which a lot of mums do use as a first food, but I tried a bit of it and honestly, it is just tasteless gloop), jars have age ranges now and the earliest is suitable from four months, tins, fruit pots and last but by no means least, Rusk’s. Seriously, I love these things just as much as the baby does. Of course, alternatively you can make your own! Just remember not to add any salt and all you have to do it stick whatever you have cooked in a blender and blitz it down to a fine puree. What ever you decide to do, it’s all good.