By the time your baby is 6 months old, breastfeeding (or infant formulas) is no longer sufficient to fully support growth and development, and complementary foods should be introduced. The exact timing will depend on the individual infant and family.
Weaning before 17 weeks is not recommended. If you start complementary feeding too early, you can increase the risk of your baby becoming ill—the reflex that supports moving of solid foods around the mouth and swallowing them usually develops between ages of 4 and 7 months.
Similarly, if you start too late, your baby may not be getting all the nutritional support they need, which increases the risk of your baby developing deficiencies in key vitamins and minerals and delayed growth.