Hints and tips for weaning (merged)

Woby_Tide

Had a quick search but can't find much on this topic. Anyone got any hints and tips/suggestions on weaning and what worked for you etc.

Minefield of information and conflicting advice from all sources due to various guidelines i.e. not before 6 months is official line, but others say that it can be from 4 months in some cases, and then there's other info that says if the babys birth weight has doubled or is over 7kg then it's OK-ish to start aswell.

Our little boy has been a hungry blighter since birth anyway and is on the Aptamil Extra super hungry stuff, we got him to start sleeping through the night for a while but he's given that up after about 3 weeks and getting hungry/irate overnight again(don't always need to feed overnight), however he's only 13 1/2 weeks but over 7kg's(weight 75th percentile height 98th so not as if overweight or overfed according to health visitors), he also chews anything in sight, mostly his hand, dribbles all over the shop, all 'signs' according to various books. We're trying him on baby rice at one of his feeds and seems to go OK but anyone any further tips or how they progressed?

Bossyboots

I found that both my two took to weaning once I abandoned bland rice and cereals and gave them ordinary food pureed. My daughter's favourite was pureed roast dinner (although she is now vegetarian but I am sure the two are not connected) with my savoury gravy speciality.

To start weaning you should introduce solids at one meal time initially. Choose a meal time where you are going to have the time and patience to persevere. Your baby has to learn a new skill to take food from a spoon and it can be a frustrating process.

Becles

My youngest was a very hungry baby and had me sore as he kept looking for more milk! I put him on solids at 3½ months, which is not what they recommend, but he seemed happier on them.

I did rice only for a couple of days to get him used to a spoon, then introduced apple puree. I then introduced other fruits, then sweet veg like swede, carrots and parsnip, the potato, then green veg. Once they were used to various combinations, I brought in meat and pureed pretty much anything we were having.

I took my youngest on an all inclusive holiday at 7 months and took plenty baby food with me. Most of the time he ate what was served, including new tastes like paella. I ended up bringing the baby food back :rolleyes:
Little tip - my eldest loved fruit and kept refusing the veg. Babies have no knowledge of tastes, so I mixed odd combinations like cabbage and apple. It sounds foul, but it worked!

kellytrev

if your giving your baby your own food,purree a bowl full and then freeze in ice cubes trays,you can then start with one cube at a time and see how you go

Woby_Tide

Becles wrote:

Little tip - my eldest loved fruit and kept refusing the veg. Babies have no knowledge of tastes, so I mixed odd combinations like cabbage and apple. It sounds foul, but it worked!

LOL excellent (I'd guessed about having the no taste concept haveing smelt/tasted the milk and the rice so far, at least I know where I can pass my mother in laws turnip in future....;)


thanks for the tips people, we were going to get some ice cube trays as that was recommended in a few places sounds best idea to save faffing over small portions each time

Pollen

With mine, although now many moons ago, when cooking ran two pans - (you could do the half- ones on one ring) and threw in the same as we ate, ie spag bol, onions, tomatoes & veggie mince - we are vegi, however left out any salt or spices in the early days. On days out took instant mash potato mixed with ground nuts which I used to mix with boiled water, probably not advisable today. I also used bananas & avocados as quick and easy food. Would start slowly, one food at a time and note any reaction - ie greens can take some digestion and could cause gripes.

Dormouse

Mashed banana is great, as it's so easy to prepare, and fresh every time. Babies love it cause it's so sweet However, most people seem to agree that you should get them used to veg first so as not to encourage a sweet tooth.

And yeah, speaking of weird combinations, my little boy used to have banana and avocado - yuk! He loved it, though

Spendless

The official line of 6 months must have changed fairly recently cos my youngest isn't 2 till end of month, and then you were told not to wean before 4 months (friend with children older than mine say it used to be 3 months).

My two were never kjeen on baby rice which i tried first, but loved pureed banana (as someone else has mentioned).

I didn't have any problems with son taking a son but daughter didn't like it. My son (aged 3 at the time) suggested i poured some of her milk onto the spoon first before giving her solids - and it worked!

Lillibet_2

Neve been through it myself 'cos I'm ony expecting my first but funnily enough my Mum was talking about weaning at the weeknd & saying, against health visitor advice, she had me on mushy milky rusk & apple puree at 10 weeks, banana & rice at 11 weeks & I was eating almost anything by 6 months! To start with she used to mix a little of the puree with the formula & spoon feed it to me but this didn't last for long. OK, this was 30 years ago, it was against advice then & no doubt is today but I was simply too hungary to sleep through the night on bottles.

bylromarha

Its a minefield!

I started weaning my boy at 4 months as he was going less and less time between feeds...obvious he needed it. My friend started weaning at 12 weeks for the same reason and her health visitor told her off. Spoke to someone yesterday who also began weaning at 12 weeks on the advice of the health visitor as baby was also going less time between feeds. So the best advice on when to start is ignore the government advice and watch your baby. They will show you when milk stops being enough.

If you want advice for how to wean and what to expect I am finding Gina Fords weaning book invaluable (cheap on Amazon too!)Good recipes, ideas what to introduce and when and how much milk you should be giving to make the swap easier from milk to solids. And a hand blender is invaluable. I got a Braun one from Argos 3 months ago for £8.99...may still be on sale?

Make sure you have the camera nearby for that first mouthful of baby rice...it is a great face they pull!!!!

byl

DISCLAIMER: I mentioned Gina Ford on a thread before Christmas and all hell broke loose!!! This is a thread about weaning, not Gina Ford, so please lets not get into that again!!!!!

gk172

Things have changed so much in 6 years, my youngest went onto 2nd stage milk about 6-8 weeks and then onto baby rice about 12 weeks and loved the fromage frais yoghurts which can be got with pure fruit, but recentley a friend with very young baby got the lecture from health visitor DO NOT put a spoon in there mouth till 6 months and DO NOT change to 2nd stage milk either till 6 months:eek: