Hints and tips for weaning (merged)

Karnam

nearly 5 months, i'll have to try later today with her apple.

am still waiting for pears to ripen, covered in newspaper but still taking quite a while!

jellyhead

we've had a giggle today watching baby try to eat peas, his pincer grip isn't perfect yet bless him

he hates lumpy purees, won't even entertain the commerical lumpy baby jars but he likes to take food off our plates. he eats banana, slices of orange, he dives into daddy's raw tomatoes and he takes cooked veg off our plates. today he ate my baby carrots, he took them whole, chewed and swallowed (he's got 3 teeth) but he won't eat lumpy purees. maybe the lumps are unexpected, he gags or chokes or spits them out, he somehow eats the puree and spits the lumps out.

i add peas, broccoli etc. to his meals, usually to carrot, sweet potato or squash. tomato is a really good mixer too, he loves that. i'm lazy, i buy a bottle of passata (a salt free variety) from the supermarket - it's just crushed toms with nothing added.

Juicy_Tube

Hi everyone,

I am sure you can help me here!

I am going to be weaning in the next month or so and wonder if you have tips and advice for us? I have a couple of queries..

Did you use baby rice or not? My HV says you don't have to and can start with purees?

What time is best for first tastes? Lunch or can you do it at the first feed of the day?

Do you always start with baby rice when introducing a new meal time?

I am out a lot during the day, so is it best to come home or can I do it on the go?

Someone told me that a lot of places will not warm your own baby food, only the jars? Have you had experience of this? Hoping not to use jars!

Someone else said they were introducing flavoured waters, even though baby took water ok. I found this surprising. Any thoughts?

Any tips will be appreciated,

TIA

JT x

tankgirl1

hi :wave:

DS is 9.5 mths old. i started weaning at about 4 mths, and i just used baby rice to start with - a teeny tiny amount before his lunchtime bottle.

gradually increased this until the rice became the main part of his midday feed, and the bottle was just a drink afterwards.

then began introducing different flavours etc- as DS was very sicky, i stuck to the bland stuff for a loooong time, and its only now that we're getting a bit more adventerous.

if baba will take water thats fab! DS wouldnt, and so i put the tiniest amount of (already diluted) organic oj in, which seems to be just enough to get him to drink! i would prefer it if he would take plain water though.

oh- and never had any probs with folks refuseing to warm up my own food- when i go out i use those avent via pots (here) and no probs....

Juicy_Tube

Forgot to say that my son is 5 months old. He has been sleeping through the night for the last 4 weeks, so no intention to begin til I really have to?

Wanted to also ask the best way of keeping food if you are out and about during the day? what do you do if you are preparing your own foods?

Thanks.

JT x

chatta

Did you use baby rice or not? My HV says you don't have to and can start with purees? I used baby rice with first but second got mashed potato from my plate, no salt.

What time is best for first tastes? When they are in good mood, doesnt have to be the meal time.Lunch or can you do it at the first feed of the day? Found mine were too hungry for messing around with new tastes then.

Do you always start with baby rice when introducing a new meal time? It is a good diluter for other foods like fruits. But I tried mine with alsorts of different things, they dont know what time of day it is.

I am out a lot during the day, so is it best to come home or can I do it on the go? I would start at home, they make a lot of mess with new foods.

Someone told me that a lot of places will not warm your own baby food, only the jars? Have you had experience of this? Hoping not to use jars! I thinks its to do with government food hygiene rules, not there fault.

Someone else said they were introducing flavoured waters, even though baby took water ok. I found this surprising. Any thoughts? Stick with water. Good luck!! Oh and have a bath ready after, mine really got into a mess at first. I also found it best to give them half their milk first, (breastfed) so they were half filled up and not grumpy. Then top up with milk after.

chatta

sorry all my answers were meant to be in black.

across

i started with baby rice and the baby spits it out and you just shovel it back in time and time again!!!! just about a teaspoon will do first time i used the top off a baby bottle to mix it in with a bit of the milk from the bottle! then after that when baby gets the hang a little i boiled up apples and pears and blended them with hand mixer then carrots,caulifflower,blended banana, and any other tastes you fancy trying the mixing fruit with the baby rice to thicken it was good, then evenyually got onto cauliflower/broccalli cheese, cottage pie,sunday tea (and everything we eat!!!) etc all blended then made it lumpier as baby got older it became mashed banana etc rather than pureed with blender and finger foods like soldiers,breadsticks,etc(after quite a while!!) dont rush go with the baby and have fun for my first i was a little hesitant cos id not done it before (and she had no teeth until 2 yrs old!) but the second i was moving up stages quicker i think because i was more confident (and she had teeth!!) so go with the baby and have fun it is exciting! the bottle milk will eventually become cows milk (at about 1yr old! but i did them from 9 mth old) eg in weetabix /readybrek etc
hope ive helped a little, i borrowed a baby toddler cook book you can get loads at the library for ideas and they tell you what ages recipes are for!
ps: i used to freeze loads of little portions of puree etc in tiny tupperwares and then defrost and reheat in microwave but make sure it is same temp throughout give it a good stir!

inkie

I started with the lunchtime feed with both my 2 - gave breastfeed first stopped half way through and then topped up with breast at the end. Within a couple of weeks they were on 3 meals per day - I went at their speed - and only ever had cooled boiled water to drink, never juice.
The only time that I used packet stuff was at the breakfast , and then that was only until I got them on weetabix. My DDs both loved weaning and staill have healthy apetites today. I would advise to start as you mean to go on - which for us was pureed version of our meals.

chatta

I agree with all across says, less is more to start with. The rice was not much use really, try it its not very nice. Mash went well with any new vegetable, and it was good for me because I stopped putting salt into food at cooking stage. I made up medium amounts and used icecube tray to freeze some. Pop out few cubes on day when you dont want to mess about with one carrot!