Hints and tips for weaning (merged)

MrFlibble

Cheers Rachie B

We do want to hold out if we can, He's not going 'without' and whenever he is hungry, he's happy with his bottle - so maybe a bit longer to wait wouldn't be too bad!

Zoetoes

The recommendations seem to change all the time, I think it used to be 3 months now it's 4 months, best thing to do is just see when you feel your baby is ready.

Mine were both 8 weeks but they were greedy little bug gers! They had the milk for hungrier babies aswell.

Now though my 5 year old doesn't hardly eat anything and is looking a bit skinny.

HariboJunkie

When he starts showing an interest when you are eating you could try him on something liked chewed banana. I chewed a little them gave it to my twins and they devoured it. I would stay away from baby rice as it is so bland and I think it's best to get them used to a variety of tastes as soon as possible.

Justie

my Israeli friend swears by avocado for weening - not something that often appears on the lists here but it seems to be a staple there.

Lillibet_2

Baby rice is the best thing to start with then progress to something else bland like mashed milky weetabix (make with their baby milk at this stage). I started wening my now 18 month old at 4 1/2 months as he always seemed hungary, he was fine for a month then lost all interest in solids then started again at 6 1/2 months. Don't be suprised if your little one is the same, apparently this is usual with early weaners. Also, IME & against all health visitor advice, don't push weaning to fast, I think HV's like you to have them on 3 meals a day inside 2 weeks or something stupid & eating lumps by the end of a month or soemthign equally unrealistic. I found this approach hindered weaning & was much better off going slowly, follow your instincts.

I also used his bouncy chair as he wasn't ready for a high chair, just put it as upright as it safely allows & cover with muslins!

Annabel Karmel does some fab weaning recipe books which also indicate introducing new foods/groups over a good time span & in which order etc.

Edited to say : Avocado was a early & firm favourite!

HTH;)

fsdss

sow how may ounces is your lo taking in the day? 7oz bottles every 2-3 hours seems to be about 42ish oz - which seems alot to me, and may indicate that he's ready for weaning.
baby rice should be made into a custard like consitency and only given primarily to get them used to swallowing from a spoon, only a couple of spoonfuls are sufficient, after a couple of weeks the best thing to introduce them to is pureed root vegetables mixed with the rice (this introduces them into different tastes). at this point and when the baby starts taking more he will drop a bottle.

go with your instincts - what ever time of day suits you to do this is best. weaning is an enjoyable experience (although can be worrying) and treasure every moment.

the NHS guidelines are 17 weeks min and 6 months max, the longer you leave it the better your childs developed stomach is able to cope with food. the latter age a baby weans means quicker process (i.e could be weaned within a month or so whereas at a younger age would probably take a couple of months).

MrFlibble

Wow - loads of replies! Thanks everyone

I'll pass all the tips onto Mrs Flib when I get home tonight

We had a few recipe books given by the health visitor and local GP to us, with some great little recipes in there that I'm going to try out

The times are changin' for our little lad, on Sunday he's moving out of his little crib,and into his cotbed in his own room Sounds daft, but I like him being next to us! It's great to wake up and hear him breathing next to you, but he's outgrowing his crib, so we have to make the move!

Thanks again everyone

Moonbeam

Vast majority of parents I've spoken to have had trouble getting their little ones to eat baby rice. Not surprising - i tried it when weaning my son and it tasted rotton!!!

I started weaning him with Petit Filous Yoghurts - the pots are a nice size so it doesn't feel wasteful and it tasted much better...., ,mainly tried it to get him used to the feel of a spoon in his mouth and get him to used to being fed, from that moved onto jars and homemade purees....

Agree with others though - you can wait until they are ready, if they are happy with milk leave them on it for a while and build solids in slowly.

Nicki

Be careful with using adult foods and cereals such as Weetabix and Ready Brek as the salt guidelines for babies are very low (much lower than adults can tolerate). A small amount in moderation is fine, but I recall when I was weaning my two about 6 years ago a story in the paper about a child who had died from sodium overdoes because his parents had fed him only on ready brek, thinking this was interchangeable with baby rice. Interestingly this was a fairly clued up family who had read the labels carefully but missed the sodium point, and were using ready brek because they had no money and it was much cheaper than baby rice.

Pureed home cooked fruit and veg (including pulses), and later a small amount of pureed meat added in, with no salt but some herbs for flavouring if you like kept my kids happy for ages. Occasional treats like petit filous are good too, and handy when out and about but have loads of sugar, so you'd be better off ensuring he develops a taste for savoury stuff first before you tell him about all the lovely other stuff that's out there!

BernadetteN

fsdss wrote:

the NHS guidelines are 17 weeks min and 6 months max, the longer you leave it the better your childs developed stomach is able to cope with food. the latter age a baby weans means quicker process (i.e could be weaned within a month or so whereas at a younger age would probably take a couple of months).

Please check the CURRENT NHS guidelines which are in accordance with WHO guidance. The recommended start time is not earlier than SIX MONTHS not FOUR MONTHS and if you take this advice, you will find less of a need for pureed food. I saw 3 month old baby being fed packet cereal with formula milk last week and he had the worst case of ezcema I had ever seen, so be aware that the six months advice is there because there is plenty of evidence linking increased likelihood of allergies etc with early weaning.

http://www.eatwell.gov.uk/agesandstages/baby/weaning/#cat227288

Be aware that many parents wrongly think things like PETIT FILOUS are ideal weaning foods - just read the label for the amount of sugar.

I think everything else is covered in the other posts.