Hints and tips for weaning (merged)

mustafa_say_ving

Gosh ....This takes me back .I found Annabel Karmel's Feeding your Baby and Toddler a great help. If I remember rightly I started mine at 6 months with baby rice ,then progressed to simple organic fruit and veg purees ( it's cheeper than you think, especially if you cook in bulk).

Popular ones with my two were

Carrot & Apple
Carrot & pear
Roasted butternut squash.
sweet potato
papaya
parsnip.
trio of root veg
banana
brocoli and potato

lots of others too! I just used to mix and match them for different flavous ....my kid's aren't fussy eaters now as they were introduced to a variety of flavours as babies

I used to mix them with the baby rice at first, as kind of an introduction.
I always cooked my puree's in bulk and froze them in ice cube trays .

I can highly recommend Annabel Karmel's book .

ooh they also loved organic banana baby porridge too .

As they got older I used to make allsorts of different meals for them like baby bolognaise ,casserole etc.


Edit....I started with a few spoonfuls of baby rice at night time .......in the hope of getting them to sleep through the night

bumpybecky

current advice is to wait until 6 months before giving food other than milk and after that you don't have to feed mush we tried baby led weaning with our third daughter (2yo next week) and started by giving her suitable finger foods rather than commerical baby foods, rice, purees etc. At 6 months she started on banana, lightly steamed veggies such as carrot, brocolli etc all in pieces rather than puree

moozikgal

You know your baby and should be able to guage when they are ready. Instinct normally takes over and small tastes of food can be given when you think that your baby is taking an interest in food.
I started with fruit puree mixed with baby rice and only one or two spoons at a time. hes now 7 months and eats a jar a day and 2 baby yougarts as well as breakfast!
There are needs to start weaning babies earlier, work commitments etc if you are not bottle feeding. Dont feel rushed to do it tho because other people are. choose a time when everyone is relaxed and the best advice i was given was to remove all emotions from the feeding routien as you can get quite upset if you spend ages pureeing veg and then the baby spits it out. dont fuss, just try again the following day. it can take a few attempts to get a baby to like a new taste.
have fun and enjoy it!!

Bestthingsinlifearefree

Thanks from me to, for all the tips.

I know it is not my thread but the suggestions and advice is useful for me as our little one is 3 months old and Mrs Best is still breast feeding him and me (Mr Best) does not have a clue about these things:rolleyes: , so all your shared experiences is much appreciated.:beer:

Best,

fsdss

BernadetteN wrote:

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.

yes the guidelines are 6months - however as previously stated no less than 17 week (which has been increased from 16 weeks within the last year)
the NHS tell us to "Advise parents to try and aim for 6months, but ultimately not before 17 weeks" - this is guidance and is targeted for breastfeeding mothers

you are right about early weaning and contraindications of baby having ezcema being an example however sometimes you cannot tell parents what to do and ultimatley, why we (within our health clinics) have been directed to state not before 17 weeks.

MrFlibble

The waiting till 6 months thing is something we were looking to gear towards to be honest - we were advised that, the longer you wait, the lesser the chances of things such as ezcema, hayfever or asthma (all of which I suffer from!)

It'll be a laugh if nothing else, and I'm looking forward to making the foods myself

Aoife's_mum

Hello

don't want to get involved in the 4-6 months row - mine were weaned somewhere in between!

Just wanted to suggest the Gina Ford weaning book - I found it great as it is assumes no knowledge at all - which I hadn't - and really spells out how to make purees, how much to give, when, etc. And both mine loved all the recipes.

hth

fsdss

i'm not rowing - i think that were both stating information which can be interpreted in a different way - all i can offer is what i'm currently directed to promote at work, and it was only trying to help.

however it would be not unusual for health advice to differ from one area to another as i have heard before (and different departments to offer conflicting advice).

Rachie_B

Moonbeam wrote:

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 Yogurts - 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.

TBH i wouldnt recommend this,i would always start with baby rice then add homecooked veggies

if you want to offer sweet foods ,could add a little fruit puree to the rice or as a finger frood from 6 months

you dont want to un necessarily encourage a sweet tooth

Rachie_B

bumpybecky wrote:

current advice is to wait until 6 months before giving food other than milk and after that you don't have to feed mush we tried baby led weaning with our third daughter (2yo next week) and started by giving her suitable finger foods rather than commerical baby foods, rice, purees etc. At 6 months she started on banana, lightly steamed veggies such as carrot, brocolli etc all in pieces rather than puree

Do you not think its also important to spoon feed?

home cooked vegetable puree eg if you didnt want to go down the "packets and jars " route

am interested in this and your theories