Hints and tips for weaning (merged)

comping_cat

I tried baby rice the first day, but i thought it was tasteless and the baby didnt seam keen either, the second day i tried the carrot and swede, and he ate all of it!!! He is now a very healthy fit 9 year old, who still loves his carrot and swede!!!!

kiwichick

baby rice is thin and pretty tasteless, its more to get them practised on the whole swallowing food thing.

After a few days I always started mixing my rice with pureed veg.

Do the veg first when introducing new foods as the fruit is sweet and youmay find baby wont eat veg. Remember to get gluten free where possible and not to give strawberries till after one.

Avacado is good, as is carrot, swede, potato and sweet potato, broccoli and cauli (they do really nasty number 2's after these though!) anything really.

peas and sweetcorn tend to be a bit harder for them cause of the skin though

HTH.

liney

Stewed pears were a big hit in my house.

I used baby rice as a base to alot of fruit and veg to get the consistancy i wanted, but it tastes of nothing, so DS wouldn't eat it on it's own.

george_2

kiwichick wrote:

Avacado is good, as is carrot, swede, potato and sweet potato, broccoli and cauli (they do really nasty number 2's after these though!) anything really.


HTH.

So that was what caused it!!

Sweet Potato is really good actually, my daughter wolfs it down. Currently she having well blended versions of my own dinner, she loved her Xmas dinner! And Petit Flous Yoghurts are a big favourite too (I Know that is against spirit of this section but it good to know!)

jcr16

i never gave my son baby rice. it horrible stuff. i started weening him on ready brek with a banana, or a rusk mashed up. i did this for the first 2 weeks while he got used to a different texture but after that he has eaten everything. he is going to be 6 months in couple week's. and he loves potato mixed with cheese , carrot , brocoili, shepards pie , spag bol , sausage casserole. u name it , whatever we eat he eats. he also loves fromage frais. ( i only buy the value ones as can't afford the petit flouis ones) . my son just loves his food.
i would suggest tho not to give your baby too much mixture in one day. as if your baby is allergic to anything it then hard to work out what it is. i would give my son the same breakfast everyday for a week or so but change his dinners so if any adverse effects happened i knew what meal caused it. parsnips always played havoc the next day. lol

squeaky

Hi everyone,

I'm sure that there will be plenty of MoneySaving ideas to be found on weaning on the Families Board, and so I shall move this post across for you shortly.

HTH

newmum1

hi all, my daughter is 6 and a half months i started weaning her a couple of weeks ago mainly on baby rice and porridge which she loves you could make your own and just be creative mix sweet and savoury shell love it.

BernadetteN

Buy yourself one of Annabel Karmel's cook books for babies -
"New Complete Baby and Toddler Meal Planner" is a good one to start with - and just folllow her advice and recipes. Use the bottle and canned food sparingly. You may want to buy a few packets like "banana breakfast" or similar for the first few weeks as you can make tiny portions without wastage. This way you'll save loads of money. And of course a blender is an essential!

For all 4 babies, I have spent a few days at around 4 months old making up Karmel's purees and putting ice cube size portions in freezer bags. I gave them with single ingredients at first so I knew which ones were liked/disliked (eg just carrot or papaya), later mixing up (eg carrot and papaya). When the babies got older, I just started setting aside small portions of what we were eating and freezing them too for the future. Eventually the babies just ate the same as the rest at the family, by about the age of 10 months.

PS there is a good use for baby rice and that is to thicken certain purees like pear and apple which have a high water content. Wheatgerm is also good for this.

Spendless

Just be careful with alternatives to baby rice. There was a couple a few years ago, whose baby died from him having too much salt. I think they gave him ready brek instead of baby rice, due to the cost factor. If in doubt check with your GP/HV/MW
fruit & veg should be fine though. My HV gave me some weaning leaflets/booklets with food suggestions and recipe ideas in it, ask yours if they have any.

donna-j_2

I second Annabel Karmel, she's great.

Current thinking is that you should introduce one food at a time, in case of allergies. Then if the baby has a reaction you can tell what it was from.

Also, hold off with wheat and protein until at least 6 months.

T is 20 weeks and we've been weaning for 3. We've had rice (will only eat the Boots Organic one), carrot, butternut squash, sweet potato, pears and banana.