Weaning baby onto food

[Cookies7]

Hi Lovlies,

My baby will turn 6 months next month.

Has anyone got any tips on how to start the weaning process please?

Do i give blended foods and if so how long for. Also do i give one type of food only for example just a veg or some veg and some fruit during the same meal?

Im actually really excited cant wait to make different nutritious food for him.

Thanks in advance x

[Claireeeeeeeeeeeee]

Its really up to you, you can do baby led weaning with finger foods straight away or pureed foods or a mix. With my first i did a mix with my 2nd just baby led weaning. With my first I did single veg for a couple of days each before moving on to mixed foods with my 2nd I think we did 2 days of that then she was straight on to what we were eating. We tried to only introduce one common alllergen at a time. I found what mummy makes and eating with the kids really useful for recipes the whole family can eat. Its lots of fun weaning but remember its a slow process were they tend to eat very little to start with and thats ok.

[Cookies7 in reply to Claireeeeeeeeeeeee]

Thanks i was thinking to do that introduce some veg first.

Did you give mashed/pureed meat/chicken ever?

[Claireeeeeeeeeeeee in reply to Cookies7]

Yes with my first but my 2nd I didn't and within the first week was just giving them whole. I used some facebook groups on baby led weaning to know how to cut the meat to reduce the risk of choking.

[Mcra]

Its up to you. After reading a lot on the subject, we chose baby led weaning. Baby can eat what you eat just served in a safe way.

Remember those first few months are all about learning how to eat, they don't have to eat much at all. So involve them at the table, make meals fun and watch them learn. We introduced major allergens one by one but otherwise you can serve multiple ingredients.

[Cookies7 in reply to Mcra]

Sure should i am to give meat chicken qnd fish too or wait a few weeks.

Is there anywhere i can look at how chop and cook things as i know grapes have to sliced a certain way. Also can they eat things wven if they have no teeth?

[Mcra in reply to Cookies7]

You can give almost everything from the start (honey and hole nuts being the exceptions). Baby's teeth are just under the gums so these are quite hard. Sr nutrition is helpful on Instagram, she also wrote a book on the subject.

But the main principles:

- most things served in a finger shape so baby can grab it easily

- blueberries, grapes and similar cut in half or squished

- nuts as nut butters or crushed

- nothing that is hard and can break into small pieces that can cause choking - e.g. raw apples or carrots would habe to be grated (or cooked).

[Sunnyday33]

Look up Annabel Karmel as she gives useful advice, meal plans and recipes.

[Cookies7 in reply to Sunnyday33]

Ok thanks will do

[Pnw2020]

Hi. Have a look at sr nutrition on instagram or her book ‘ how to wean your baby’.

Solidstarts is also on instagram or there is an app.

Good luck!

[Cookies7 in reply to Pnw2020]

Thankyou i will have a look at them

[Cinderella5]

I found it quite stressful wondering what to do but I started off using the started menus on Ellas kitchen. Mostly veg to start with and winged it after a couple of weeks. Both kids eat really well now. Good luck.xx

[Cookies7 in reply to Cinderella5]

Thats good to hear. I hope i dont have a fussy eater. Thanks i will look at ellas kitchen recipes.

[XOXO13]

Hey,

I actually found weaning a fairly stressful as there is an overwhelming amount of information out there, so I made it simple for myself and started with the Ella’s kitchen 4+ month veg pouches (I started weaning at 5 months due to my sons reflux). One new veg every two days. A few weeks in, I started to introduce texture and mixture of flavours (combination recipes recommended by SR Nutrition and Ella’s Kitchen). I now mostly just make my own food, mash some bits together until I have a soft texture and spoon feed, whilst also offering finger food so they have a bit of both. My little girl eats everything, she loves food. My little boy hates texture and is sensitive to a few random things, he also doesn’t like finger food and prefers to be spoon fed. I always have Ella’s Kitchen pouches in as a backup, especially for purely puréed food.

Mine twins are now 7 months old, and I offer porridge rusk in the morning (easier for me as I can mix with their own formulas), a snack of some sort at lunch and then home cooked something for dinner around 4.30pm. They still don’t each much, which is why I haven’t introduced three meals yet and I’ve just learnt to take it at my own pace and enjoy the process with them.

I found that I was getting quite stressed about it because everyone has opinions on how much baby should be eating by certain points and because I don’t seem to have time to always offer home cooked food and I felt a lot of guilt about that but since speaking to my mum and some others, the best advice I was given was to not stress about it because no 5 year old will ever just eat puréed food, and not to compare yourself or your baby’s progress to others. I now just take it each day and I’ve got into a better routine that works for us and we are all happy. Of course I’d love for my baby boy to try more textures so I always offer it, and if he doesn’t take it, I have a backup puréed Ella’s pouch at the ready so I know he’s at least getting something.

So, just try to make it enjoyable for you both and do what works for you two. And don’t do what I did, compare yourself to your friends babies and overthink everything!

Enjoy, seeing their little faces with each new thing they try is so much fun xxxx