Weaning approaching...help!!

[Cakecrazy88]

Hey guys...I'm kinda worried about weaning as I don't know how to go about it. My lo is 20 weeks old and I know it's just round the corner. I've started giving her bits of apple to gnaw on as she is teething. I've also given her chunky chips and when she has managed to get it in her mouth, she just spits it out. I'm just wondering when she turns 6 months will she be able to swallow solid mushy food? How did you guys start the weaning process? I know it sounds like a dumb question but first time mum here and I dunno who else to ask but the expert mum's that are on here. Any advice welcome!

[Annh17]

I’m first time mum aswell, we started at 4 months on porridge, took a while for her to get used to texture and learn to swallow, we then done purées, which she loved. We started with just fruit and vegetables, then went onto like Spag Bol and dinners like that, we done jars as she found my dinners had too much flavour.

We would give her soft cooked carrot sticks, parsnips stick, stems on broccoli which she loved and still does. She’s nearly 7 months and now has bigger lumps, crisps, scrambled egg, pancakes, toast, cheese, garlic bread, sprouts, yogurts.

Just do a bit at a time, it can be a very stressful time.

Are you thinking of blw or purée? x

[Cakecrazy88 in reply to Annh17]

Thank you! What's blw? I'm just worried that she keeps spitting everything out, tried giving her really small amounts of yoghurt yest just to taste n it all came out.

[Annh17 in reply to Cakecrazy88]

baby-led weaning, offer solids at mealtime and let your baby decide if she's up for eating them. Cut food into thick sticks or strips. Slice foods up so baby can hold them in her fist and chew from the top down (instead of tiny bite-sized pieces)

We have done a bit of both, my LG loves her food, we find now, she just loves too squeeze the food in her hand and then she gets frustrated as it’s all mush 😂

You have too remember your baby has only ever had milk, so any food is new. Mine was the same for 1-2 weeks and now there’s no stopping her. Just a mushed banana, can’t go wrong with that. xx

[Cakecrazy88 in reply to Annh17]

Thank you for the advice, I will definitely try both and see which one she prefers. Have you given yours frozen puree in the form of lollies?

[MissEd in reply to Cakecrazy88]

You carry on milk as normal as thats still their main source of nutrients until 1 x

[Annh17]

She may also not be ready for solids yet, might not be able to swallow solids just yet. x

[Cakecrazy88 in reply to Annh17]

Do you still breastfeed as normal? Or do I have to start cutting out feeds?

[Lizzielizzielizzie in reply to Cakecrazy88]

She will cut down feeds by herself when she is getting enough solids. Keep breast feeding on demand.

[Lovefood1984]

Start with single vegetables then fruits and baby porridge’s etc. They recommended you try something for 3 days to check baby can tolerate it, we did this with some foods that are higher risk of being allergens (as she already has a milk allergy and we found more whilst weaning) but I didn’t stress about the vegetables and fruits etc. Just a few spoonfuls once a day to start with and then just increase, adding a second meal, then third. When we first started weaning we kept all her milk feeds and added food in between but you’ll find as time goes on and solids increase milk will decrease and you’ll drop feeds or move them to another time of day. It’s kind of a fluid process and you really just need to be led by your baby, ours at 11 months doesn’t drink enough ‘milk’ for her age (always been the same) but happily eats, every baby is different. I stressed as well before starting but once you get the hang of it and they have a routine it’s great. I did a mix of purée and baby led weaning and still do, they can’t feed themselves enough food to feel satisfied with baby led weaning but the skills are very important to learn to bite, chew and swallow etc. We used the Kiddylicious wafers at first, just keep offering different finger food, you soon find out what they can and can’t manage, anything they can’t we just revisited a few weeks later (like toast etc) Also you mentioned baby is still pushing food back out of their mouth, it may be she’s not quite ready. I’d leave it a week and try again x

[Cakecrazy88 in reply to Lovefood1984]

Thank you so much for the advice. I mainly give her a slice of apple to Help her with her teething. I've tried a little bit of yoghurt and gave her some banana today in the mesh feeder which she sucked on for sometime. I'm mainly trying to get her familiar to different flavours. She sees me eating and I can see she wants to as well and I feel for her.

[Lovefood1984 in reply to Cakecrazy88]

Sounds like you’re doing all the right things 😊 I let my daughter try some cucumber early on, it just got licked though 🤣 If apple helps with the teething then just continue. There’s not really a right and wrong way to do things (other than giving them food with salt or massive amounts of processed sugar) and getting her used to different flavours is what it’s all about x

[Cakecrazy88 in reply to Lovefood1984]

That's a relief that I am on the right path. Going to introduce different flavours and textures slowly and see what she enjoys. The apple frustrates her coz she can't do much with it but she prefers it to her teething toys coz there is some flavour

[AJBee]

There's loads of brilliant advice on the NHS website, plus on Ella's Kitchen website they will send you a free weaning pack (I've found the wall chart a great reference. Really helpful)

Take a look on Facebook marketplace (or go to the library) and take a look at Annabell Karmel books, she seems to be the weaning guru! Again all helpful timescales, do's and don'ts and of course loads of recipe ideas. Good luck!

[Cakecrazy88 in reply to AJBee]

Thank you I will have a look at all those resources

[badgerhynes]

Spitting food out is totally normal to start. They have to learn how to move food around their mouth and then swallow. It can take weeks for them to start to actually consume anything substantial. Early weaning is about introducing flavours, not getting food down them (that’s why they have milk). Start with single savoury flavours- vegetables. Steam broccoli, kale puree, parsnip. Get ready for lots of mess and interesting nappies- they’ll be every colour you can imagine. Annabelle Karmel has a good website with idea.

Please avoid Baby rice as it has zero nutritional value and is just filler. Porridge with formula is good for breakfast.

Mostly importantly- don’t stress about how much they’re eating, it’ll come with time. And have fun! Making food interesting and social leads to healthy habits as a adult

[Cakecrazy88 in reply to badgerhynes]

Thanks for the advice. I have slowly been introducing her to different flavours, looking forward to when she turns 6 months now to do it on a daily basis. She seems to enjoy Clementine segments but I've read that it's not good for babies gums, is that true?

[Abbigailsmum]

Oh no worries on weaning or lil one trying to eat other things. Try to nurse for at least a year and if she eats other foods great but if not her tummy may not be up for it. Our wasn’t interested in much other than mommy’s milk for a long time. She teethed so much and used non toxic beaded necklaces and bracelets as well as the sprout toothbrush since she had several teeth by eight months. She still did well nursing. I wasn’t sure how all that worked but quickly I realized it’s just time to take a few sweetly moments to talk to her and let her know to be gentle with her teeth. It went well...just two rough moments.

Honestly I never really thought a year was long until I started Breast feeding, but as the months went buy my precious lil one loved that one on one and it has been a beautiful time to bond with her and pray over her as well as sing to her. It’s our reading time and lots of snuggles and love. I never knew how wonderful it would be to nurse her even now as she’s 3.5 years old and I wasn’t one of those moms who could even grasp how and why at a toddlers age but all I can say is it is such a blessing! Now she still snuggles up every night for our time together but only nurses when super tired, boo boos, emotional, frustrated or those moments she just wants to snuggle. She’s going to bed without it and that just started about a week ago now but still loves to snuggle in bed and stay close. I asked lactation at our hospital when a child self weans, and of course, she said it depends on each individual child. And she thought it was so wonderful to hear I’me still nursing because there is such great nutrition and beautiful bonding as it does wonders for her in the years ahead. She said it could take 6 or 8 months or even longer since she has a need for it still. I think I’ve began to observe with other lil ones it’s best to wait until they can truly understand and comprehend how to have self control of emotions, reactions from boo boos, etc. and that is how I started recognizing her need to rely on the Breast less. That seems to be the key for my. Although as long as it has been now, I’m for once not rushing it...but I can remember just getting to the year mark was an adjustment and then two and thought for sure she would be beyond he desire for nursing by 2.5 or 3 for sure and here we are still going. Everyone is different and every child and momma have their own relationship and time together. My husband and I are both home with her so it has been a great experience and shows us too that the terrible twos or threes do not have to exist. I think she gets healthy attention and so much love that there isn’t a need to show out or get so fussy or frustrated when we can just work through it by talking about it and taking the time to care for her patiently in the moment. What a blessing to be able to take this time with your lil ones. I pray you will be confident in your mommy role and enjoy each moment because I can see so much growth and beyond in each age. And it happens right before your eyes. Wow it happens so fast! Blessings to you! Stay encouraged and keep on reaching out!

[Lizzielizzielizzie]

If you’re interested in doing real food straight away then read Gill Rapleys books. Very easy to read and very clear. If you want to do purées then Annabel karmel does good books explaining this. All the books are widely available second hand.