Questions about weaning

[paleandinteresting]

DS is 5 months and I intend to start introducing solids at around 6 months (mainly finger foods, but might try some purées too). I have a few questions about weaning and was hoping someone could help? Thank you!

1. water with meals: is it okay to give water from the tap or should it be boiled and cooled first?
   
   
2. if you did BLW, did you start off slowly with 'single' finger foods (e.g. sticks of fruit/veg) or did you jump straight in with things like pasta, casseroles etc. The latter seems easier in some ways as I would just give DS what DH and I are having, obviously tailored to DS so no salt and initially nothing too spicy, but am worried DS's tummy needs to get used to food first and it would make it harder to identify the trigger of any potential reactions.
   
   
3. when did you start giving DC pieces of meat?
   
   
4. on kellymom.com there is a table with suggested ages for introducing allergenic food (bottom of this page). I had intended to give things like yoghurt, cheese, egg and fish pretty much immediately, but this information makes me unsure. When did you introduce peanut butter? DH and I have no allergies to these foods.
   
   
5. did you give your LO any vitamin supplements from 6 months? If so, are there any you recommend?

[Quak]

I can answer a few with what I have done so far (dd is 6.5mths)

1. I am giving tap water. I wouldn't give bottled because it's got more bacteria in it. Didn't think to boil and cool it first. Not that much has gone down her anyway. I will continue to give straight from the tap.
   

1. I am blw and we're a week in. I didn't jump straight in with our meals because it is all new to her so have given simple things first. (you know your baby so you can really do what you feel is best) She's had, broccoli, carrot, squash (steamed), toast, melon, mango, ricecake and normal porridge (made with breastmilk and overcooked to make it stodgier and handle-able)
   

She's hardly swallowed anything, which is absolutely fine, but it took her 3 days to even taste anything as she was quite wary of the new textures I think.

1. We're vegetarian so not sure about this yet, but probably in the next few months if she's not keen on alternatives.
   

1. I am going to give dd cheese and egg (hold off on the yogurt for now, quite sweet and I don't expect her to be able to use a spoon for a while, and hands in yogurt is something I am willing to put of for a bit) in the next few days. If she has a reaction I'll wait a month or so before giving it to her again. The same with peanut butter. She has shown no reactions to anything I have eaten through my breastmilk and myself and dh have iron constitutions so fingers crossed for a relatively smooth ride!
   

1. Will wait with interest. So far no hv has even mentioned vitamins, and sort of brushed aside my query.

[ilovepowerhoop]

1. tap water is fine as a drink from 6 months
   
2. didnt do blw
   
3. did meat purees at 6 months - cant remember when I gave bits of meat
   
4. everything except whole nuts, honey, high salt, unpasteurised stuff is ok from 6 months. DS had peanut butter from about 9 months but would have been ok from 6 months.
   
5. it is advised that all children between 6 months and 5 years take supplements of vitamins A,C and D. Vitamin D is probably the most important.

[CluelessMama]

We're just a couple of weeks in as well so don't have vast experience, but

1. Tap water is fine
   
2. Not strictly doing BLW but am trying to give DS bits of what we have and started with just giving him bits, for example I had mashed potato with poached fish and he loved the potato with the milk sauce but I wimped out of giving him a lump of fish. Does that make sense?! No idea if that's right but it seemed ok while we're getting started!
   
3. Will watch other replies with interest, haven't given meat yet.
   
4. My HV said that all the things you named are fine from 6 months, though she also suggested giving fruit and veg first and moving on quite quickly from there.
   
5. Was advised to get healthy start vitamins from surestart centre, not expensive, recommended if breastfeeding but not necessary if baby is solely formula fed.

[CornishYarg]

1. Tap water is fine from 6 months
   
   
2. I kept it simple for the first 3 weeks or so; no reason other than I was a bit unsure what I was doing. But then we just gave him our meals.
   
   
3. Within a couple of weeks of starting weaning - it's fine from 6 months. It took a while till he could eat any unless it was really soft, but he loved chewing and sucking on it.
   
   
4. I introduced all those foods fairly early on. I only introduced one "risky" food at a time so I could pinpoint an allergy.
   
   
5. NHS advice is that babies should have vitamin supplements from 6 months unless they're drinking at least 500ml of formula. As hoop says, Vitamin D is the main issue. If you qualify for Healthy Start, this will be your cheapest option but as far as I know, it's means tested. I use Abidec drops which chemists and supermarkets sell.

[paleandinteresting]

Thank you, your replies are very helpful! Feeling a bit more confident now