Help Needed

[Greenl]

My baby is almost 3 months old and I want to get prepared for weaning but as this is my first baby I do not know where to even begin, can anyone offer any advise or recomend any books to invest in to help me

[lulumama]

you don;t need to wean for a good while longer! there are some brilliant weaning experts on mnet...they can give you better advice than any book! good to be prepared though!!

someone will be along shortly...x

[NotQuiteCockney]

I didn't find the books that helpful, tbh. If you can hold out to 6 months (as is recommended), you can just feed your baby tablescraps, which is much less work. Have a look at threads about baby-led weaning if you want more information ...

[auntymandy]

my advice is leave as long as possible before you wean. Dont need weaning till 6 months so hang fire till then
x

[popeye123]

i'd agree to leave it til 6mths if you can (thats 26 weeks not 24) but it can be tough. speak to your HV nearer the time because some bigger babies may need to go earlier. waiting also has the added bonus that you can progress through the stages quicker and it takes away alot of the doubt about what they can and can't eat so do consider that as well.

if you want to be REALLY prepared then at about 4-5 mths start making simple purees and freezing them in ice cube trays. I found the early days really time consuming because you're still having to breast or bottle feed alot and then solid meal times can take ages too. Add to that making the food from scratch and you won't get to leave the house for a few weeks!

there are lots of books out there and i feel i bought them all. I got the Gina Ford, Annabel Karmel and Fresh Daisy books which were good up to a point but there is alot of emphasis on making great meals from scratch - my DD ended up eating better than I did. i found the NCT book more down to earth. Annabel Karmel does have some receipes on her website so try before you buy.

do you know anyone with older babies? most people probably only refer to the books for a short while and then cook their favourites so maybe you could borrow some. And of course, there's always the library.

[Mum2FunkyDude]

Greenl, I can remember the feeling of total helplessness when I started getting information about weaning, and I am a bit of a control freak so the more I knew beforehand the better I felt.

To be honest, I read the basics, got books from the library and bought an Annabel Karmel book. Which is actually straight forward, common sense advice, but still it will feel like a mountain to climb.

I started weaning FunkyDude on puree and it all starts very slowly as you can only introduce a new food every few days to rule out allergies, after 6 months things pick up quite fast and before you know it it's second nature.

After I started weaning I came across another mner's blog \link{http://www.babyledweaning.com/Babyledweaning} it is a different approach to the weaning process, allowing baby to control what he or she puts in her mouth and how much. It claims that the fir 6 months of weaning is a taste and texture experience.

Well I hope this helps and will get you started on your information mission.

[Mum2FunkyDude]

try that link again
BLW

[Greenl]

Thanks for the help, I am going to try and hold out as long as but as he is a big and hungry baby I may need to start before the six months

[MrsBadger]

(NB if you're worried he's hungry you can always just offer him more milk - weight for weight it has more calories than any solid food)

[Greenl]

He is on 8oz every 4 and a half hours, not sure if he will hold out for another 3 months and am a bit worried about putting him on weaning him too early

[Greenl]

that was meant to be putting him on solids or weaning him too early, lack of sleep is starting to affect me