Adding breastmilk to purees but haven't ever expressed - questions.

[sophiaslullaby]

Actually struggled to add a subject title for this -
I'll be weaning my son in about a month so getting a start on reading up (FTM!) - I've EBF and my son has never taken a bottle, likewise I've never expressed or used an expressing pump.
What I want to know if which milk to use when mixing baby rice for example? I'm not against hand expressing but that's going to be time consuming. Do I need to go out and buy all the expressing equipment just so I can use my own milk in weaning food?
(Didn't want to use cows milk - son is suffering badly with eczema and could be a change that he has an intolerance to dairy).

[Tatie3]

To be honest I really wouldn't bother with baby rice at all, it contains very little in the way of nutrition. If you're going down the puree route then just start with vegetables and fruit, you could then just hand express a tiny bit to thin the puree but the cooking water would do just as well.

[SweepTheHalls]

Why not a tiny bit of formula if you don't want to use cows milk ?

[SnuffleGruntSnorter]

As above, it's easiest just not to use baby rice etc. There's nothing special about it that makes it a good baby food - it's just ground up rice.

My son was exclusively breastfed and we took a baby led weaning approach. I actually have a freezer full of expressed breast milk but still never really use it for cooking - baby just has whatever we're eating really.

[sophiaslullaby]

Thanks all, that's quite helpful & reassuring. I want to make it as easy as possible for myself (organising and taking it all onboard by myself -DH will feed but leaving me in charge so quite the pressure!) I then started panicking thinking oh god! I've now got to research breast pumps!

If I DO want to use milk but don't want to dangle boob over bowl, squeezing away can I use goats milk? It's said to be nearer human milk than cows.

[CultureSucksDownWords]

I used goats milk from 6 months in cooking, and then from 12 months as a drink alongside breastfeeding. My DS still has goats milk now he's 3.5. So, goats milk is fine if that's what you prefer!

[HarrysMummy17]

I hand expressed a little milk to mix up ds's baby porridge. Just a couple of minutes expressing into a tub and them mixed with the porridge. The thought of standing in the kitchen squirting my boob into a porridge bowl was a bit weird and off putting.

[sophiaslullaby]

HarrysMummy - I will probably do the same but good to know goats milk is ok to use if didn't want to express . That's what I wanted to do CultureSucksDownWords and give DS goats milk as his evening drink after 12 months.
Great, feeling lot more confident than I was at the beginning of the eve

[Musikate1]

Just hand express a bit straight into the bowl, job done!

[Musikate1]

Oat milk apparently the best non dairy milk to use. Rice milks can contain arsenic and nut milks could trigger allergy.

[Robotgirl]

My daughter has a dairy allergy
After I stopped breastfeeding her she now has oat milk (it's lovely) or soya milk. There are so many other milks out there! I never even thought about expressing for culinary purposes.... Life's too short!

[DesertOrDessert]

Never expressed, no formula and dairy free here.
We used (calcium enriched) Oatly milk on the occasions it was needed, but it's easier to start with not introducing alternatives, IMO.
So, skip the baby rice, and purree veg and fruit. Reserve the water used to steam/book the food, and thin with that if you want.

[sophiaslullaby]

Great advice thankyou, I'm not bothering with baby rice now. And have had to hand express a little this week (Musikate1 - you're right, is actually less of a faff than I thought!) so will use steamed water or my squeezed milk (going on the amount I can get out in a couple of squeezes, my god!)
Looking forward to weaning, you're all going to tell me the reality is different now?

[Robotgirl]

BLW all the way worked for us!
My daughter was never fed puréed food, - she just got stuck in & fed herself.