Terrified of weaning ...

[LittleNettle]

My daughter is about to turn 4 months and in a a couple months I am going to start the weaning process. But I am so nervous for it. I know it should be a fun time, but she is my first and I am terrified of her choking or reacting to something. I also have minimal support so am doing this alone!
So just some questions to make the process clearer in my head so I can approach it with a bit more confidence! Where do you start with weaning - what foods, texture and how often? Do you still feed milk as normal and at what stage in the weaning process will milk stop?
At what stages do you change textures? How long does weaning last and when do they start on normal food like grown ups? Or just any helpful advice ...
I am just completely clueless when it comes to this, and despite reading up on it still don't have a clear picture in my head of where to start. I understand anxiety is probably taking over on this one, but feel advice from people who have been through the process is more helpful than an NHS booklet on what you 'should do'
Thanks

[scarednoob]

Breathe my sweet!! It's really not that bad - it IS boring and messy though. Buy a book like the Annabel karmel one; start easy and small with tiny bits of baby rice and puréed carrot and you will be fine.

Do you have NCT classes near you? I did that with my NCT group and it was really useful.

[LittleNettle]

I haven't checked about the NCT classes actually but will look it up!
Baby rice ... I will look up on that too! Thanks!
And ... taking a breath!

[SpeakNoWords]

Have you considered baby led weaning at all? You could get the book about it from your local library (just called Baby Led Weaning by Gill Rapley) and see what you think. It avoids the puree/textures/stages stuff and goes straight to giving ordinary family food.

If that's not for you then Annabel Karmel is the traditional weaning queen, and her books are fairly step by step.

The NHS guidance on their website is helpful - you should aim to move to 3 meals a day by 8 or 9 months, milk feeds may start to reduce from then. Don't try and drop milk feeds, they should start to reduce on their own. Start with whatever meal suits you best, doesn't matter which one. Give solids about an hour after a milk feed so that they're not too full but not starving hungry.

The idea is to introduce a wide range of tastes and textures - don't be put off if something is rejected, keep trying and it may well be accepted another time.

[Chickpeachick0]

Current advice is 6 months to introduce solids . No need for purées then ! Wouldn't bother with baby rice either . NHS choices website has a good bit on introducing solids and some good starter Ideas as does a search on Mumsnet . Her milk will still be her main source of calories still . She can pretty much eat whatever you eat - no salt , watch sugar contents .
It is like another poster said messy , but just be prepared !
Enjoy

[53rdAndBird]

Have you considered taking a baby/child first aid class? Red Cross do loads of them, usually just a couple of hours. I found it a lot easier to deal with the fear over choking (and everything else!) once I knew what to do if the scary things happened.

[Mumto2uk]

My gosh I could have written your post!! Following 😓

[Tiredandtorn]

Breathe - Try to relax a little about it - it will be fine! Watching their little faces try new foods is always entertaining so be ready to take some photos!

I'm a big fan of baby led weaning, have used it with my 2 dcs. Dds first solid food was a bite of my Tuna sandwich! 😂 she just helped herself while sat on my lap!

At 6 months, keeping all milk feeds the same, try offering some cooked sticks of fruit and veg: carrot, parsnip, sweet potato, Apple, pear - whatever you you fancy. The best tip I was given was to let them get used to only veg first as fruit is so much sweeter that they'll reject veg as it's not as tasty. Don't if it worked for others but I did this and both DCs love all their veg, and fruit too.

At first they will probably just slurp on it and play with it - that's fine and normal. Bread can be tricky at first, but little toast fingers are good, pitta too.

There is loads of good, free advice and information online if you have a little Google; I got loads of great ideas from MN too x

[LittleNettle]

Thank you so much everyone for advice and understanding ... you think your used to one stage of parenthood then another stage hits you in the face!
I will research both baby led weaning and alternatives - I hadn't actually heard of baby led so am looking forward to finding out more information.
Thank you again ☺