Is anyone else with a six-month-old...

[bakedpotato]

about to start weaning?

[hunkermunker]

Don't do it! It's hassle

Sorry, couldn't resist

[bakedpotato]

I remember that, HM, but have forgotten what to do

[NotQuiteCockney]

I waited, and found that weaning at 6 months was very different to weaning at 4 months. DS2 objected to purees, and has just gone straight onto family food.

The last time you weaned, what age did you do it at?

[aloha]

dd is 23 weeks - vast - and waking every two hours at night!! I am determined to wait, but this is testing my resolve to its absolute limit! Aaargh. Am planning to start with bit of banana, I think. Can't bear the thought of any pureeing, which I did for ds.

[hunkermunker]

Haven't got a 6mo, have a 15mo. But with DS, I gave him steamed veggies, soft fruit (melon, etc), strips of chicken and beef (growled the first time he had beef which concerned me a bit...!), bits of breadstick, rice cakes, sticks of cheese, finger food really. By 8mo he was onto sandwiches (didn't eat much before then). I wasn't that wary of food intolerances because he was 6mo (and older before he got food in his mouth!

Didn't bother fannying around with baby rice or pureeing anything - he was old enough to sit up, grab things and put them in his mouth.

That might be more help than my first post

[bakedpotato]

DD was weaned at 4 mths -- the recommended time then. I think we started with baby rice then pureed green beans. Eww, etc, but they're still her veg of choice.

Yes, I think I will go straight to steamed finger-food. Could I do steamed green beans, should I cut them into little pieces or just make sure they're soft and bendy?

Courage, Aloha.

[hunkermunker]

I'd just steam them - don't chop into pieces. When they're six months old they haven't got the hang of opening their hand to get at food inside it - better to make a fist around something, leave a bit sticking out and munch that. So stick-shaped food works very well until they've perfected the pincer grab and can pick up things like raisins and get them to their mouths before releasing them!

[NotQuiteCockney]

I'd keep them soft and bendy and long. I wouldn't cut them up. At first, they can only eat the bits that stick out of their fist, so the longer the better, really.

DS2 started managing banana pretty early, too. Very messy, but enjoyable.

[bakedpotato]

Beans steaming away
Must check there's a film in the camera. I had promised to wait till next weekend, so DH could witness DS's expression (will it be or ?) but now I just want to get on with it

[NotQuiteCockney]

Um, good luck.

But don't be surprised if it's a bit of an anti-climax. I gave up on keeping DS2 away from my food just before 6 months, and gave him some raw red pepper. He didn't know what to do with it, really. It wasn't until nearly 7 months before he really started eating. And even then, only really finger food. Even now, if I try to put something in his mouth, he bats it away, and then will take it and consider eating it himself.

[hunkermunker]

Yes, he might not put it in his mouth. DS used to delight in dropping things over the side, then looking at them interestedly.

[spidermama]

Mine ds will be 6 months old in a couple of days. (How time flies!!)
I'm dreading faffing about with purees. I'll keep him on the white stuff as long as I can (managed 10 months with his bro').
Real food, don't forget, makes real poo.

Usually I steam and puree carrot to start with because it's quite, but not too, sweet.

Then steam apple. Mashed bananas. Single foods for a couple of weeks then start mashing whatever we're having (minus the salt, and nothing processed) and see how it goes down.

[hunkermunker]

That's why giving finger food's good, SM - it gets them used to the idea of eating (well, feeding themselves), but not much gets through in a vile poo way

[KiwiKate]

I started on mashed banana. Was told they might spit it out, and only take a half a teaspoon. Ds was 4mo (yes, I know everyone says that is too young - but he was feeding every two hours and just seemed hungry). He grabbed DH's hand that was holding the spoon and shoved it into his mouth. Ate a WHOLE banana first time (and yelled for more, but we wouldn't give him any more). Gradually introduced veges. Never did the puree thing, but mashed things a bit with a fork. ds is now 2.3yo and has been a great eater ever since.

Was worried about allergies and food intollerances (which run in DH's family) but was careful to avoid certain foods for first year (and still avoiding some until he's three). So far have had no allergies or intollerances.

[Janh]

Absolutely no advice re weaning, always hated it and was rubbish at it, but the laundry fairy says do remember to wash banana out of clothes/bibs immediately or you will get permanent black spots

[spidermama]

I'll do the finger foods thing HM. Good idea.

Wow! KK a whole banana first time? That's incredible.

[Janbo25]

my ds is 6 months and i'm having a nightmare, if we give any sort of finger food he just chokes which i know is normal to a certain extent but we had a real fright at weekend so have decided to introduce lumps gradually, anyone anyadvice?

[chicagomum]

i've found a special mesh feeder, it's basically a mesh sack with a handle that you can put pieces of fruit carrots etc in and then the baby can chew on it only getting tiny pieces thru the mesh eliminating the risk of choking

[KiwiKate]

Yes, spidermama - we were astounded. But he ended up sleeping better and just being a lot happier!

I never pureed food. Friends who did that had a terrible trouble getting their children to take any kind of texture in the food (one even refused ANY texture or lumps in food at 20 months old). What a hassel.

So from fairly early on we left small soft lumps in the food and just made them progressivly bigger (but not bigger than bite sized). When we cooked for ourselves we tried to also cook something that ds could eat so we didn't need to have seperate cooking.

Not sure why everyone is so keen on finger food. Our ds wasn't interested, so we didn't bother with it until he started trying to take food off our plates.

[Janbo25]

you've givien me peace of mind kiwikate because basically we have done the the same as you, ds will happily eat lumpy food we mash instead of puree things now, but he's just not keen on finger food and neither am I if I'm honest, although the mesh bags sound good, but my ds will try and put the full thing in his mouth!!!

[NotQuiteCockney]

Janbo25, my DS2 gagged a bit, but never choked. It was quite alarming, when he gagged, but I'd watch carefully for a second, see he was breathing, and just leave him to it. Are you sure your baby is choking (which is a problem), and not just gagging (which is fine)?

If he is really choking, you need to be more careful, which is a hassle, but he will grow out of it, as long as he's given lumps.

(Even DS1, who is nearly four, periodically puts too much food in, forgets to swallow, gags, and has to spit some out in order to swallow. Very pleasant.)

[Janbo25]

hi, my ds as done both if he gags he just goes slightly red like you say but manages to swallow eventually but we had also a couple of choking episodes where he has stopped breathin we had to actually push the down rather than pull it up because it had got stuck quite far down.!!!! Very worrying

[bakedpotato]

Well, the beans were sucked a bit and waved around and then ended up on the floor. I roughly pureed a few and managed to shoehorn them in, very briefly, before they slid out again onto the bib (bibs! I'd forgotten all about bibs).
Will try baby rice today and resume finger food when he's got the idea about swallowing.

[giraffeski]

Message withdrawn

[Janbo25]

it must be that my ds will everything except finger food lol!