Family foods

[Pyjamaramadrama]

Ds2 has just turned 7 months.

I'm doing spoon feeding, it's going ok he's having two meals, a mid morning breakfast and evening meal.

Tonight for example were having lasagna, it's a very simple recipe and homemade, should I give him some? I'm reading so much conflicting advice over what he should/shouldn't have.

He's been eating things like baby porridge, weetabix and ready brek for breakfast. For dinner/tea things like simple beef stew with veggies/chicken casserole/veggies and meat from our roast dinner.

People are telling me he shouldn't have weetabix, shouldn't have pasta, he should have more simple foods, so confused.

[SparklyTinselTits]

My DD is 8 nearly 9 months old....she demolishes lasagne!! I just plop it on the highchair tray, and she pulls the pasta apart to get at the meat and veg, and eats the pasta once the meat is all gone
Cottage pie is a good one too!

[Pyjamaramadrama]

So far I've only given homemade foods but we do eat some processed foods such as fish fingers, fish cakes, baked beans, would you give the baby a little bit of stuff like that say once a week?

We also have chilli once a week (homemade).

[Buttercup27]

Both dc ate exactly the same food as everyone else in the family, it made cooking and earing out so much easier.

[SparklyTinselTits]

Posted too soon...
We give DD pretty much everything we have. Unless it's something spicy or too wet. My husband made a Thai curry the other night, and he made a small batch separately for DD, minus the chillis and ginger, cooked plain chicken separately and just dipped the chicken chunks in her mild sauce before we handed it to her
I think the weetabix/pasta thing only applies if you wean before 6mo because of gluten intolerance, but after 6mo more or less anything goes, except the obvious ones like honey, rare meat, undercooked eggs etc

[JustABigBearAlan]

I think homemade food is great. After all, that's what you eventually want him to be eating, don't you? Sounds like he's doing really well.

The one thing you have to be careful with I think is salt. So I used to cook as normal, but add less /no salt to our food. If needed, we'd add extra to ours at the table - but normally didn't bother. Stock can be v salty for example, but you can buy low salt stock cubes. Processed foods do tend to be higher in salt, but again you can buy low salt baked beans etc.

Otherwise I think it's all fine. Pasta, weetabix etc were all food recommended by my HV!

[SnuffleGruntSnorter]

Exactly what bear said.
We're BLW so a slightly different approach but basically my son gets everything we're eating. I cook without salt and use low salt stock cubes (boots do completely salt free ones). He tucks in to basically anything we have.

After six months the forbidden foods list is very small indeed. No raw honey, low salt and sugar. Don't use low fat foods (they need the fat and low fat often = high sugar). Even the rubby egg advice is a bit outdated if you're living in the uk - as long as they're lion stamped the risk really is vanishingly low.

[Pyjamaramadrama]

Thanks both. I think I worry too much and listen to people too much.

He's got a drawer in the freezer for when we're having a takeaway or something, but if I'm doing a chilli/lasagna/bolognese, it seems a waste for him to not have any.

I bought the baby no salt stock cubes from boots for him and I just add any salt at the table if I want any as you say.

I was planning on introducing lunch in another few weeks which will hopefully be finger foods, sandwiches, pittas etc.

He's my second so I really should know what I'm doing.

[Pyjamaramadrama]

I had intended to do blw but gave up quickly mainly because I couldn't stand the mess, he preferred to rub the food all over his face than eat it! All normal I expect. I also had the oh no he's never going to eat panic.

I think I just need to follow my instincts and NHS advice rather than opinions of family.

[SnuffleGruntSnorter]

It sounds like you're doing just fine ignore everyone. My mother in law is obsessed with the idea of me sterilising his spoons etc and continuing to give cooked boiled water. He spends 50% of his waking hours chasing the dog around trying to give her kisses; sterilising feels somewhat futile