Weaning ,..... where do I start, any book suggestions?

[Willowwisp]

Hi

My little girl is 22 weeks and were thinking about weaning her, we have tried her on baby rice and she opened her mouth readily and seemed to enjoy it! I've been reading Gina Ford Weaning and the Baby Whisperer and they say different things, also if we wait until the full six months we have to introduce protein etc pretty quickly, is this correct?

I'm not happy about trying BLW as I've got a terrible fear of choking myself (I had a bad experience)and I feel sick to my stomach when I think of her gagging etc. I've made carrot and pear puree myself and its frozen ready to go, but I'm so confused?

What time of day do I give it to her?
Do I give her the 8oz bottle before or after the solids?
Am I supposed to cut down her formula bottle?
Should I start with veggies or fruit first?
Should I mix her solids with a bit of baby rice to make it a bit milder?
Do I need to change her formula to the follow on milk for 6 month olds?

I've got a Beaba Babycook so I'm quite happy to make all her meals from scratch, any suggestions on good stuff to make her (I've got AK, puree book).

Thanks for any advice you can give.

[BitTiredNow]

hi there

I would recommend the old favourite - Annabel Karmel - a lot of her initial recipes (in fact I think she has a baby purees book now) are easy to adapt to the baby cook (which I also have and love)

What time of day do I give it to her?

I would recommend the time you would give her her mid morning milk feed - just a few minutes before, so she is not too hungry to want to try from a spoon. Also, with one meal a day, if anything disagrees with her, she has time to work it through in the day, rather than at night which is always more distressing for all involved.

Do I give her the 8oz bottle before or after the solids?

After. it is important she still gets a lot of milk at this stage. You are just aiming at introducing tastes, rahter than filling her up. Take it all at her pace - better 2 enthusiastic mouthfuls than 4 bad ones.

Am I supposed to cut down her formula bottle?

No, not at all. if you get Annabel Karmel, she has in some books a timetable for when to time and introduce feeds as well as suggested menu plans.

Should I start with veggies or fruit first?

it doesn't matter. Good first ones are pear or carrot. When you are cooking your own evening meal, stick a bit of the veg of furit in the baby cook at the same time, freeze in a tiny pot and then you can defrost and reheat when required.

Should I mix her solids with a bit of baby rice to make it a bit milder?

You can do, but most initial flavours are bland anyway - all my 3 liked stronger flavours and despised baby rice on its own.

Do I need to change her formula to the follow on milk for 6 month olds?

I don't think so. it is a bit of a marketing gimmick, and although it does no harm, she will be getting iron from her diet soon anyway. follow on has made my dd (although not the boys before her) very constipated, so do be careful and if you do decide to switch do so gradually.

Good luck - let her get messy and enjoy it as much as you can. HTH

[SydneyB]

I'd wait until 26 weeks as then you've got 4 more weeks to not have to worry about it!

[Willowwisp]

Thanks for your replies, I've ordered the other AK book off Amazon so hopefully will have a bit more of an idea when it arrives!

Hmm, another question though and this is a really stupid one, I thought you could wean at six months, now I know I'm rubbish at maths but 6x4 = 24? So why 26 weeks? Are we including 5 week months? I'm blushing at my stupidity if its an obvious thing!

[NoBiggy]

Because 1 year = 52 weeks, half a year = 6 months = 26 weeks.

There's only one month that's exactly 4 weeks (and this year, not even that!)

Oh, and the weaning, don't stress, they all manage it, one way or another. And they can't speak so they can't bitch about your cooking (they just lob it back at you!)

[dal21]

Hi willow - I am using the gf weaning book (have BW too) and am going to follow her plans. DS is 20 weeks and after discussion with GP, am starting to wean him.

Is there any particular reason you dont like what she suggests?

[BitTiredNow]

The time line thing is very hard - obviously the experts say 6 months for a reason - to reduce allergies etc, but there is a lot of anecdotal evidence that some babies simply don't want to wait that long. I started all mine at around the 5 month mark - not before they strarted to try and grab my or their siblings food out of their hand, watch what was happening when eating with a lot of interest adn when they weren't satisfied with their milk any more (crying at the end of a drained bottle/waking int the night when they had slept etc)

[BitTiredNow]

oh yes, my 9 month old pebble dashed me with mashed avocado yesterday with great giggles - and my skin felt faboulous afterwards - I may hire her out as a beauty treatment.....

[Willowwisp]

NoBiggy - OMG I can't believe I am so stupid!! , I'm not thick I promise, but now its explained I get it!!! Thanks x

Dal21 - No there is no reason for not using GF, I'm going to do bits from both books, I followed BW completely from birth with my daughter and she is in a fab routine and a dream baby!

I'm going to wait until the 26 weeks now as she isn't waking in the night or crying after her feeds, I just feel pressured by other people who say I should have done it by now, sod em I say! She's my baby and its up to me!

Thanks for all your advice, I'm sure I will be back!

[NoBiggy]

Oh absolutely sod 'em! It's none of their damn business for a start, and, we are told (and I happen to agree ), it's much the best thing to do anyway.

[dal21]

Oh willow - if your bub isnt doing anything differently, then hold off. DS started waking hourly at night, trying to grab food off my plate. I moved from his 4 hourly day feeding back to 3 hours and he still didnt seem satisfied. If it hadnt been for that - I would have been waiting til 26 weeks too!

[TiddlerTiddler]

I used GF for DS1, but this time I am struggling. So mixing it up a bit with others.

The one thing I would flag about using GF is she uses a lot of sweet potato. She says variety, but when you read it closely its a lot of SP + Carrot, SP + Broc, SP+ etc.

When I ran into problems, my HV said.. maybe he is tired of sweet potato!

[TiddlerTiddler]

Can I just add, that I am not dissing this or anything! I have found her book really useful with lots of good recipes (chick/veg gratin, lentil stuff etc.) Just an observation!

In fact, I am re-reading to see if her advice re milk feeds is the problem re night time waking! On advice of DAL21

[BitTiredNow]

I do like AK for her ideas as well - the chicken, grapes and courgettes is a guaranteed winner here as are a lot of her earlier purees, however I also had a v good book by Sarah Davies which catered for the whole family - eg Chicken casserole - take out chicken and veg early and puree for baby, cook a bit longer for toddler, add wine etc at the end for family - it's a technique I have stuck to and really helps reduce work