Using breastmilk in purées when starting solids without a pump?!

[Am99]

Baby is nearly 5 months and starting to think about how I’m going to introduce ‘solids’ in the next month or so.

I think I’m going to puree first of all and a lot of stuff looks good to mix breastmilk with… but I don’t have a pump… should I get one for the purposes of mixing stuff with it? They are just expensive and from what I’ve read pumping can be a hassle. Or maybe I should get that silicone catcher because I have a strong letdown… or is it easy to just squeeze my breast and get a few drops into stuff? I’ve never needed to express so I’m just a bit worried how it’s going to pan out!

if you did purées and mixed with breastmilk occasionally how did you go about it? Thank you :)

Also with meats like chicken, mince meat, steak… did you just cook and then stick in the blender? I’m going to start with fruit, veg at first but I’m thinking about mine and my husbands meals and how we can incorporate it into our baby’s pallet.

thanks so much

Can I ask why you need to mix the purees with anything? Your baby will presumably still be breastfed. At the beginning of weaning it's helpful to breastfeed before offering solids as a baby doesn't realise a puree will fill them up, it's more about exploring tastes and textures in the first months.

Gosh, why bother, is my first thought.

Get them onto food that the whole family eats asap.

I offered strips of meat ripped along the meat grain from the start with mine. Roasted chicken, chunks of grilled salmon, slow cooked brisket with onions etc.

I wouldn’t bother. Just keep breastfeeding as well as introducing food. I breastfed my youngest for a year, though by then she was down to just one feed before bed.

I agree. I breastfed my eldest until she was 2 but never mixed milk with puréed food. Not that I think there’s anything wrong with it, but I wouldn’t be going out and buying a pump specifically for that purpose.

If your just using it to add to food buy a Haakaa off Amazon, cheap & efficient.

I did BLW with both of mine who were breastfed, so didn’t intentionally purée any food, with regards to meat I would poach it in water & add a few aromatics (garlic, thyme etc) and they both loved it from a young age.

Good luck

You don’t need to introduce purées at 6 months - offer them safe food (no salt or honey, appropriate sized finger food) and let them enjoy playing with it. Continue bf alongside. It’s much less stressful!

No I don’t need to! I basically just read a recipe for porridge that recommended mixing the oats with breastmilk which got me wondering about how that would happen

For the teeny amount needed I wouldn't bother. I just used cows milk in things like mashed potato. We pretty much just pureed our own foods from 6 months, so what we ate for dinner, but pureed and given the next day. Just didn't add salt when cooking, better for us too!

Start with veg rather than fruit-it’s difficult to get back from the sweetness of fruit

That sounds great! I love garlic, thyme, rosemary etc so really hoping my baby does too🤣

I breastfed all mine. They were weaned when they could sit up unaided (5.5 months to 6) and I gave them a full banana to hold and eat.
Within a few weeks they’d tried most fruit and vegetables (hand sized pieces), meat, fish and breads. Digging into appropriate family meals in no time but their main source of food was breast milk.
With things that required a spoon like yogurt etc I’d give them one then ‘help’ feeding with my own.

If you do want express small amounts then hand expressing is more straightforward.

With my now adult DC the guidelines were still ‘four months and purées’ but it was such a fucking faff. Made tonnes more work for me and cost more time and money.

You could always do a mix of finger foods and purées though, babies are cleverer than you think with the caveat of them being developmentally ready.

You can use a splash of normal cow’s milk in purées/porridge etc
Or formula if you don’t want to introduce cow’s
I wouldn’t buy a breast pump just for this

yes our parents have all said they gave us purées from 4 months. Maybe I will do a mix of puree and BLW to avoid such faff.

We were having skewered kebabs the other day and I put baby on my lap and he literally went to the plate and GRABBED the stick as if he was a king ready to tuck in 😂 so I will probably try him with a banana in the next few weeks too

Honestly, I stood over the pan or whatever I was using and just squeezed milk out directly into the pan 🙈

I can’t remember needing any substantial amounts but alternatively I would use water.

Your baby is still a bit young at under 5 months. There really is no need to rush to weaning. All babies are curious - it’s not a sign that they are ready to have food.

Being curious isn't a sign he's ready to wean (and he wanted the stick, not the food!) - it really is better to wait til 6 months. No rush, why do it sooner, the clean up is a massive faff. Mine was EBF and I never used breastmilk in puree, I just mashed stuff with water or cows milk (once she'd tried dairy alone, to check no allergy). Get the Solid Starts app and give appropriately served versions of what you are eating - don't bother making specific stuff.

I would save yourself a lot of time and mess and skip pureeing altogether.

They can hurl a bowl of puree in six directions at once whilst a bowl of steam carrot sticks can't stick to the walls.

Soft food can still be served - mash, soup etc. But there's no need to get the blender out if you don't want to.

I used to just hand express what was needed for the porridge or whatever. No extra washing up!

I would absolutely not bother. You can use water to loosen any purées you make. Then use cow’s milk from 6 months (which is an allergen you should introduce by then anyway unless CMPA, then use something non dairy). Absolutely no benefit to faffing about expressing for a few drops of breastmilk. Your baby will be getting plenty of milk in feeds. Personally, I couldn’t be bothered with purées at all. Save yourself the stress and go straight to finger foods at 6 months.

I never mixed breastmilk in with anything because I was always absolutely useless at expressing. For DS1 I did purely BLW with no purees, DS2 had a lot of home made purees with some jars, and I bought the little bottles of formula to mix a bit in, or mixed in cow's milk. DS3 was half BLW and his purees were jars.

The silicon catcher things are OK and would probably work well for this. I would get a proper one, they aren't expensive and I don't trust the food-safety of the weird amazon random non-brands.

Don't bother. We used formula to make up porridge, but greek yoghurt or cream works just as well. Pumping is soul destroying

That’s all a total faff

if you are weaning at 6 months then baby can eat anything you can. You don’t need to pure you can give normal food as finger food or spoon food and if you must puree then cows milk is fine.