Weaning ideas

[ilovetosleep]

DS is 6 months and we started weaning a couple of weeks ago, he's not really getting it and tbh he's not really enjoying it either. Mix of mash and finger foods. I'm finding it hard to offer interesting things because we don't know the extent of his allergies yet and are trying to be v cautious. We have an appointment in 2 weeks at allergy clinic for tests but until then I am not offering dairy, egg, gluten or soya. ATM we are ebf.

At this stage with BLW DS1 we gave egg noodles, toast with various toppings, pasta, porridge, yoghurt etc - all the things I can't give. Plus I don't feel confident giving him mixed foods, only single ingredients so we can look for reactions. I'd love to try humous for example. Is that pretty low allergen?

So far we have tried sweet potato, carrot, parsnip, he didn't like any of them. Avocado, pear, mango, chicken and broccoli were more successful. The most success we have had is with baby rice and banana, and an ella's pear and broccoli pouch. That's as far as we have got. (and when I say success I mean 3-4 spoons, nothing more. He gets upset at this point and starts writhing in pain, I suspect from the oesophagitis he has been diagnosed with from the reflux)

So what can I offer him to make it all a bit more exciting, something that we would eat as a family alongside him so he can see us enjoying it. DS1 has eaten anything and everything since the day we started weaning and it feels so stressful sitting with DS2 in his highchair squirming while DS1 tucks into colourful stirfrys and spicy curries.

I'm pretty sure gluten or wheat is a culprit as I have cut out gluten this week and seen an improvement in him already. So could I try some gluten free bread? what about gluten free pasta? I'd love to plonk a bowl of spag bol in front of him. Bad idea?

I'd love to hear your weaning stories! Thanks

What about more fruits? Always a winner with mine. Tbh I think he sounds fine. My kid wasn't a huge eater to begin with but she is now. Just carry on doing what your doing. I'm not sure kids need exciting foods to get interested in eating, it's all new.

Houmous is not low allergen, it is possible to be allergic to both the chickpeas and the sesame paste (tahini) i gave my DS1 houmous at 11 months and he had an anaphylactic shock to the sesame, you would be better to mash chickpeas yourself then you would know if he can tolerate chickpeas.

My DS1 wouldn't chew and only had 2 teeth till he was one so pretty much just ate pureed fruit, veg, pulses and cereal for first few months, when i started getting more adventurous (houmous, egg..) thats when the allergies became apparent. There are plenty of different veg and fruit combos then tasty casseroles you can make which avoid all these allergens.

Whoops! I but the bullet and he had some humous yesterday. No severe reaction thankfully and he loved it! I forgot about the sesame which I know is an allergen but I didn think chick peas would be a problem. He does have a couple of tiny dry red spots around his mouth today though, but I'm sure ds1 (no allergies) had similar skin around the time of weaning - it doesn't automatically mean an allergy does it? You can only see them if youre his mother, they're pretty insignifiant i think.

He has also tried mango today which went down v well. And butternut squash too. I have been a bit slack on the 3 day rule as you can tell. I suppose I'm a bit in denial about potential allergies and also a bit impatient, not the right attitude I know.

I'm going to find this whole thing a bit of a challenge I think...

Ok so DS now has a little red rash under his mouth. It appeared quite soon after dinner,
He had avocado and a bit of hummous. The rash appeared within an hour and lasted about an hour. It's likely to be the hummous right? He only had one lick off a (gluten free) breadstick. DH keeps telling me it's just a bit of soreness where the food was left on his skin too long, DS1 had a few of these sorts of rashes with no allergies. What do I do next - stop hummous all together? Give it on it's own and see what happens? I guess I shld wait til the allergy testing next week...

I would wait till the testing, it could be anything, though a rash can be caused by an allergen.

if he likes the hummus, just whizz up some chickpeas for him in the meantime, then at least you know whats in it.

Back with another weaning Q. What about oats - are they high risk? I'd love to make him proper porridge or porridge fingers. And I presume I can give gluten free bread/breadsticks etc?

It takes on average three times of trying a food to develop a severe reaction, so that something to bear in mind. If you are going to give high allergen foods, try doing it in the morning, so you can see what happens in the day.

Gf breads tend to have egg in so might not be suitable. Gf bread sticks are pretty innocuous as are rice cakes. Oats are pretty low allergen but can contain gluten. Rice flakes make a nice porridge.

Thanks for the reply. I tried hummous gain today (3rd time) and while he didnt really enjoy it, he didnt react in any way. It was only an hour ago so will keep an eye out.

I was going to make gf bread with no egg, and also I have bought gluten free oats, so porridge shld be ok.

Thanks again!