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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To ask for your tips in weaning baby!

38 replies

Chocoholism · 08/05/2014 19:12

Soon to be 6 months and I've got a sure start session to attend next week for weaning but I'm clueless and I wonder if any tips you can give me....

OP posts:

stargirl1701 · 08/05/2014 19:14

Get the Baby Led Weaning Book from the library. So easy. You just give a wee bit of what you're having. We did switch to ultra low salt stock cubes (Boots baby ones) but that was the only cooking change. Add adult salt at the table.

We started with slices of roasted butternut squash.

Mrsjayy · 08/05/2014 19:19

just remember weaning is just little tastes of food and puree if you want to go down that route is fine honestly , enjoy your session it will be fun dont worry

ThinkIveBeenHacked · 08/05/2014 19:20

"food is fun until they are one" - milk first, solids after. We did finger foods straight away and I bloody loved it!

Mrsjayy · 08/05/2014 19:22

oh sometimes they will gag dont panic

ICanSeeTheSun · 08/05/2014 19:23

Relax a baby will not starve and if you get stressed the baby will sense it.

TwoAndTwoEqualsChaos · 08/05/2014 19:32

I found The Contented Book of Weaning very helpful, as I felt the HVs were too vague and my Mother said it was over 30 years since she had weaned a baby, so she declined to offer an opinion. I didn't follow it slavishly, but it gave me a good idea of amounts, types of food, some recipes, number of milk feeds. I know some people find her divisive, but it worked well for us and I have good, unfussy eaters now. I think also I found time too pressured for BLW and mine have all been slow teeth cutters so purée-ing worked for us!

TwoAndTwoEqualsChaos · 08/05/2014 19:33

I found The Contented Book of Weaning very helpful, as I felt the HVs were too vague and my Mother said it was over 30 years since she had weaned a baby, so she declined to offer an opinion. I didn't follow it slavishly, but it gave me a good idea of amounts, types of food, some recipes, number of milk feeds. I know some people find her divisive, but it worked well for us and I have good, unfussy eaters now. I think also I found time too pressured for BLW and mine have all been slow teeth cutters so purée-ing was helpful!

Albertatata · 08/05/2014 19:44

Just go with the flow and don't follow a style as it were. I personally think the whole BLW thing is a bit of a storm in a teacup. Offer finger foods and spoon feed other stuff - yoghurt, weetabix. Do what suits your family & time pressures. I had much more time for DS1 and did alot more finger foods whereas DS2 I'm mashing up much more and spoon feeding and then letting him play and eat finger foods at the same time. Don't over think it just offer what available! (But avoid honey & salt obviously!)

CMOTDibbler · 08/05/2014 19:46

Make healthy food for your whole family, and chuck some of it on the babys highchair tray and let them get on with it. Spend the time you could be spending making purees learning new family food recipes you can cook for the next 16 years and everyone will be better off.

callamia · 08/05/2014 19:51

See what your baby likes to do too. Mine wants to be involved in soon feeding, which leads to messy chaos, but he's great at shoving finger food in his own mouth.

You don't need to subscribe to any school of weaning in particular, since most of their nutrients are coming from milk, you've got plenty of space to try stuff out. If it seems like they're eating nothing at first, don't worry about it - it's deceptive and it'll soon develop. Oh! And remember a bit of water to help avoid constipation.

trashcanjunkie · 08/05/2014 19:54

Don't bother! It's a messy bloody faff. I just made sure there was unsalted food on the table and I delayed solids until they (twins) were almost a year old and able to help themselves. It was a revelation. Look at La Leche League for further info. Now have strapping nine year olds who'll eat most things.

trashcanjunkie · 08/05/2014 19:55

oh and remember, their tummies are absolutely tiny, like, satsuma sized (if that)

HighwayDragon · 08/05/2014 19:58

buy a big plastic sheet for the floor, dont buy a highchair with loads of nooks and crannies, make surenyou mop up wheatabix and porridge straight away that shit sets like concrete

LuisSuarezTeeth · 08/05/2014 20:01

Make it safe and hygienic.

Use your instinct.

And what everyone else said

Chunderella · 08/05/2014 20:03

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

AnythingNotEverything · 08/05/2014 20:08

Just share your food. Banana is easy, apple and pear just need lightly stewing (ie cooking in some water in the microwave for a couple of minutes), cut some root veg into big chip shapes and roast/steam them.

You don't have to purée, you don't have to use pouches. For weeks and weeks they eat barely anything.

Above all, don't stress about it. It's just food.

HighwayDragon · 08/05/2014 20:15

Anything thats not true. I weaned dd (on medical advice) at15 weeks, by 18 weeks she was having a jar and a half a day, along with finger fruit and small amount of baby porridge.

FamiliesShareGerms · 08/05/2014 20:19

Just don't make a big deal about it - it's not really!

MollyBdenum · 08/05/2014 20:24

Eat non-salty food.

Sit the baby on your lap at mealtimes.

Continue with milk feeding on cue.

One day your baby will start eating food from your plate. This might be straight away or it might take months. Don't worry. You are offering food and the baby will eat when he or she is ready.

A month or so after that, or maybe longer, your baby will be eating enough to need his or her own portion of food on a plate. At this point, start offering cutlery, even though it will probably be ages before it gets used.

SaucyJack · 08/05/2014 20:27

Avoid salt and choking hazards.

Other than that.... just prepare a variety of foods and give them to the baby. It's only complicated if you want it to be.

parentalunit · 08/05/2014 20:43

Be ok with mess. Ikea do good bibs (I think they are actually art shirts) which have long sleeves and a pocket. Cook or parboil veggies to make them easier to chew/gum. Chop up into reasonable chunks. Let your baby self-feed if they want to. Enjoy! Take lots of pictures, they're fun to look back on :)

AnythingNotEverything · 08/05/2014 21:04

Sorry Highway - what was wrong in my post?

Most babies who wean at 6 months (as the OP's baby is) don't eat much for the first few weeks ... You don't need to do purees if baby is around 6 months and ready (lost tongue thrust reflex, sitting well, good head control etc).

I'm not being arsey - I'm genuinely interested

trashcanjunkie · 08/05/2014 23:38

I may be wrong and quite prepared to be corrected if so, but I remember being taught at a LLL conference with HCP and midwives and HV's in attendance, that in France (at some point) it was illegal to feed babies under one solid food without a prescription.... Anyway, it's an emotive topic, each baby is different, and it's hard to find the quiet in your own mind to listen to what your intuition tells you. You can read all the books in the world, watch all the videos and listen to all the advice going - and you may end up horribly confused! The fact is, one way or another we've managed to pretty much wean our babies since the dawn of time. It is that thought to hold on to! You will muddle your way through it, and come out smiling (and maybe sometimes having cried ) but it will happen, and your baby will be fine, I'm sure, because you sound like a person who cares enough to go and try to find out more!

olympicsrock · 09/05/2014 07:16

I was really worried about it but in the end it was great to see DS enjoying the taste of things so much. I read all about BLW and was quite keen. In the end ,we did purees to start with and then finger food. It was just right for us.

My practical tips
Lots of plastic backed cheap bibs. Put an old bib on before trying banana. It stains horrifically - need to wash stains straightaway e.g. with washing up liquid. Parsnip is a good vegetable to start with as it is not orange -less mess then carrot. My secret weapon was the plastic tubs of soft perfectly ripe pears in natural juice you can buy from most supermarkets. Really quick to make your own puree and then portion into ice cube trays. I always found myself waiting forever for the pear to ripen and then they went brown. It's a good one to blend with other things - i used it to tempt DS to try vegetable purees.
Buy some Ellas kitchen pouches. Strong flavour and often a bit runny but you can make them go further e.g. mix the mango one with apple puree - tastes great but less sloppy. Good for on the run too. Also have some baby rice to stir into things as a thickener - if things are too runny then when your baby grabs the spoon food flies everywhere. Try each flavour at least 10 times before saying that they don't like something. Taste is partly about familiarity.

Best advice is not to stress but enjoy it.

Artandco · 09/05/2014 07:24

Highway- most babies don't eat that much. 15 weeks is not the recommended weaning age. 6 months is recommended and under 17 weeks is a complete no no. Milk should still be main source of calories until 1 year. So many are happily full of milk so jut want a little food.

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