To ask how to wean baby onto solids..

[MotherHaryy]

Baby is now 6 months old and ready for foods, but I have no idea what kind of foods she should be eating or what to stay away from? I feel like such a rubbish mum because I should know but I don't know where to stay at all..

Please can I know some breakfast lunch and dinner ideas? Thank you!!

Also wondering if that means it would make my baby sleep longer as she currently wakes 6 times a night - literally every hour until she comes into my bed but co-sleeping is no longer an option due to how mobile she is x

Don't expect her to eat loads at the start. Just give her a bit of what your eating - boiled veg sticks are great for babies. She can eat anything just not whole nuts, honey or too much salt & sugar. And cut grapes in half. Sleep may improve - but may not - sorry!

Don't feel bad! It's an exciting stage but can be a bit daunting if he's your first. Try following Ella's Kitchen on fb for ideas if that's helpful for you. First weaning foods are normally fruits and veg. Some say avoid bananas as they can make poop firmer, but my DS loved them and it was OK in our case. Are you thinking of baby led or purees based weaning etc? We ended up doing mainly purees to begin with. I had an excellent book called Flavour Led Weaning from Amazon which was brilliant for us. Also I was a bit OCD on avoiding choke hazards (whole nuts, whole beans/chickpeas etc) just bc I didn't want to take the risk. Also at first it can be more exploring tastes and textures as they still rely on the milk for nutrition and data etc. Xxx

*sorry, she!.. Not he

We used the Ella's kitchen pouches and discovered that my LO didn't like fruit. She barely ate anything but liked boiled runner beans, broccoli and cauliflower at first. We also tried baby rice with some expressed breast milk for breakfast which helped. Enjoy trying a little of everything. It'll be messy but fun.

Just give her food off your plate to begin with

Also the last word should have been "fats" not "data" (random!)

I fed baby a little of whatever we had and sticks of cucumber, fruit, I made porridge into discs. Cheesy scones were a favourite. I had bad sleepers and weaning didn't help them sleep I'm afraid. I think as long as nothing like mentioned before (whole nuts, grapes etc) give them a little bit to try and don't worry if not much gets eaten. I will admit with my second after some right mess I resorted to pasta without sauce and he now only ever wants plain pasta but when they were under 2 my kids would eat pretty much anything. Good luck!

It’s fun but messy! I made purées of fruit and veg. You can buy baby snacks or make your own. Baby porridge (some will say not but I did) with breast milk or formula. They mostly squish it and play but it’s all fun.
Don’t stress. Milk is their main nutrition until aged 1.

Fruit puree/mash in porridge with her normal milk. Soft cooked veg, fruit, pasta, rice, bread, egg

With the first baby I did the homemade purees and gave a lot of thought to what food I gave her (to throw on the floor). With the second it was whatever I had to hand and bought baby food. Both approaches have a similar success.
Just avoid too much salt (but they can have some, a slice of bread for example is way under the limit) and avoid choking hazards (whole grapes or cherry tomatoes). You can give them whole pieces but you can also roughly mash whatever you’re eating to help them.
It takes ages for them to really eat properly and for me it was an overnight rather than gradual change so don’t think you’re doing it wrong if nothing happens for months.

Have a look at baby led weaning, there will be lots of ideas on Google. It's good for hand eye coordination and keeping them busy for a while. I combined that with some pouches/ ready brek etc depending on where we were and how hungry DD seemed.
Things to avoid are any added salt or sugar and honey (botulism risk), and obviously choking hazards like whole nuts and berries/grapes.
Dont be put off if little one doesn't like something first time, don't make a big deal and continue to offer a variety of things as they are getting used to all sorts of flavours.
Good luck 😁

Join some baby led weaning groups. Give her foods off your plate. Baby led is my preference so you don’t have to bother with purées and you can all eat together rather than feed baby then feed yourself. We had the river cottage cookbook and still use it 8 years later because they’re family foods.
Avoid honey until she’s 1. Watch sugar and salt content of foods so she has as little as possible.
Good websites are start4life and first steps nutrition.
Ring your HV for advice also.
Make it fun.

Don't stress and if she's not ready, delay for a week or two.
You can give finger food, purée or a mix.
No honey or nuts. Cut grapes in quarter lengthways. In fact, I wouldn't give grapes for a good few months.
You can give peanut butter, but watch carefully and only give a small amount in case of allergy.
The Annabel Karmel baby and toddler cookbook has some nice recipes.
Try to give lots of veggies, and give meals that the family eats. Don't fall into the beige trap...it is hard to break.
It'll be fine!

You can sign up on the Ella’s kitchen website to get a free pack with wall chart, stickers and advice and if you are in the boots baby club you can get a free Ella’s kitchen recipe book too. We mostly followed their approach for the first two weeks, a small taste of a different fruit or veg each day, then combos of fruit and veg then dairy then meat. We only did once a day though to start with, and moved on to two meals a day by 6 1/2 months (started at five and a half) and three meals a day by 7, by then she usually had porridge with fruit, sandwich, cucumber and a fruit or yogurt pouch for lunch and either something some home made (from one of my baby recipe books) or a meal pouch for dinner.

I started my dd with purees - just boiled some veg and blended it down, froze in muffin trays then bagged it up. I did single flavours but would then blend (carrot, sweet potato, parsnip, brussel sprout, brocolli, cauliflower...).

Think I only kept with the purees on their own for a few weeks, though I sometimes stirred plain yoghurt through (she loved the brussels with yoghurt). I then gave her toast fingers with the purees on so she could feed herself, then switched to what we were having. It took a wee while for her to even play with finger food she was given, but now (at 10 months) she'll try anything. She does prefer to use her hands over us using a spoon, which means she's adept at feeding herself and making a mess at the same time. A proper multitasker!!!