To think that ‘just feed them what you eat’ when weaning is much harder than it sounds unless you already make everything from scratch?

[AliceinSlumberland]

I’ve got a 6 month old and we’re doing a bit of a mixed BLW/mushed up approach which is working for us, but I’m struggling with the ‘just feed them what you eat’ advice. I hate cooking, I should start by saying, so I have become a bit more reliant on easy to make meals, especially after a long day at work, but these just aren’t comparable with BLW. For example, I make a hotpot every so often but I use one of the packet mixes and I just feel overwhelmed about how to make it without that? Same with sausage casserole - but the baby can’t have these things as the packets have too much salt for him.

Sometimes I’ll make a pasta bake with a jar, and I do know how to make the sauce myself but it takes a lot longer. I feel like I’m having to rejig our entire menu and find new meals to have, so it’s not anywhere near as simple as ‘just feed them what you eat’ unless you’re already making everything from scratch?

Any simple hotpot recipes with less salt appreciated!

@bakewellbride yep I can do jacket potatoes etc no problem and actually I do cook things like spag Bol from scratch, but I guess there are some parts that I don’t and so will need to adapt.

DT’s were weaned on jars and pouches - we worked our way through the ranges for the different age groups. Definitely did not want to do blw - too messy and time consuming for me.
By the time we got in from nursery we had very little time to feed them before bed so the jars and pouches worked well for us. No difficulty moving to other foods and no fussy eaters.

I just want to say a huge thank you for all the links and suggestions - I’ve saved them all to my notes app so I’ve got somewhere to go when I need a new recipe! And you’ve put my mind at rest, I was being to rigid, and actually if he has the same as us most nights, I can do him from frozen veg pasta sauce on my beloved pasta bake night 😂

Buy a bag of mixed frozen veg.
Bung a handful in the steamer / pan of water, and put on baby high chair tray.
Babies LOVE messing with it, it's pretty, healthy and already bite sized.

My daughter has an allergy that directly
conflicts with my own dietary needs. So for the first few months of weaning we very rarely ate the same thing. We did some purées etc and then gradually introduced “proper” food options. We now eat the same thing more frequently but I’d say more often than not she eats differently just for need. She definitely enjoys it when she eats alone with daddy and can see their meals are the same though! My point though is that she eats well, is thriving and eats a larger variety of foods than I do despite this! My advice is to find what works for your family and enjoy!

DD really loved corn on the cob when she was weaning, I'd cook up several of the half length ones and let them go cold, then put them in a snack box for when we were out over snack time. Have a great picture of her in the supermarket trolley seat going all cave girl gnawing on her corn, it would keep her happy and occupied for ages.

unfortunately salt is the least of the problem with packet mixes. many contain MSG, and tonnes of preservatives and additives which are problematic. lots of easy recipe ideas by PPs, maybe try a few of those out?

try the tray bake recipes on the BBC goodfood website, those are handy... an easy daal and rice recipe, simple stir fry, soups, these are things that will help you get through the week. I often cook extra portions of things that can be frozen so I always have emergency rations. I also by ready chopped frozen shallots, garlic and various veg to make prep easier

You could always take out a handful of the pasta and add something else to it
Tuna, sweetcorn and mayo to cold pasta
Creme fraiche makes a quick creamy sauce, tiny bit of chopped ham, or some cheese plus veg
It doesn't have to be complex though, even just the pasta with a little olive oil or butter on it, a bit of shredded left over chicken off the hot counter and some cucumber is great

I’m currently at this stage and agree with other posters that things can often be adapted, e.g. if I’m doing a quick pasta with a pre made sauce I will give the baby plain pasta with a few bits of grated cheese and possibly a veg such as cucumber or avocado on the side.

Also, once I have cleared all the uneaten food from the floor, high chair, tucked inside the baby clothes I am estimating only about 10-20% of what I am giving is actually being consumed. If a small amount of saltier food is being given it is unlikely with blw that much actually goes in at this age. If you are spoon feeding where the baby is eating larger portions I would be much stricter with salt and sugar content.

You’re an adult. What babies’ kidneys can handle is completely different.

incredible it needs to be pointed out

I agree with you.

Yes, preparing veg from the garden as I have all summer can take a fair bit of time if you include digging the potatoes and carrots, but you can do frozen veg!
But realistically faffing about with jars (shop for jar, bring home put away in cupboard, find correct jar I'm looking for in cupboard of other jars, open jar with a bit of a struggle, poor it out, rinse out jar into cooking, then wash up jar, take it to the glass bank for recycling) doesn't take much longer than chopping up a bit of meat &/or veg and slinging it in the oven/microwave/slow cooker with a sprinkling of herbs and some garlic.
And as other posters say, cook what you're having without salt or the sauce you're going to use, hive off baby portion, then add salt or whatever jar of sauce to the rest (if you like salt that is)

Did BLW with our second because I didn’t want to waste money on pouches like we did with our first or waste space in the cupboard. Definitely fed him what we ate because most of it was food that could easily be made into a little meal, steamed veggies, mash potatoes, tender meats pulled apart into tiny pieces. Pasta is a staple and a light coating of sauce is easily made with a bit of the hot leftover pasta water mixed with grated cheese. Bits of soft fruit that I would have cut up anyway for myself and the oldest. I still seasoned our food as normal with herbs and not a heavy salt or sugar user anyway nor use jar sauces and packets. Mess was minimal and could be easily wiped up in seconds.

Start simple and don't expect top standard- aim for edible lol!

Have a couple of easier days like jacket potato and filling like cheese/ beans or salad and rice/ cous cous with oven cooked or pan fried chicken- baby can have plain or a mild flavour and you can have a sauce/ spice on. They used to sell paper wraps that you put chicken on and fry (still in paper) 10 mins each side which was very easy to do then in time make your own.

When you do a big meal like a tray bake or hotpot and you've spent a bit longer on a baby friendly version, make extra and freeze some in tubs to use on days when you're not having baby friendly food.

Balanced is the key. It might be baby has the jar version of a meal sometimes but you can water it down or mix with other food like veg/ rice/ pasta so it's not full on flavour.

I say this and my 2 closest friends literally fed babies whatever's on their menu from 6 months, 1 big family meals like spag Bol and the other pizza, chips or pouches.

Don't overthink it op. You have a busy life.
Google baby food ideas for easy wins, like sandwiches, toast, soft veg and where possible save some to freeze or for the next day.

Still enjoy real life too lol

I’m all honesty at 6 months they eat so very little you’re really overthinking it. Don’t worry about the eat what you eat thing unless it actually helps you (eg you’re doing veg anyway and give some to the baby). I used to batch cook things like courgette muffins that were easy finger foods but I was never going to be eating those….

I’ve got photos of both of mine at 6 months and really they were just having tastes of sticks of fruit and stuff and gradually moved to 3 meals a day by 9 months. With my second it was much easier as it was a case of eat what the first one was having which was always suitable, low salt etc. I’m not sure we’ve ever had a week where we’ve all eaten the same evening meal. I reckon we’re about 50:50 through the week even now mine are older just because of timings re work, different food preferences etc.

@PleaseUseTheSanitaryBinsProvided
I realise that now so I looked it up - that link I shared was saying that there's very little actual evidence for it though (the kidney theory).
But again

I have always cooked from.scratch but throw a baby in and I struggled as your said it takes extra time. The only thing that worked was once a week I batch cook and then wack everything into the freezer.
Lasagne, curry, pasta sauce, shepards pie, chill I concarni, soup etc.
Even LOL snacks now and then I would bake a batch of baby suitable Muffins, pancakes, pinwheels and then freeze

For a baby just starting you are right about low salt and no sugar.
Staples I used .. canned fruit in own juce, fresh fruit, plain yoghurt and Hommas, rolled oats made into porridge, whole meal bread and butter, spreads, whole wheat crackers, weetabix, tastes of adult food served (meat, rice, pasta etc.), cheese and eggs (when appropriate), coupled with plain steamed vegetables and salad.
It's the addition of vegetables and salad, that becomes part of family meals, which makes the food very baby friendly.
Vegetables can be canned or fresh. Aim for preparing two or three vegetable types that can be steamed, microwaved, boiled or roasted to add as sides to any meals. Cold slices of capsicum, cucumbers, tomato etc also suffice.
I recently saw a smaller bench top slow cooker and steamer that would be perfect for preparing vegetables for children.

Hot Pot can be any vegetables, any chopped up meat, any stock (low salt) to cover and slow cooked.
Take out baby's portion before adding extra salt, herbs, spices, curry, gravox, soup mix commercial type flavours that your adult palate prefers, to the final cooking.
Frozen low salt children's crumbed fish, sausages and any roast meat are tolerated by kids when adults are having tastier, spicier or more processed meats with pastas or vegies.

Freezer veg, eggs and toast are what are offered in this house when the alternative is to liquify shop-bought pizza or chicken nuggets.

If I'm cooking one night, I tend to save a couple of baby-sized "meals" in little pots for the next couple of days. So a mushed up mini roast dinner, stir fry without the sauce, chilli and potato etc. I'll usually aim to get at least 3 baby meals out of each home-cooked meal for the days when my older one is having beige freezer muck.

It only takes a couple of minutes to boil some veg so everything gets a side of veg in this house, even if it doesn't go with the meal.

Yes no added sugar, but they rely on cheap veg to bulk them out, which is why carrot, tomatoes and sweet potatoes are often the main ingredient, with anything that isn’t savoury relying on apple puree.

The average pouch has 4g of sugar, so 4-5 pouches a day is giving your baby 16-20g of sugar assuming she isn’t given any fruit or pudding based pouches, which are typically around 5g of sugar. 20g of sugar is 5 teaspoons.

I make sure I eat breakfast with her every morning which makes me feel better about that. We have porridge and fruit, toast or she sometimes has overnight weetabix (mash a weetabix with a dribble of milk, mash half a banana in with it, add a big spoon of Greek yoghurt and a little bit of nut butter on top) then it’s literally got to be pulled out of the fridge in the morning.

We're very much a meat / fish and two veg type, so each time I made a meal I would make a little extra.
Then I would mash it together and freeze it in individual tubs, so there was always something to hand if we were having something like a hot curry or we were eating out.
Otherwise they ate what we were eating that day.
As they got a little older and past the initial weaning stage, I'd just make it fork mashable instead of blended.

I’m assuming you’re joking. It’s not time consuming to add jars and pouches to the weekly shop and then warm it up? What’s the comment about taking it to the recycling bank for?
Thankfully past this stage now but when you drop six month old DT’s at nursery by 8am and collect by 5.30 or 6pm you need every time saving method possible - jars and pouches.

I’m not here to tell you how to cook now. But what are your plans going forward? Once your child is fully onto solids what is your plan then? What are planning to feed them when they are 2? When they are 4 or 5? What about 8? If it’s completely not suitable to give the child a small sample of the food now, why would it be appropriate for a 5 year old to have a full meal of it?

I’ve also never really understood this approach because seems to me they literally can’t eat many things until they have decent teeth. We eat a lot of salad - how on earth can a 18mo eat that?? Soups and mushy ok. But what about steak, salad, stir fry! My child can’t eat those things now even let alone at 6m! He only has 7 teeth!!

They literally eat such a tiny amount of those things I'd just serve it with extra veg