Looking for Classes for Solid Food for My Baby

[EmmasFather]

Dear Mums at Mumsnet,

I am a new father. I want to do a great job bringing up my child. I am able to feed her milk. But I want to give her solids and need help in that department. Can someone guide me. Happy to pay.

Thanks and much regards
Emma's Father

Ask your health visitor or buy a weaning book/online .

You can get advice from your Health Visitor.
I was given a book by Annabel Karmel which was pretty helpful.
I don't think you'll need a class.

How old is your baby? Is your baby being breastfed so far?

a new baby (you say new father) doesn't need solids for many months possibly limited solids up till two years based on WHO recommendations.

There is a weaning topic on Mumsnet where you can ask questions or browse to see if anyone has asked about the same things you want to know about.

www.mumsnet.com/talk/weaning

Google is your friend here but not something you need to worry about until at least 6 months old. Where is the mum?

I always cooked from scratch for myself so I just cooked a little extra and didn't use any salt. I then blitzed it down to the correct consistency for age and the kids had it reheated the next day. It worked for both of mine and it's what my mum did.
Hope that helps

NCT has online classes about weaning in our area. It's a 2h online thing, great to ask questions and get started.

I'm sure there are other providers.who do this, but they're usually promoting very specific methods like Baby Led Weaning rather than being open minded about the different options. They should cover the basics about allergen, portion size and safely cutting food though.

For ideas about recipes from day 1, I really recommend Solid Start. I wish I had used it sooner, it also has some good advice about allergen and how to cut food safely in each recipe. You can get the app for a couple of quids a month I think.

If you have a good HV you trust, you can always ask. Ours were useless though so I can't recommend.

Download the solid starts app - it's super helpful and free - they also have weaning plans that you can buy if you want!

Single dads exist, you know.

The wording is oddly formal though.

This is the link for NCT. Cost is £35 so not too onerous.

www.nct.org.uk/courses-workshops/nct-introducing-solid-foods-workshop

Fathers don't feed their kids in your world?

I agree it feels “off” but English may not be the OPs first language and that can sometimes have this effect.

Giving benefit of doubt until now - have a read online there is lots and lots of advice out there.

@MyProudHare separated new fathers equally want to have joint custody and 50/50 at a stage when the babies need to bond with their mothers.

If this was a mum asking I’m sure no one would ask where’s the dad?

You are really rude

Thank you all for your great suggestions. This is a very active community.

Thank you. I'll go through Annabel Karmel this weekend.

Ignore some of the comments

@Crushgrape rude enough to see multiple mn posts of new mom's being coerced and bullied into 50/50 ideas with newborns.

I know plenty families where the man does all the cooking. This is a good thing, not something to be suspicious of.

Nct course is good.
It's pretty easy tbh, once you introduced allergens/ first foods you pretty much just give them whatever you normally eat. Avoid salt and honey.

Maybe in a simple world, that's how it works.

But not all mums are in a fit state to parent through ill health etc. The mum might even have passed away, who knows?

"new" father needs to quickly learn that "new" babies don't need solids.

Even if a dad is only seeing their baby for an hour every other week it is possible he would need to feed the baby during that hour 🙄