Weaning HELP!!!!!!

[tobytoes]

Hi guys!!! Need some help. My littlens coming up to 6 months and im worried about her starting solids,the advice is so confusing...baby led weaning? Puree's? finger goods? Lumps or no lumps? Grandparents mothers and sisters telling me different things..Arrrrrr....where do i start? She isnt sitting up by herself yet but the advice says she should be able to sit unaided before starting solids..health visitor said to put her straight on finger foods because when shes 6 months shes passed the puree' stage...is that right?? Im breastfeeding her exclusively at the moment and ive read so many different pieces of advice im a little scared and dont know where to start!! Feeling like im making too much of a big deal about this and im sure once i start her on solids ill wonder why i made so much fuss but for now......Help!!!

It's daunting, isn't it.
The truth is, there is no right and wrong about weaning. There are many possible ways of going about it. You should find out information by talking to people and reading whatever you can. Then try whatever method you think will suit you and your DD.

Baby lead weaning is popular these days, especially on MN, but it isn't for everyone. You can certainly give your DD some finger foods and pieces of food to suck on. See how she goes on that.

Puree is also a perfectly good way of going about it. She is not too old for that. The more traditional way of weaning is with pureed veg, baby rice etc fed with a spoon.

Personally, I did a combination of the two. I gave my children purees, rice etc with a spoon and also some finger foods to feed themselves at each meal. I felt like I was giving them the best of both worlds.

Most importantly, don't stress about what everyone else says. Do what feels right and works for you and your baby. Take it slowly and give her lots of time to get used to new flavours and textures. She won't like everything first time, but she'll soon enjoy eating as much as the rest of us.
Good luck!

tobytoes it might help if you post in weaning here

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/weaning

your HV is talking rubbish about being too late for a mash.What does your little one "say" with her behaviour?Has she expressed any interest in food yet?

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/weaning

Ummmmm no dont think shes that interested as yet..thanks for posting both and ill have a look on that thread lime .
ruth thanks for that bit of advice,think illtry both and see how she gets on. Theres so much information and advice out there its hard to know what to do for the best.x

Iv had a tuff start weaning. I exclusively BF till DS was 6 months (now 8 1/2M) I started him on purees at 6 months no lumps very smooth. It started well till he refused to open his mouth and gagged on everything. Only this week has he started eating again, the HV have been useless telling me he has to eat solids! Of course I know that but I wasn't going to hold him down and force feed him! I don't think there's a right way. You know your baby and will see naturally what he/she is ready for and can cope with. I was Gavin breakdowns about my sons eating, until someone said to me "iv never met an duly who doesn't no how to eat" it's so true. After that iv stopped worrying and let him continue BF, still offering food but not worrying when he doesn't take it. I managed to break him with Fromage frais! It was the only thing he'd open his mouth for. He's now used to them and is now happy to try lots - a fav being mash potato and gravy! I know not the healthiest but at the moment I just want to make sure he's not scared of food as it was becoming a bit of an issue (major freak outs any time a spoon came close). We are slowely getting there bit behind everyone else but hey! Don't worry yourself so what feels right to you

Put your baby in a high chair or on your knee when you eat and just let her play with the food on your plate, whether that be mashed potato or carrot or bits of chicken or toast. Don't worry about whether she eats anything or not at this stage, just let her play with it, throw it, gum it, ignore it, whatever.

It can sometimes take several months to get the hang of eating, DS was 9.5 months before he ate anything of any real note, so just relax and let her enjoy mealtimes with you, it will come naturally in the end.

Thanks pascha and hayley will try and be a bit more relaxed about it all i think. I think theres so much advice out there you dont know what to do for the best. Hayley thats what my health visitor said to me,start her off on finger foods.x

I've weaned two and both were ebf too. One was done with purees and the other was blw. Babies were weaned on purees because they used to be weaned so early that you couldn't give them proper food. Maybe some of the people "advising" you don't realise that the advice had changed to 6 months and that babies of this age can just eat what the rest if the family eats?

Having said all of that it is entirely upto you whether you offer family food straightaway or offer purees and finger food. Neither is the right way, just do what you and your Lo are happy with and try to remember that at this age it is more about exploring taste and texture rather than seeing how much food you can ram into them

The advice is to bf an hour before offering solids until they are one, then you can offer solids before milk. With that in mind Dd probably won't eat much for a while anyway.

Thanks jingle i didt know that!! So bf an hour before offering her anything. I think ill try a mix of purees and finger foods and let her deceide. With purees,how much did you all give your lo's??

Read about weaning with purée's and BLW- and if you do one or the other or a mix of both its up to you!

I've done both and prefer BLW but it depends on you and your baby as to which will work best for you.

Just embrace the mess!

She'll probably only eat a few small spoonfuls at first, best to he lead by her and there is no need to make the purees smoth at this age you can just mash your food if you want to spoon feed.

You may find she will refuse the spoon though and prefer to feed herself, that's what my dd did!

With purée's about an ice cube's worth to begin with :)

Okay thanks jingle and buddy and everyone else youve been very helpful. Feel a bit better about starting to wean now.....last question,does it matter that she isnt sitting up by herself?

Think the nhs guidelines say that they should be able to stay in a sitting position unaided, be able to swallow food and be able to pick food up, look at it and put it in their mouths. If she isn't meeting all of these she may just not be ready, there is no harm in waiting a coup,e of weeks, have a google of kellymom why delay solds, it has some really good information.

See if there is a la leche league group near to you as they sometimes have talks on weaning

Thanks jingle will look into all that. Youve been very helpful,i feel much better about it now and a bit more confident.x

Good. It can be really daunting and things don't always go the way you planned, like our DD being a total spoon refuser but just try to stay calm and relaxed and have a camera ready .