Weaning - homemade or jars/pouches????

[Jaclyneyre84]

i have been weaning my little boy for about 3 weeks now(he is a week shy of 6 months), he loves his baby porridge and we have never had a problem feeding him with it. however at lunch time he really dosent want homemade food. he will keep his mouth closed at refuse it. I have tried giving him his own spoon and encouraging him, making it happy and playful but not much works. if I manage to feed him half I consider that a success!! we have better luck with carrots and banana (separately), even when I have tried mixing veggies together he dosent want it. I was away over the weekend on hols so got the pre made jars and pouches and he loved them and feeding was so much easier and happier and calmer for all. but I didn't really want to go the premade route, but if that if is all that works should I??
does anyone else have any tips or suggestions or even recipes that worked for them??
thanks all x

My ds changed his preferences very quickly at this stage. He's 6 1/2 months now and was weaned at 5 1/2 months. First on mashed sweet potato and pear and things spoon fed, and I made a baby lentil soup he likes just water, sweet potato, carrots and lentils.But any fruit cooked, blended, he would eat.
He eats pretty much anything now as in lunch today chicken, avocado and bits of a peach, he had 1/2 a bagel with cream cheese for breakfast and some mango pieces.
but doesn't really like being spoon fed.
He picks it up himself and eats it but will also open his mouth for bits to be put in.
That's the difference for me in a month.
Hope that helps.

I did Baby Led weaning so my babies just started on normal family food- we completely sidestepped the issue of spoonfeeding purees/jars etc.

Could it be the texture? I know jars and pouches tend to be very smooth... could you blend a bit longer maybe?

I just re read my post, and it sounds a bit stealth boast like but ,I was trying to make the point that buying pouches might be an idea just now, they change all the time.
Like above said it could be texture, as the pouches are really smooth, so blend it loads and try again. i read a study regarding trying the same thing 3 days in a row, and see if the reaction changes, also remember food just now is extra, they can survive on just milk, so just try teeny bits, then give up.
why did you wean him before 6 months, as in what made you try it?
I did it as ds was becoming really angry at his lunchtime bottle and he kept trying to snatch stuff I was eating if he was sitting on me, and he took a bite out my sandwich so I decided I would try it.

Annabel karmel recipes were always popular with my DD it is a lot cheaper making your own but pouches or jars are very handy when you are out and about or going on holiday

Second vote for Annabelle Carmel here. My wee one has only had two pouches and hoovered them up but the smell and taste was so vile that I couldn't do it any more as I wouldn't eat them myself. Initially I blended everything to a very smooth wet texture using formula and then gradually made them more textured. When I first started he didn't like the thicker lumpier stuff. Having said all that if you've tried as hard as you can with home made and he point blank refuses then I'd just go with what he's happy to eat. You don't see 5 year olds eating jars of baby food! It's taken nearly 2 months for my ds to even try finger food but I just kept offering. If he wouldn't then I'd take it away immediately with no comment or fuss so that neither of us got stressed.

Variety is the spice of life! We gave the girls normal food, made sympathetically. Veg steamed till its firm enough to hold but soft enough to squash between your fingers. Bits of chicken or fish cut across the grain. I figured a successful day was 2 out three meals eaten well. Do remember a meal should consist of 5 portions and a portion is a handful and a baby has a very little hand. And avoid milk or snacks in the 2 hrs before a meal. Ifvyou don't battle the smooth texture preference issue now you will have to do it later and it's muuuch easier to tackle it early.

On the portion thing, don't only make 5 portions! Make loads only 5 portions need to go into baby the rest is for the floor (letting them play with it is great for encouraging further investigation by putting it in their mouth, and also good for developing hand eye coordination)

It might help to rethink the purpose of weaning - at not quite 6 months it is not about getting volumes of food into your baby. Rather it's about getting your LO to explore different tastes and textures, and learning to enjoy food and mealtimes.

Current NHS advice is to move towards 3 meals a day by about 8 to 9 months, which is ages away for your LO. You've got loads of time to try out lots of different tastes and textures - it doesn't matter if they aren't always accepted, it's the process of exploring that's important. As long as they are getting plenty of milk (breast or formula) then they will be fine in this learning period.

If you restrict what you offer to the very consistent, sweet and smooth shop bought baby food you run the risk of having a big battle on your hand later on. Offer a wide variety of things now and don't worry if they get refused, just keep offering.

Milk will satisfy your DS for a long time to come, like ExBrightonBell says, forget about how much DS eats, and simply offer some food, if he eats, fine, if he doesn't, try him next time.

I wouldn't think too much about meals or otherwise, just whenever you're eating offer something, and relax completely about it.

Also, babies can tell the nutritional content of food, so offering up carbs to a baby which really doesn't need carbs, they're simply not active enough, is less likely to be a hit than offering up the protein and fat they do need.

to answer some of the above questions..........
we started weaning at 5 months because as his parents we knew he was ready! he was 'chewing' his lips/mouth when we ate and intensely stared at us, he could sit up, and we gave him baby porridge he happily ate it with out pushing it out of his mouth.
he only has around the size of an ice cube (prob even smaller) for food and still has 5 bottles a day with 6-7oz of milk. we are not feeding him food to fill him up or replace his bottles yet, but to explore different tastes. the question I was asking was that he seems to favour the flavour of jars and pouches against homemade food. I know I said I manage to get him to eat half then he refuses, what I meant was that, by the look on his face he dosent like the taste at all, but will happily eat and eat a jar of food. am going to get a mine mesh sieve to try and get his food smoother - so thank you for that suggestion.
I have also let him discover food for himself which he likes - such as baby wafers and bananas, so will try other fruits and veggies.

really just wanted some advice not criticism - all baby's develop and progress at their own rate and having myself and all of my family worked for the NHS either now or at some point the advice is taken with a pinch of salt! trust your instincts as a parent, but gain any wisdom or hints and tips from others.

sorry for the rant, and thank you for your suggestions x

Many babies prefer the taste of the pouches / jars initially because of the additives, even those which say "nothing but goodness!" - they certainly taste sweeter than homemade, if you've tried them. If you cave now and give jars, you'll find it harder to get him to eat your homecooked food - unless he turns out to be one of those babies who scoffs everything. Dd2 wasn't interested in weaning at 6 months. She took a couple of spoons and was fairly happy to try tastes, but wasn't interested in more than that. I have a son with eating problems so I tried very hard with dd2 to not push it, to just keep giving her tasters, and fine if she didn't want it - I followed Annabel Karmel - and gave her finger foods too. She liked sucking on buttered toast fingers. At around 7mo she suddenly 'got it' and started to eat! She now loves my homecooked food and enjoys curries and dishes with plenty of flavour. A pouch or jar might seem the easy option but there will come a time when you want him to eat your meals with you, and then weaning him from pouches to homemade might be a pain in the proverbial. And jars / pouches cost a bomb, if you have to buy them for every meal, and meat + fruit once his appetite increases. That wasn't intended as criticism in any way - just advice based on my own experiences.

Depends what pouches you buy. Ella's/Plum are good and don't have additives or any nasties. Pouches aren't evil so don't feel judged for using them! I started off doing Annabel Karmel (got her books from charity shops) and DS liked her recipes a lot and still does (her finger food for toddlers book is really good). He also had pouches (Ella's and Plum) when we were out and about and they are particularly good on planes as we travel a lot. No mess and no spoons. Having pouches hasn't harmed him or made it difficult to give home made food. Sometimes, when he was teething and very very picky, there would be just one or two pouches he would like so better that than nothing!

Personally I think it's good to get them used to a mix of both home made and pouches.

I don't think you have had any criticism here. Really good advice actually from experienced and knowledgable Mothers.
Jars and pouches are generally very sweet or very bland, they rarely taste like proper food.
I am of the opinion that seeing as your child will be eating your cooking for the next 18 yeas or so you need to feed them the foods you eat yourself, providing your diet is suitable.
I don't like terms like BLW but I have read the book and it has a lot of useful advice.
What I believe posters were trying to say about the milk still being his main food is that it doesn't really matter if he isn't eating all the food you are giving him. Tastes are enough and grimacing when they taste something is ok.

No critism intended, just trying to give a complete answer, we answer without knowing the full situation and I'm sure most posters are aware of that. Without knowing you we don't know where you are at so making a flippant statement in answering seems wrong if you don't know if the person you are answering understands the context of your answer iyswim,...crikey that was a mouthful sorry, but really no offence intended, just find the bits you think will be useful and ignore the rest

I hope that you did not feel criticised by my post, I was just offering advice not trying to say that you were doing anything wrong.

Your question in your OP was should you "go down the pre-made route" if that is all he would take, plus you also asked for "any tips or suggestions". So my response was to that - no you shouldn't go down the route of only offering pouches/jars for the reasons I gave, and my suggestion was to just keep offering the food you would prefer him to take (e.g. homemade). The comment about milk was to attempt to reassure you that the volumes of food taken in at 6 months doesn't have to be large. The point about NHS advice was simply also to attempt to reassure you that there is plenty of time for weaning, so not to worry if things get rejected a few times.

thanks you - again sorry for the rant, no criticism on my side to the other users either! xx
thanks for all the tips, I think the jist of it is, persist with homemade - think I will till use he odd jar or pouch when out. will keep trying variations of homemade foods but try more finger foods and hopefully he will start liking my cooking!!!!!
will google Annabel karmel recipes' also
x

Just one wee tip - if you want to make purees smoother and more like shop bought, add oil.

Or just buy pouches.

The weaning stage is so short and even if you get your child to eat all sorts of wholesome homemade stuff and filled your freezer with tiny portions of spinach and sweet potato, chances are they will still refuse everything but toast, pasta and fish fingers by the time they are three. Or is that just my kids? ;-)

Or you could try baby led weaning so babies eat non pureed family food from the start and tend not to be so fussy.

Yeah, good luck with that. Best laid plans and all...

Excuse me?

Atthestroke, I think you were ignored the first time, with your blw comments.
Op, I hope you didn't take offence to anything I said, I've been lucky with ds I think, but also accepting it might not stay that way.
I asked about the age for starting weaning as I've been standing up for myself for starting a earlier than 6 months, with either gasps of horror from some or the old "Oh really i just got them baby rice at 4 months" people. Annabel Carmel book is good, I got it on amazon.

Have I caused offence? I don't care when or how people wean their babies, but as the OP is struggling getting her baby to eat hm food, blw seems an easy solution and a lot less fuss than messing about with purees.

no offence cause here - just blw is not a route we wanted to take

auntierosemary-
"Just one wee tip - if you want to make purees smoother and more like shop bought, add oil.

Is that a serious suggestion? If so I am very surprised that you think it is a good idea.