Weaning!!

[19MA96]

My son is 6 nearly 7 months old, looking for meal ideas for him! He has a lot of the puree pouches at the minute and loves them, what are the best foods to start with? Finger foods and also foods that can be blended up? He has a milk allergy and also no teeth (not sure if this makes a difference!) thank you!

Have you tried him some of the common allergens like nuts and egg yet @19MA96?

Maybe try him with eggy bread cut into strips or omelette cut into strips with some halved cherry tomatoes or cucumber sticks on the side.

Spag bol is usually DF, if you're prepared to put up with the mess

We have gave egg a go but will deffo give eggy bread a go!😊 is things like cucumber okay to try with having no teeth yet? Very anxious about it all if you can tell 🤣

Absolutely fine to give stocks of cucumber. You'll be surprised what they can gnaw with those gums, they're much harder than you think.

It's also a good way to get them using their mouth muscles which will help to develop their speech.

This guide from the Caroline Walker Trust gives some great suggestions of finger foods to try.

If you're nervous, I'd watch this video. Choking is rarer though but they can also choke on purées and pouches so there's not really any point in avoiding finger foods

I was super nervous about choking when weaning. My son has never really enjoyed finger foods so I’ve had to find lots of proper meals to make for him.
I made a bolognese and blended it fairly smooth the first time he tried it, then next time blended it less etc until after a few times he was used to the flavour and was working his way up the textures to more lumpy normal food.
Jacket Sweet potato is a good one as it’s soft - I usually do it with backed beans and cheese.
Slow cooker curry so the chicken shreds apart, plus you can pack it full of veg like onions, peppers, tomatoes, spinach, butternut squash, lentils, chickpeas etc.
Scrambled eggs are good too. Or omelette.
Cheesy tuna pasta is also great. I found that Orzo was the easiest pasta for him to start with, and then moved onto penne but cut in half etc.
Toast is great as you can do all sorts of toppings like avocado, peanut butter, cream cheese.
Also, if you are nervous about finger foods (as I really really was), the Ella’s Kitchen melty sticks were good as I felt like they weren’t so hard that he could swallow a chunk and they dissolved whilst still teaching him about putting a more solid food into his own mouth.

Thank you!! I will give these a try! He tried the Ella's kitchen carrot puffs today and they were a hit! Definitely going to try more of these meals, thank you!