Where do I start with weaning!

[tiredbutlearning]

Hi,

I have read all the info and blurb but I'm still confused about when to start. I dont mean what age or what to feed but at which point of the day?

My DD is coming up 6 months and I am nervously ready to start feeding....

She drinks 8oz per feed and feeds at :
8am
11am
3pm
6:45pm
and a small dream feed at 10pm.

Where would recommend I bring in a little taster for solids and for how long.

Please spell it out basically for me - as I said Im clueless and the more I read the more baffled I get!!!

THANK YOU

I think basic advice is to introduce after 11am feed. Give milk first then give a little (couple of spoons fulls of baby rice or whatever your first taste will be). Try it for a couple of days and take it from there.

The important thing is to only introduce one thing at a time in case there is a reaction to it, so you know what to avoid for the future.

I would start at 11am then add to the 8am and then the teatime one at 3pm. With my dc's I never bothered with solids before bed.

Make sure your dd is ready and don't be put off if she isn't interested, just leave it for a week and try again!
Good luck

Thank you humpty that is much clearer...I just couldnt get my head round it!

don't quote me on if that is the "official" way. Just go with what works for you. But take it nice and slow and don't have huge expectations. She will probably only "eat" about 1 teaspoon full if anything. it's just about tastes, that's why you need to give the milk first!!

don't overthink it or read too much. try to bear in mind that babies are people and just think in terms of meals. We started DS off on a half a rusk mushed up in milk (you can make them if you are of the view that shop bought rusks are the food of the devil as some seem to!) at the same time as his normal feeds (he was only 4.5 months so that was about 5 bottles a day then. By 6 months he was doing this:
6ish 8oz bottle
8ish baby porridge or weetabix with mashed banana
11ish 4oz bottle
1-2ish lunch, either a jar + petit filou or fruit pot or something homemade plus dessert
maybe a mid afternoon 40z bottle, depending on naps
5ish dinner (as lunch)
6.30 after bath, about 6 oz.
the guideline that helped me was to make sure they have about 20oz of milk a day but that include yoghurt and cheese.
Homemade stuff is often fish or chicken flaked up with mushed up mixed veg. frozen spinach is great cos it comes in little lumps that you can just defrost in about 1 min and mix in. I boil up sweet potato, parsnip and leeks, mash it up and freeze it in aice cube tray and at 6 months he would have 2 of those with about 1/2 an ella's kitchen pouch.
hope that helps. My DS is a fat bifta so he seems to be doing ok on it but really, don't stress about exact times or portions or whatever. you'll soon know if he is hungry or full. Good luck

trixie Thast what I needed to hear.

I am thining I may start with a rusk and milk after our 8am feed and go with that for a few days. And build up to cereal.

Than introduce some mashed veg/fruit (love the spinach idea) once my DD is settled on chompong on rusks, will bring it in for the 3pm feed.

And by 7 months bring in a lunch by moving the 11 feed to 12 and doing a mash and yoghurt.

I am not opposed to the supermarket stuff, I prefer the idea of organic but LOVE the idea of trying to rustle it up mysef.

Does that sound right - my plan..

P.S my DD is a bifta too.........her head rests on her chin!

Have just started weaning ds2. I'm doing the ice cube thing. Started with sweet potato & baby rice at his 1100 feed. Progressed to food with 1100 & 1700 feeds. Currently fruit/veg puree mixed with baby rice while he gets used to the new flavours. In the freezer I've currently got sweet potato, carrot, butternut squash, parsnip, apple & pear. Keeping away from rusks. I started ds2 with about a teaspoon of puree mixed with the same amount of rice & some milk from his bottle. I try each new taste for 6 days & once he's worked his way through the different fruit/veg in them freezer I'll drop the baby rice for the next time he has it.

Just to be a little bit different... I actually started weaning with a bit of baby rice at about 5pm with a view to getting DS sleeping better (this was quite early -4.5m) and quickly moved onto single veg purees at that time. He loved his food so not long after I did breakfast too - baby porridge and left lunch til last because we were usually out and about so easier to just have milk for as long as poss.

By six months he had milk on waking, then breakfast, milk mid morning, lunch, milk mid afternoon, then tea, then milk before bed, so was eating pretty much 2 hourly (which made me wonder why I'd bothered to try getting him going 4 hrs without BF!!)

This really worked for us, and it may be good if yours is a dodgy sleeper. But I think anyway that suits you is fine as long as you are doing it.

BTW I found that he lost interest in milk quite a bit when he started food because that was so much more interesting but you can make up milk allowance from other dairy which apparently counts for 2x as much IYSWIM - so 1oz of yoghurt is equivalent of 2oz milk

forgot to mention DS loves anything with dairylea and scrambled eggs. very easy and quick to do. toast fingers with dairylea are good finger foods.