Weaning

[MrsAnon6]

Does anyone have any suggestions/recommendations for a weaning schedule for a 6 month old. I've been introducing solids since 4 months but want to start properly weaning now but have read so much conflicting information. I thought I'd have to feed her 3 meals per day but have read not to do this and I'm so confused. Any advice appreciated.

This guide from the Caroline Walker Trust has some useful information including first foods, sample menus and portion sizes.

There's also a Weaning Section on MN if you want to have a look through

I was similarly confused but did a weaning workshop at the children's centre led by a HV which was helpful. She encouraged a range of foods including protein from six months (apparently a lot of people just do fruits & veg for ages but they need the full range of nutrients from six months) and introducing 3 meals within the first month (tiny at first). So DD was on 3 meals a day by 7 months.
I found the NHS info helpful for ideas and basically gave DD what we were having - some as finger food (eg toast fingers, broccoli, banana) and some puréed (eg cottage pie, fish pie).
www.nhs.uk/start4life/weaning/what-to-feed-your-baby/around-6-months/

I’m not sure why you’ve been weaning since 4 months when the guidance is no solids before 6 months, assume a medical issue? If so have the dieticians offered advice?
The don’t need to be on 3 meals a day until 12 months, breastmilk or formula is still their main nutrition until then. From 6 months they can have almost everything prepared correctly, I do baby led weaning so baby just eats what I eat pretty much (cut or prepared appropriately for a baby) no need for a schedule

Baby led worked really well for us, baby eats as much or as little of the food in front of them as they like.

The food is exactly the same as what we’re eating but may be cut in a different way to be safe or easier to hold. No honey is the only hard rule that springs to mind.

So start with one meal, whichever is easiest for you, and slowly build up

The NHS advice is to move to 3 meals between 8 and 9 months.

Yep, moving to three meals a day between 7 and 9 months

www.nhs.uk/start4life/weaning/what-to-feed-your-baby/7-9-months/#anchor-tabs

It's a gradual transition from all their nutrition coming from milk at six months to it being mostly from food by a year.

@PinkMimosa apologies, on 3 meals and 2 snacks by 12 months. Can definitely start offering 3 meals from 9 months but no need to worry if they’re not eating them all yet.

@RidingMyBike i have a 2.5 year old so I’ve weaned really recently, and it definitely didn't say that 2 years ago 😂

i have a 2.5 year old so I’ve weaned really recently, and it definitely didn't say that 2 years ago

It definitely did. That's been the advice for quite some time

It's been the advice for a while now? It's what we were told by the HV at the children's centre several years ago?

I never saw or heard from an HV after 2 weeks.

My HV never gave out up to date info. Some of the stuff she advised not only didn't follow NHS guidelines, some of it was very unsafe.

It's the guidance on the NHS website?!

Yes

Following! We started 2 weeks ago when he turned 6 months and not really sure what we're doing... Currently:

Breakfast together, usually Weetabix - either mashed up with a bit of breast milk or I give him one to hold/gum

Lunch - something pureed on a spoon e.g. apple or carrot and something to hold e.g. broccoli, toast with avocado or hummus, piece of cucumber, piece of peeled tomato

Dinner - at the moment it's pretty much the same as lunch and we don't do it everyday tbh.

I've also tried things like banana pancakes with oats. I've been dairy free since he was 4 weeks due to suspected allergy so am researching how to navigate this now. Have tried egg (omlette) - he gagged a bit but normal apparently. Would love people's advice/views on our approach - bit of a minefield!

@bravotango I’d increase the veg and add small amounts of meat (unless you’re veggie). For dinner why not just give baby little bits of what you have?

Variety is really good at this age as there’s so many different textures and flavours to discover.

Expect lots of gagging, gagging is how they learn to handle food in their mouth.

I also never peeled tomatoes for a baby unless they were tinned ones which came peeled.

Brilliant thanks for your advice - will definitely increase the veg and open to meat too! The problem with dinner is that he goes to bed early (we are trying to push bedtime a bit later) and we don't have our dinner ready then due to work etc. But as bedtime gets a bit later I am hoping to give him what we have, definitely.

@bravotango we used to cook a bit extra at dinner time and then baby would have it for their dinner the next day if they were eating before us 🙂

I found this helpful!

https://solidstarts.com/feeding-schedules/

Oh that's a great idea! Will do this! Thank you so much 👍

Love that, thank you.

My advice is don't over complicate things. Just give them a bit of what you're having (no salt). I found the whole thing really stressful with my first and looking back it was such a shame - it should be really fun and nice so don't stress! Food before 1 is just for fun!

We started just before five months also. It's not a hard six months rule on the NHS, it's 'around six months', and follow readiness signals @BuffaloCauliflower. Ie can sit up unaided, shows interest in food and tasting it etc. We were told the six month mark is when most babies should be ready by our Dr.

We did three meals a day plus snack from seven months, mostly stuff we were eating. We just cooked everything without salt, so pasta, rice, curry, risotto, potatoes, sweet potatoes, roasted veg, dippy eggs and soldiers etc. He didn't eat everything but it's as much about playing and tasting also 🤷‍♀️ He's now one and eats everything, can eat meals out etc and likes most all foods

@A1b2c3d4e5f6g7 alongside those outwardly visible signals is the readiness of the gut, which you cannot know by just looking at your baby. Research is pretty clear the gut isn’t ready for most babies until around 6 months. That’s a week or so either side, not a month before.