camping with 8mo - what to feed her

[Liz79]

We are hoping to go camping in a tent to the peak district in august when DD will be 8mo. I am bf her and will start weaning in 2 weeks when she will be 6mo. I will still be bf when we go camping. We are worrying about what to feed her and keeping things clean enough. We thought we might boil some whole cows milk on the stove in the evening and then put it in a thermos and put it on a weetabix for her breakfast each day. Would the milk be ok like this? I think it would cool down to just the right temp over night. We would give some fruit with the weetabix, maybe chunks of banana, avacado, pear. What fruits will she be able to eat by then which don't need cooking?

She would probably get 1 jar for lunch each day but I don't really like this idea. In the evenings we would probably go to a pub/cheap restaurant and thought we could order her something like a baked potato and cheese and a side portion of boiled veg. We're not sure about ordering things like pasta in sauce, fish pie, cottage pie etc because they will probably use salt in the cooking. What should we do? We will take a cold water steriliser for her cup for water and her cutlery. Would use restaurant plates though. Also is it worth getting one of those little manual hand blender grinder things to mush things chicken at the table?

Was going to do BLW but think I will do a mixture.

Have copied this to the camping board

Thanks

Hm at 8 months - my experience is... I wouldn't worry about boiling milk for breakfast - just mush weetabix with cold milk - could give bread/toast and butter as well. Should be able to eat most fruits if they're ripe and peeled pears, bananas, peach/nectarine, strawbs etc - For lunches if you don't want to do jars if shes good with finger foods - some babies love them, some won't touch them - could do rice cakes/oat cakes/breadsticks with chunks of cheese and fruits. I wouldn't bother with a blender thing - would just give her finger things and stuff like mash, pasta etc that would mash down enough with a fork but I am a BLW fan so if shes used to purees I don't know if you'd need too??? Hope this helps Katy

At 8 months my DD eats a banana, some cheerios and some toast with butter for breakfast, lunch is a pear, cream cheese sandwich and some cucumber slices or grapes and tea is whatever we are having, chicken strips, potato wedges, mash, pasta etc
She will also eat strawberries, raspberries (although they are messy) soft fruits is good like peaches/nectarines/plums etc (and will be a lot cheaper then than now)
BY then you should be able to just mush with a fork if you want to not BLW as they (AFAIK) don't need totally smooth puree at this stage.
I stopped sterilising when they could pick things up and put them in their mouth so that's about 6-7 months, just make sure thigns are clean and that should be ok.

Agree, no need to boil the milk, but if it's hot in August (as if..) and the milk won't be in a fridge, maybe take some cartons of ready made formula to put on her weetabix instead?
Bananas & avocados are great, filling & easy to carry around.
Sorry if I appear ignorant but what is BLW?!
I definitely wouldn't take a hand grinder, especially not to a restaurant - from my experience they are a complete nightmare and create such a mess.

BLW = baby led weaning, miss out purees and go straight to finger foods.

My friend asked her health visitor if pouring milk on weetabix constitutes cooking with it. She was told no, but by boiling it you alter the proteins to make it more digestible.

I don't want to give her formula as I am BF, I think I will put cold UHT milk on weetabix, and the rest of it in our tea. Will she just eat 1 at that age? I have no idea of normal quantities for children! Chirpy does your lo have a whole banana? A normal size one? A whole slice of toast and how many cheerios?

Will a 8mo baby really be able to eat sandwiches? What about strips of torn chicken? I don't know what to expect of her really and how much will go in with BLW!

at 8 mo both of mine ate pretty much any thing, strips of chicken,fish, sandwiches, apple etc etc. i am very relaxed about things like this if they want to try i let them.
i do have friends whose lo's are only starting on these things at over a year.
i think tbh it will depend on your lo as to what and how much she will eat. if your planning on starting to wean her at about 6 months then by the time you go camping you will have a better idea a sto what and hiw much she wil eat.
i think but could be wrong you shouldnt use UHT milk with babies, i always used cold milk on my lo breakfasts.

ah I see!
Fair enough re formula, I breastfed until my daughter was 1 but sometimes used cartoned formula for cereal if I didn't have any expressed
I think quantity depends on the baby, mine is 16m & only eats half a weetabix now but then she is a nightmare eater! I would guess about half for a 'normal' baby at that age though? As for toast and cheerios, just play it by ear see how much she wants - she'll soon tell you if she's had enough!
Re sandwiches I can't remember! I would guess they can eat sandwiches made from soft bread with e.g. soft cheese in. Chicken is a bit harder to chew, I would prob cut it really really small (almost as though it's blended) unless it's leg which is softer meat

Sorry, had wandered off for a bit!
This morning she had a whole banana (would have eaten DD1's as well given half a chance) a smal handful of cheerios and sucked her way through a whole slice of toast. Lunch was a brioche roll with cream cheese, 2 inches of cucumber cut into sticks and half a nectarine and tea was a spoonful of chicken korma with rice and 1/4 naan with 2 strawberries and 2 big spoons of yoghurt.

She doesn't actually eat all that (as you will find out) most of it ends up in her hair, or down her bib, or on the floor (which is where having a dog or eating outside comes in really handy) but that is what I give her.
I do't give her weetabix purely because I can't cope with that mess early in the morning, but DD1 used to have a whole hippabix one for brekkie with cold milk on