Weaning almost 7 months old

[Madallie]

Just after some advise please. Sorry this is a bit long!

Dd will be 7months old in 10 days. I wanted to wait until the advised 6 months old until I started weaning dd. I had no reason to start earlier as dd has been putting on weight well and sleeping though the night also. I was going to start right at 6months but then dd had a tummy virus with diarrhoea etc for 2 weeks so I decided it was best to wait until this past,

Anyway I went to the hv this week for some advise about starting weaning and what foods to give, when etc and I was a bit confused by her reaction really. She basically said I better get a move on quickly with weaning now as dd is almost 7months old. I was a bit at this comment given the fact she isn't even yet 7 months and I had explained about why i hadn't started straight away at 6months. She then said I shouldn't give veg and fruit purees but should go straight for mashing up whatever dinners we are eating plus ginger foods.

So basically what i wanted to know is does it sound very late that I'm weaning? How much earlier could I have weaned if I'm trying to keep within the advised guidelines and also does it sound right about just going straight to finger foods and mushed whole dinners?

I feel really confused and a little bit like I've been denying my dd the food she should be having.

Any advise gratefully received.

I think it's fine. Some people seem to rush to wean which I can never understand. Milk is their main source of nutrition and I think that when they aren't even 1 yet it is more about getting used to flavours and textures and the idea of food.

you're fine. Just skip the baby rice stage (which always seems a bit pointless anyway) and go in with mashed foods, purees and finger foods. You'll soon find out what your baby gets on with.

Thanks.

Would you do single foods first, mixtures iron general family dinners?

I think there is a window in which you need to wean and if you miss it it becomes more difficult. Also i think eating important for other skills ie. Talking and development of muscles required for this. Also babies (especially if breastfed) need nutrition from food from 6 months as breast milk isn't sufficient, I'm thinking mainly wrt to iron here but may he other things too. However your baby is still 6 months old officially so you'll be find but agree with skipping purees they're not necessary anyway.

Purées aren't necessary as your dd is old enough to manage finger food. Purees are necessary when people wean earlier around 4 months as they don't have the dexterity to pick up food and eat. Your dd does, and is likely to enjoy going straight to finger foods more than being spoon fed purée.

There's no need to do the single tastes malarkey or purée everything to buggery at this age. Smooshing stuff with a fork will be fine in terms of texture. Giving her your food is less faffy too than cooking special dinners. Can you tell I took the easy road. Read a bit about baby led weaning too if you want to know more about the alternative to the traditional approach.

Thanks all. I'm just a little worried about chocking I think too, especially when it comes to how big the lumps are in the food I mash and when thinking about what finger foods to give.

Could anyone advise me on what finger foods to give? Sorry for beinga total idiot?!

purees aren't evil, you know! Nor is spoon-feeding at 7 months. I did a mixture of mashed, purees and finger foods, going more and more towards 'proper' meals and it was fine, DD smartly removed the spoon from my hand at just turned 1yo and started to feed herself. Job done!

We waited until DD was 6 months to wean. She wasn't at all interested at first, then had an awful tummy bug so she was past 7 months by the time she actually ate anything! I never mentioned it to a health visitor as I knew id probably be lectured . We went straight to finger foods, mainly because DD wouldn't eat off a spoon and doesn't like any purées. She's now 10 months and still a milk monster, but eating 3 small, balanced, nutritious meals a day. I can't imagine that you've caused any problems at all waiting until 7 months, she's not still going to be only drinking milk at 18 is she?! I took a baby first aid class so I knew id be prepared if DD choked but she's been fine so far (touch wood).

Spoon feeding is fine, it's just worth knowing that you don't have to purée to a liquid and introduce one food at a time. You can go straight to mashed bits of what you're having.

As for finger food, anything goes really. You could give soft ripe fruit like nectarine, peach, pear, banana. Avocado slices are also good. Roasted root veg like sweet potato, or steamed veg like carrots, broccoli, green beans etc. Pasta can be easy to pick up - shapes like shells, spirals etc are easy to grab and hold sauce. Pasta with cream cheese is very quick and easy to knock up. Toast, crumpets, muffins, pitta cut into strips, fingers of cheese, hard boiled egg, and probably loads of other stuff that I can't think of right now.

Choking is very unlikely, it's also silent and very distinctive. Gagging is fairly common and is noisy (and messy!). Gagging is fine, as it's a protective mechanism that brings food forward to be spat out or lined up for another try. As they get used to finger food the gagging should reduce, as they learn to manipulate the food in their mouths. Try not to worry or panic about noisy gagging - just leave them to it and they'll sort themselves out.

You're not too late! I started DD at 6 months and she didn't eat any appreciable quantity until at least 8 and probably 9 months. Definitely not eating three meals until she was at least a year old (though I would offer food at least three times a day).

Try her with a variety of things - some purees, some non mashed food (chunks of ripe fruit, berries, roasted veggies all good) and see what she likes. Babies have preferences like we do . Either way, remember it's a playful exploration for them, so bright colours and interesting textures are enjoyable. Once I got into this mindset, weaning became an easy way to give DD play time (which I was rubbish at, totally uninspired) rather than food stress. I highly recommend it!

Keep an open mind about what might work, DD has always loved random things like mushrooms (cooked in butter - she loves butter ), roast aubergine, curry, olives as well as the usuals like pasta and fruit. She would never eat from a spoon, she hates being fed to this day. And she loathes potatoes .

You can try her with almost anything. For peace of mind look up baby first aid for choking (videos on youtube) but they are very, very good at preventing it. What seems like choking to us is them avoiding choking by coughing food from the back to the front of their mouth.

Cross post Culture

Before you go ahead, you might want to see if baby-led weaning is something you'd like to do. Loads of information here: www.babyledweaning.com

It has worked great for us, first time in months I could have my dinner in peace

I think Rootypig is right about thinking of mealtimes as about exploring and play. I took that view as well and it removes a lot of the stress around food and eating that seems to happen sometimes. I concentrated on offering a wide variety of flavours, textures, colours etc - including things I don't like so much myself.

I have a fab picture of my DS squealing with delight at spaghetti when he managed to pick some up - the expression on his face was priceless! Keep a camera handy :-)