Weaning advice please

[mum19821985]

Hello, has anyone got any advice on preparing/pureeing their own baby food? I have a 4 month old but not weaning until 6 months, however I'm getting prepared now! I have a 4 year old who had mainly jars of baby food due to my mil going out and buying about 50 jars of baby food when he was 6 months! Lol. I'm determined to make my own this time. I'm planning on making it all now and freezing it. I have ice cube trays and so far have prepped puréed carrot in one and mash potato in another. I'm looking for ideas of things I can make/freeze etc. Also do you just reheat the frozen cubes in the microwave or let them defrost naturally? Ideas much appreciated! Thanks!

I did a mix of BLW and puree. I made all my own purée, but I must admit we didn't stay on it for too long as DS preferred the finger food. We also tried to use a few pouches/jars when out but DS would never eat them which was so annoying as then I had to cart around homemade food, so perhaps introduce a few as they are so handy when out!

I did avocado, sweet potato, peas, carrots, potato, spinach, apple, pear, peach, mango and probably some others. I always did single ones and then once he was eating more I just mixed 2 different cubes together. Sometimes I remembered and defrosted in advance and sometimes I just did in microwave, DS never seemed to notice any difference.

I never forayed into meat purée, but my friend did. Boil chicken or whatever and mince up in food processor and put in ice cube trays.

I found any veg and steamed then pureed to start. Courgette was and still is a favourite, aubergine works well but looks nasty. Strawberries need to be hulled and frozen whole, bananas in slices but get freezer burnt easily. I personally nuke from frozen, but I think defrost and reheat is better at first. Oh broccoli is good to puree and finger food!

Have a look at Annabel Karmel's books. Lots of ideas there

Can't recommend the River Cottage Baby and Toddler Cookbook highly enough, especially as you have an older DC. It's full of child-friendly meals, with adaptations to make them baby-friendly, plus a brilliant section on purees. And not one mention of that pointless baby rice shit.

The free Elland kitchen book from boots helped me on the way too.

Ella*

Second vote for the river Cottage book here. We use it all the time and our little girl loves the recipes.

I started off doing all my own purées for DS but he stated refusing the spoon after a couple of weeks so we swapped to BLW. However during that time I just portioned off a. It if our dinner for him each night and puréed it and put one portion aside for the next day in the fridge and the rest in little pots in the freezer for times when he couldn't have what we were having (e.g. Pizza/takeaway) and lunches. It worked ok but frankly BLW was easier and it's what I have done from the beginning with DD. She's not be fed one purée, I don't have to take anything out or try to hear stuff up when out and about and it's very liberating. Especially with a toddler in tow and all their crap you have to cart about. DD just requires nappies, wipes, change of clothes and boobs!

I didn't do BLW with DS1 I spoon feed but I didn't bother with puree either for a 6 month old - I went straight to very soft foods mashed up with a fork. It went really well.

I don't know why but puree always feels a bit of a step backwards at 6 months so I think it's worth trying to see if they'll go straight to mushy foods. Obviously some babies won't like the texture but some are fine with it from day 1.

Thanks all. Really helpful! That river cottage book sounds great! I'm gonna buy it today. My 4 year old found the ice cube trays with purees in and came into the living room licking them! Delicious he said! Ha ha! I'm planning on doing a combination of blw and purees 😀

You won't be disappointed