WEANING!!

[user1499451561]

Hello, not really getting much help from health visitors so looking for some advice on here! I'm a first time mammy and my little girl is 5 and a half months. This week I've been giving her sweet potato and carrot which I have made myself just before her bottle she will then have 7 ounces. Am I doing that right? Or should I give her the food an hour before her bottle is due? Also how long should I leave it untill I introduce breakfast and dinner as at the moment she is only having lunch?? Any advice would be helpful thank you

I gave milk first and then food an hour or so later. You don't want them cutting milk down too quickly so I always gave milk feeds at usual times and food in between

Guidelines are that you shouldn't introduce solids until 6 months.

When she is ready to wean, milk should be given before food as that's where she still gets all her nutrition from. Ideally 30-60 minutes before but don't get too hung up on that. Also means she won't be grumpy when you're giving her food.

And just introduce other meals when you're ready. She doesn't actually need food yet, she's just learning to eat ready for when she does, so just go at a pace that works for you. I think it was about 6 weeks in that I introduced a second meal, when I felt ready to deal with the clean up twice a day 🙈

Milk first will help them get the nutrients they need and also stop them feeling grumpy when trying new foods.

Do you have a children's centre near you? Mine runs an introduction to solids 1 hour session where they run through things like this and I found mine helpful. A fair amount of things I already knew but I definitely picked up some good advice and had a chance to talk to someone about anything I wasn't sure about.

My DD is a similar age. She is BF so I feed one side, then give her ‘lunch’ (some puréed veg & some finger foods) then I offer the other boob. So maybe 5oz then feed them the other 2oz?
Milk is still primary source of nutrients, at this stage you’re looking to introduce new flavours & textures. You can introduce new veg every couple of days. This is so you can pinpoint any reactions.
In a couple of weeks you can look to introduce dinner too. From 6 months you can introduce dairy & meat/eggs.
The Annabelle Karmel weaning book was really helpful to me - I liked the idea of puréed food together with finger foods but it’s personal preference.
I was told by a nutritionist that the 6 month - 1yr window is about getting as many flavours & textures tried before they become a bit more wilful about what they’ll eat!
Hope that helps

I would offer milk first and then food an hour or two after. How soon you offer more meals is really up to you. Having a baby on solid food is a lot of extra work. It’s more about when you figure out how to consistently cook and squeeze an extra meal in every day. Mine is 6 months (and 1 week) and he’s only ever had one meal a day and not even every day. My dd only had lunch until she was 7 months. They don’t eat much to start anyway so really no reason to hurry it.