Weaning

[The3Bs]

We started weaning our 6 month old a few weeks ago.

We've been using Ella's Kitchen pouches for ease and started with 4+ months fruit and veg. We've since moved onto 6+ months thicker purées and DS is loving them.

My query is, how much/often should I be feeding him? This is what I've been doing so far:

7am - 8oz bottle

10.30/11am - 10/12 spoonfuls of porridge & 7oz bottle

2.30/3pm - 10/12 spoonfuls of cauliflower cheese (or another pouch), 6/8 spoonfuls if yoghurt/purée'd fruit & 7oz bottle

6.30/7pm - 8oz bottle

He also has a couple of melty puffs each day to get him used to finger food. He takes all of his food and milk and would probably take more if offered it. He's happy and sleeps really well so I don't have any concerns as such, just curious as to what others are doing/did.

Should I be offering him some water in a cup now that he's on solids?
When should I/did you move on to 3 meals a day?

Yes I would offer water with his food.

I think at 7’months we did one ‘meal’ a day and a snack. Then by 8 months 2 meals and then about 8.5 months 3 meals. It’s by a year old the food should replace the milk, so I wouldn’t alter the milk intake.

At 6 months he can have lumps and finger food. mash up what your having. TRy scrambled eggs, shephers pie. (no salt.) Make your own coaliflower cheese if you want to blitz it down leave a few lumps as opposed to a puree. DEf offer boiled watewr in a simple beaker with meals. Pouches are great for convenience but just like any convenience food not good for every meal.

Thanks both!

I will give him some water with his breakfast and lunch tomorrow and try him with some lumpier food.

@The3Bs as much as pouches and snacks makes life easy, don't use them as the sole source of food.
In pouches, the taste of real food is altered by the pasteurisation process and often the main ingredients written on the label only account for 10-15% of the content.
Extruded snacks (puffs) are ultra-processed, basically Cheetos for babies, it is a pulp of corn flour and fat, two which water is added before putting this pulp through high pressure and high temperature which makes the water explode and give the shape.
Make your own vegetables puree or soups and offer small bits from your plate.
As PP said, occasionally not every meal, and I would say, not every day

@LeGrandBleu thank you. I am terrified of him choking so have been reluctant to give him finger foods and anything too lumpy to date (he only hit the 6 month mark last week) so wanted to introduce him to different tastes slowly before building up to different textures. However, he is definitely ready to progress now!

You first need to understand how swallowing works and that is very different from sucking, even from a pouch
When you suck, the food/liquid is pushed against the roof of the mouth, the palate and from there it goes down. When eating a puree, but even a liquid such as a soup, the tongue needs to push the food towards the back of the mouth and then down. It will take several days to understand this process, so if the food comes out instead of going down , it is absolutely normal.
Then, you need to make it liquidy until baby figures out he needs to chew. Chewing will produce saliva which will help lubricate the food and let it slide down the throat. Image your self taking a mouthful of mashed potatoes and swallowing without chewing even once , it will get stuck. But if covered in sauce, far more easy.

So the first times, prepare your cut veggies this way: cook them in a small pot in 3 cm water at the bottom and let them simmer for 15-20 min, then blend them with whatever liquid is left at the bottom. If during cooking process, too much water evaporates , add more, if too much water is left, remove veggies and add spoonful of water one by one. Blend.
In France, first food is soup pumpkin soup, pea soup, mix veggies soup and so on. You can then add a bit of parmesan cheese to make it tasty.
Some baby pasta is no bigger than a pencil dot, and go can make a rich broth and then cook the pasta like this one www.amazon.co.uk/Ghigi-Italian-Pasta-Tempestina-500/dp/B0872JMM56/ref=pd_lpo_325_t_0/261-9090437-3534048?psc=1&pf_rd_p=7b8e3b03-1439-4489-abd4-4a138cf4eca6&_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_wg=lLrKK&pf_rd_r=QTBMK7Q33371S2H1MAFK&pd_rd_i=B0872JMM56&pd_rd_w=5Sfau&tag=mumsnetforu03-21&refRID=QTBMK7Q33371S2H1MAFK&pd_rd_r=2fa7d957-d36c-4bcf-afe2-b0322b6c314c in it.

Plenty of time for finger food, encourage real food, real taste, and careful with the baby porridge , it is often very sweet. Normal porridge, left soaked overnight is fine, and if you want to sweeten it , make your own apple sauce.

@LeGrandBleu Thanks for this, much appreciated!