Weaning advice please! How many foods to introduce & how many times a day?!

[aimeeeleanor]

Mum advice needed please! Weaning is blowing my mind 🤯

Started my Son on baby led weaning… he wasn’t a fan. So started making homemade veg purées mixed with water & he LOVES them. So far he’s had Carrot purée once a day for 3 days - YUM! Then Cauliflower once a day for 3 days - YUM! I’ve got more made up in the freezer of different veg for the next 2 weeks

For relevance he does seem to love his food! He’s also having approx 35oz of Formula a day. He’s not overweight, is currently tracking the 25th centile for weight :) & is a very happy baby who sleeps like an absolute DREAM! Very lucky

My Mum was mortified when I told her it was one food, once a day for 3 days. She says it should be different foods & more times a day

So, question is… do you just introduce one specific food at a time like I’m doing? Or do you mix it up? I’ve read so much conflicting advice online

How often do you give them the food (on top of their milk of course). Once a day? Several times a day? I’m so confused by it all!

Thanks so much x

Sorry & he’s 6 months 1 week old! X

I haven't started weaning yet as he is only 5 months old but I have been doing research and my plan is to introduce a new food every day or at least mix it up so he's not having the same food every day. With allergens you need to only give them one at a time (so don't give nuts flour and dairy on same day). Also I think you only need to give them food once a day to start off with and they need to keep having same amount of milk and then eventually give them food more often. I wouldn't worry too much as I think weaning initially is just to get them used to different textures, and moving food round their mouth and swallowing etc

Initially, once a day is fine. If you have a good reaction to it, as you seem to, you can up it to two very small meals and then increase the amounts as led by your baby's appetite. Don't remember when we went to 2 meals but I think it was after a week or two, and definitely by a month in we were on 3 small meals.

Because you generally begin with such small amounts, one veg is totally fine. It's good to offer different things with each new meal so they get used to variety. When you make the meals bigger, you can give different things at the same time but at the beginning it's not the end of the world to only offer one thing. Giving a mix of foods is also okay - the important thing is that baby is exploring and learning new skills. When he's eating proper meals is when you need to think about nutrition - the first week is all about practicing and adjusting to this new way of life.

In cases of allergens (like peanut butter), only offer one potential allergen at once so if he has a reaction you know the likely cause.

I am 2 weeks in and have been doing one meal a day (lunch, an hour after either her 2nd or 3rd bottle of the day), mostly a different veg purée each day and occasionally fruit. Also tried yoghurt. I have also given some steamed vege as finger food either alongside the purée or while we are having dinner. I started with allergens today with a small amount of egg and plan to do a different one every couple of days. I plan to introduce breakfast from 7 months.

not sure if what I’m doing is right either but there is probably no ‘right’ way, just what works for you and your baby.

I only added one new food every few days, so if he had a reaction to anything I could tell what had caused it. Once a food had been added I mixed them together, and went up to 3 time a day pretty quickly. I froze single veg puree in ice cube trays, then chose 3 cubes to defrost and mix.

At 6 months baby can get stuck right in.

Your mum is correct

The slow introduction stuff is old fashioned advice for those weaning early (unless you have allergies in the family)

Mine ate the same food as us from day one of weaning at 6 months.

Roast beef, curries, stir fries.

At 6 months I kept the 4 milk feeds a day they were on and just started adding a bit of what we were having to their plate when we were eating.

Unless we really wanted to eat later or something in which case I'd make something just for them. But always proper little meals. Never pureed anything. DD's first meal was a roast chicken dinner. A bit of all of it.

I'm doing the same as @trrk

Started New Year's Day ( she's 6m today ) started purées vegetables and now moved on to two meals a day but the same thing so whatever she has eaten prior

Last 4 days have tried different fruits
Kiwi, mango, banana and blueberries

Next week I'm starting meat with the vegetables she's already tried along with a couple of allegens ( egg and peanut butter )

There tummies are so small so I wouldn't worry if you go at a slow pace

It's not a race x