Weaning - confused

[Blwean]

I'm waiting until 26 weeks to start weaning and thought I had a clear plan.

Health visitor said We could go straight to mashed food textures and skip purees if we wait until then and we can mash up what we're eating (if no salt/ sugar added) and steam things like veggies for baby to try.

We should start with lunch then add in breakfast a few days later and then dinner. Mashed and finger foods for baby to explore.

It all sounded so easy but as 26 weeks approaches I'm unsure about certain things:

1. Should I be spoon feeding baby a bit or just let him explore food and feed himself?

1. I'd quite like to do a few purees in week 25 just to taste a few things. The idea of mashed straight away seems a lot but hv made it sound like no need to bother with purees too much.

1. I'm terrified of finger foods. Look like massive choking hazard but I've seen lots of videos where babies enjoying and trying them. A friend with an older baby who has just turned 27 weeks looked horrified at the idea of finger foods at that age when I mentioned it. She said her and her partner would not be giving their son finger foods anytime soon. They're just doing basic purees one food at a time but that also sounds a bit tedious and long winded.

1. Baby will start nursery part time in week 27. We should have 7-10 days of weaning under belt but I'm so worried about him being fed at nursery. The menus look quite advanced eg shepherds pie - feel like I'll have to bring easy stuff for them to feed him purely for my peace of mind but I'm probably being irrational

I know I probably need to go back to hv with these too but it would be useful to hear of people's actual experiences not the 'Do it this way, its so easy' theories.

I like the idea of just mashing up what we're having but don't want to miss anything out. Also don't really fancy the one food puree a day that my friend is doing if its OK to be a bit more adventurous.

You can start giving food at six months and there's no need to rigidly pick a meal or time of day and stick to it. You can just select one item from your dinner and prepare it for baby to have and do this for any meal of the day. Solid starts is a useful website which shows photos of exactly how to prep each food item for safety. Mine have ever had purees. My first didn't actually put anything to her mouth until about nine months as just played with it until then. But it was truly baby led if that's your bag. If you can let go of your anxiety it's much easier than faffing with purées. It is so messy though!

Both of mine I started them on soft steamed vegetables, carrot, broccoli, sweet potato etc cut into sticks. They didn’t choke, occasionally gagged if they stuffed too much in there. I also spoon fed them yogurts etc and did give second a few purées/pouches when out and about. Then they moved on to what we were having, which meant cooking with no salt. Both nurseries had a weaning menu and the normal menu was for 1 year and up.

I'd recommend getting the Ella's Kitchen weaning book if you're able. It gives you a month by month plan to follow from 6-12 months if you're feeling unsure plus tonnes of recipes. I personally have found it really helpful and our weaning journey has been a lot easier because of it. I was completely swamped with where to even start!

Thanks for replies - I like the idea of being less rigid and maybe a mixture of giving bits to try and spoonfeeding a bit too could work. Think I've just had this idea that it has to be a certain way

It can be a really daunting time but try and let little one lead a bit if possible. My DD has CMPA and we were weaning slowly to assess for more allergens. I wanted to do a mixture of puree and finger foods for her so I could keep track of things she's tried and not reacted to. From day one she was not about being spoon fed and absolutely hated it. But give her some steamed Brocoli? All over it. Felt slightly disheartened that my hours of puree prep that I'd frozen was now useless but followed her lead and she did finger foods. Whatever I had (bar anything containing milk and salt etc) she had. I got more confident as time went on but for the first few tries stuck with steammed fruit and veg - more my confidence.

However a friend of mine had the opposite issue. She always planned to do baby led weaning with finger foods but her child really didn't click with it and they all fell happily into the routine of spoon feeding.

Either way they're both now two and eat like bottomless pits with a huge variety so it's whatever works for your family!

I will say that once you're beyond the first few weeks, it makes such a difference to be able to serve what you're having, whether you blend it or not. It's also nice to all enjoy the meal together and can help them with social development etc.

Nursery wise - I'd just call and ask what they'd normally do. It might be that they serve food differently for different ages. Or they might prefer you sending in a meal. (Though shepards pie always was and is my daughters favourite. Alongside spag bol!)

Good luck and try and enjoy it.

We have never done any purées, started with things like sweet potato, broccoli, cauliflower, avocado, watermelon, banana for the first couple of weeks. After that we just introduced other foods and flavours. Baby is now nearly 8 months and generally eats whatever we are having. The only things you shouldnt give them really are honey, cows milk and make sure you aren’t adding salt to your cooking.
The baby led weaning app has some good easy recipies on it and also some good information on how to cook and prepare those first foods and how to slowly introduce food.

Absolutely agree with this! I've used it for my second now, and still use recipes for both my kids (5 and 1) and will continue to do so. The chicken curry and paella are particularly delicious for the whole family!! You don't have to religiously follow it but it definitely gives lots of clear information and takes the stress out of it.

My first was purees, my second wouldn't take anything off a spoon so had to do a lot more BLW with her. Until you start it's hard to say what they will be like. The only thing you can guarantee is mess!! Get a coverall bib - arms and torso as well as a normal bib to catch food. My SIL takes the piss that we double bib but it saved a lot of clothes 🤣🤣

I never bothered with purees or mashed foods, just went straight to finger foods. Didn't stick to single ingredients or specific mealtimes or anything like that either, we always sat at the table for each meal so baby always sat with us and we would give him whatever we were having, it really worked for us and didn't have to do any extra food prep or washing up, but obviously do whatever works for you and what you feel comfortable with.

Finger foods is not a massive choking hazard, as long as you cut things into the appropriate size and shape (lots of info online on this). Make sure you know the difference between gagging and choking and know what to do if baby is choking. My son was shovelling toast and crumpets into his mouth at 7 or 8 months and I used to sit there watching him thinking he's about to choke any second but he's never choked.

Not much experience on the nursery side of things as my son didn't go until 16 months old but I would have thought the nursery staff would be pretty experienced with this sort of thing, just tell them where you're up to with weaning and what sorts of things you've been doing so they have an idea of where to start. My baby loved things like Shepherd's Pie and curry within a month of starting weaning.

On a side note, cow's milk is fine, don't give it as an actual drink as it shouldn't be replacing their normal milk feed but it's fine to mix with porridge or scrambled eggs etc. Good luck!

Be led my baby not a book or a plan. Try whole food, try mashed, a bit of both.
One day they might want breakfast another lunch. Want spoon feed or whole foods or spoon feed themselves. It might change week to week, day to day.
My daughter didn't eat a single mouthful of food for the first 2 weeks. Then we had a few weeks where she only ate if it was mixed with spinach. Then she stopped eating again. She was 13 months when she engaged with weaning and at 3 she still doesn't follow a pattern. Weeks of eating everything months of barely a mouthful. We sit back encourage and observe and try to figure out what her current food preferences are and how to get her to eat.
Ditch the books and what your friends think is right and just look at the baby in front of you

I wanted to try BLW with my eldest and dutifully gave finger foods... and she promptly choked. Back to purees I went 😅 I did pureed single foods, sometimes with formula mixed in, for a month or so and then increased the texture slowly. I did a mixture of letting her use her hands, use the spoon (obviously it just got flung everywhere) and me spoon feeding her. She was eating pretty much everything, no mashing/blending needed, by 11 months. So I reckon just go with what your baby seems comfortable with.

Oh no that's my biggest fear - glad she was OK. I guess it all depends how those first tastes go

We went straight to BLW with our son. They do gag a lot to begin with while they're figuring it out, but he soon got the hang of it. As another poster mentioned, Solid Starts is a great resource. We used their app and they go through how to prepare/cut each food safely depending on baby's age.

It's totally up to you how you want to go about it, if you'd rather start with purée that's completely fine.

I started weaning just a few days before my baby turned 6 months to the day rather than weeks. Started with steamed veg finger foods mainly just once a day (whenever time suited), I chose to move slowly for the first month so gradually combined things she'd tried before (first tastes were broccoli, avocado, banana, parsnip, cauliflower just one thing once a day) then moved to always breakfast time. She'd have things like avocado or banana on toast, porridge, natural or greek yogurt with fruit, scrambled eggs with spinach, banana pancakes, oats with pear and peanut butter, chia pudding, anything out of the blw weaning book I have like banana oat baked cups or blueberry oat muffins. She gagged on things like banana finger food and toast (not given very often) but it reassured me seeing how she could work things forward and spit them out.
I then added simple teas in so just veg then moved her to what we eat but no sugar/salt or mainly meals from the blw book, Mac and cheese with spinach, jacket potato with kidney beans, black bean chilli, veggie omelette, cauliflower gnocchi things like that. Not mashed just how the book or NHS advises
I started to introduce lunch slowly from 8 months, again simple things like avocado and boiled egg, then moved to slightly more
She loves it and doesn't like being spoon fed, she holds a spoon but feeds herself and eats everything really well but I wasn't expecting this from the start, I thought she'd more or less just play and not get much in her mouth but she eats everything. This is handy as I then just eat with her don't have to actually feed her
I can't advise on the nursery food as we are not there yet
I found it all quite daunting at first but found it easier as I went along and look forward to preparing meals to try etc, good luck!

I'm a week into weaning baby number 2. Going well so far! We're going BLW as this approach aligns and works for us. First baby and second baby are totally different weaners though. First consumed nothing until 9months or so, this one shovels food from day 1. If baby is awake when we're eating then baby eats with us. On day 1 it was just some banana. Day 2 was trying 3 meals. Today was 2 meals and yesterday was just one meal. Food is complementary at this stage so there's no rush.

To answer your questions;

1. If you want to spoon feed, do so. In my experience, if I've attempted to spoonfeed then baby has rejected the spoon and automatically spits it out. If baby puts spoon in themself they accept it. It's also good practice for them to develop the skill.

1. There's no right or wrong way to wean. If you want to mash food, then do that.

1. Have you done a paediatric first aid course? I'd recommend doing one (like Daisy First Aid) to alleviate anxieties and to be prepared. Choking can happen with purees or finger foods. Gagging is a reflex that helps baby remain in control, choking is when baby is not in control and needs help. Make sure you can recognise the difference.

1. Nursery foods are usually quite sloppy ime. My eldest's nursery menu sounds very sophisticated but when they tell me what they ate later, it's always referenced as generic 'rice and sauce' or 'pasta and sauce' 🤣

Once you get started it will all click into place as you'll find what works for you and your family. It's a lovely stage to see, enjoy it!

food before one is just for fun!! So just try baby with little bits here and there. I started with breakfast as a first meal and that was just baby porridge

This.
Read the Babyled Weaning Cookbook by Gill Rapley if you want to learn more and get some recipe ideas.

I'm currently weaning my twins, I started at 6m actual age (4m corrected as they were born 2m early) on advice of pediatrician.

I was terrified and gave them a broccoli purree to start with, they bloody loved it (I spoon fed). I very quickly went to thicker textures, e.g porridge, weetabix, mashed up veg, then onto orzo and rice a bit mashed up. I usually give them one meal a day (whatever time works) and I give them something a bit mashed up, a bit of finger food (e g egg fingers, pitta with hummus, a veg stick, a melty stick) and then something like yoghurt or fruit stick on the side.

I spoon feed the mashed up food, hand them the finger food, and also hand them the spoon so they can have a go. They're 7.5m now, and doing really well.

You can wean however you like, just follow the baby's lead! One of my twins prefers to be fed and the other likes to try it himself.

As someone else said, I love the ellas kitchen book for ideas. I make two recipes from it every week and freeze in small portions and then just pop one into the fridge the night before. Scrambled eggs, porridge, weetabix etc are easy quick meals too. I'm going to start 2 meals a day when they reach 6m corrected (so 8m actual age).