Introducing desserts & weaning

[CJ98]

My daughter is about to turn 7 months and we’ve been weaning her for a couple months, we’ve mainly been focusing on savoury items & meals. I was just wondering when can I add in desserts and sweet treats. Do I give her one after her evening meal ?
We normally give her a meal at around 5pm and that’s her main meal for the day.
We really struggle with getting a morning meal (as in breakfast) & so we are currently just sticking with a bottle for the moment.
over the last few weeks I’ve been giving her a meal around dinner time rather than a bottle which has been something like a pasta meal & if she shows signs of being hungry after that meal I’ll give her something like an Ella’s kitchen melty stick that she can snack on.
I was just wondering if I can give her a dessert after her main evening meal or am I best to leave it if she’s having a dinner meal and an evening meal. Or when did everyone introduce desserts ? How am I best to introduce these to her meals so that she’s experiencing sweet and savoury meals ?
when I say desserts im talking custards, rice puddings, baby fruit crumble etc…

I’ve seen a lot of meals consisting of bananas but unfortunately I’m severely allergic to bananas so have to avoid them. I’ve just bought some frozen vegetables to maybe mix in with mash, and then I’m thinking of making some egg dishes to see if my daughter likes egg. I’m just struggling to find meals for my daughter that doesn’t involve carrots, bananas and fish as I’m allergic to all these & with my partner working away im the one that feeds our daughter during the day & would be the one making the meals.

For breakfast we would do Greek yogurt with stewed apple or porridge with the same
lunch would be toast with either peanut butter or avocado and sliced cucumber a piece of cheese and some tinned mackerel or tuna
dinner would be a variation of whatever we are having but pasta/rice/mash/veg and thinly sliced meat this is all super quick and simple

apologies edited as I see you can’t have fish but the rest still stands. You should get your partner to try your daughter with allergens in an appropriate way early if she is predisposed to having them

@CJ98 both of my children loved dal with cumin. I used to make a pot for us and take some out and freeze in ice cube trays before I put more seasoning in it.

I’m just struggling to find meals for my daughter that doesn’t involve carrots, bananas and fish

There are a million things you can cook that don't have these ingredients. Cook well for yourself and give her a small portion of what you're having. Literally anything, as long as you don't salt it when you're cooking.

What food do you eat? Why can't she just have what you're having. Surely it's not pizza every night.

We always ate a lot of curries but I didn't stop making them when our child was born, I just make them without salt and chillis in the slow cooker, and portion some aside for him before adding chillis to ours to cook for another hour. Then his portion is enough for that night and the next night. If we're having pasta, salmon, soup, lasagna, roast chicken, risotto, etc etc., I'm not going to make anything different for my child. Just cook without salt and salt ours at the table.

On occasion we didn't, and still don't, eat at the same time. Quick healthy food for kids isn't hard. At 7 months old, babies love scrambled eggs or an omelette, strips of roast chicken with steamed veg, soup and bread, breadsticks with humous, avocado, cheese. They try everything and they hardly eat anything anyway, it's all exploration. Why bother cooking separately for them?

I’ve seen a lot of people suggest toast but I’m so worried about her choking on it how can I make it safe for her.
I’m thinking for breakfast - porridge or something like weetabix - obviously mushed up with milk.
Lunch is where I’m struggling the most but I’m thinking maybe an omelet with like mixed peppers, ham & cheese
and then dinner I am confident that I could do something like jacket potato with cheese & beans (obviously removing the skin and mashing it up)
im just worried about her having the same meal everyday i want to mix it up.

@CJ98

You're overthinking things. Just feed her what you're eating and if you're not eating healthy food then change that.

Look at Solid Starts for advice on how to serve food in a way to minimise choking risk for different age groups.

It can be so hard to know what to do - and time consuming. I have briefly worked as a kitchen porter and used some of those skills to help with the prep.

I would boil, roast or air fry a load of veg - green beans or that pre cut up butternut squash is super easy. Then freeze on a baking tray not touching, once frozen pop into a sandwich bag. I ended up dedicating a whole freezer drawer to her stuff. It meant I could grab like 3 beans and 1 strip of pepper at a time, which made actual meal time really quick.

I would also recommend looking at Moon and Rue on TikTok. And solid starts I found super useful for knowing what size to cut stuff for each age.

Cut the toast into fingers. If she can handle melty stick she’ll be fine! Remember gagging is normal sometimes with weaning and isn’t the same as actually choking. Your biggest choking risks are with smaller bits they could potentially swallow whole. Foods like sausages, grapes, popcorn. A toast finger is fine as she’ll be forced to suck/gum it until it’s basically disintegrated. I’d look at Solid Starts for ideas but as a starting point those are good ideas!

Also you can get baby food making machines that steam then blend for under £50 (probably even less second hand on market place) - if you’re stressing that might be worth thinking about and then you can just chuck pre-prepped frozen veg in with a bit of chicken or whatever and hit the required buttons. I know most people probably think it’s a total waste of money but I loved ours!

Not until 2.5 here

I usually give a yogurt after dinner

Don't give her desserts in the form of sweet treats, that's so unhealthy. My toddler has blueberries or apple or pear if she's still hungry after a meal, or I offer plain yoghurt. There's really no need for anything else. I do resort to snacks on long car journeys or long pram rides occasionally etc but there's no need on a daily basis for sweet treats.

Sorry OP I think I kind of misunderstood your post. I see from the update you just want to vary her diet a bit more. I shouldn't have been so bossy.

Tbh if you eat quite unhealthily which it sounds like you do, the 'give baby what you eat' thing won't work.

So I recommend:
Egg fried rice with veg for baby
Salmon fillet with veg for baby (babies LOVE salmon)
Scrambled eggs and veg e.g. soft broccoli
Pan fried sea bass and veg. I know this sounds expensive but sea bass is only about £2.60 for 2 in Aldi so not bad for two meals every now and then
Lentil daal without chili - follow simple recipes online
Cottage pie or shepherds pie cooked with less salt than usual - you can eat it too but salt after serving and grate some extra cheese on yours

My baby is the same age, it is difficult to come up with stuff they’ll eat and she definitely has a preference for sweet things (fruit over veg I mean) but here’s some things we have if it’s helpful

breakfast
Weetabix / porridge with milk and sometimes fruit, chia pudding, home made oat bars, no sugar pancakes, toast and peanut butter

lunch - this is the one I struggle the most with because it’s the one I skip most often personally
toast and something (peanut butter, avocado, scrambled eggs, hummus)
Frittata (made ahead and frozen into slices)
salmon patties (made ahead and frozen)
leftovers from dinner
French toast

then I add some fruit and veg, like half a tomato on the side to munch on and sometimes some Greek yogurt

Dinner
whatever we’re having usually
spaghetti and meatballs, curry, steak, chicken, pasta, stews from the slow cooker
maybe add a veg on the side

and if it’s not something suitable I have 4/5 pasta sauce options in the freezer that I’ve made ahead and frozen into baby sized portions.

I just gave ours what we were having. I didn't restrict stuff based on it being "dessert" and I didn't specifically seek out desserts, at least not at weaning age. If we were having something which was baby appropriate (which is most things IMO) then they got to try some!

You should get your partner to make and feed her foods with those things when he is home though, to reduce the risks of her developing the same allergies.

Egg dishes are a good idea, quick and easy and so much variety. You can cook a bunch of vegetables at once and freeze in portions. Porridge is probably the best breakfast, if you cook it in the microwave it only takes a few minutes. My DS loved it mixed with a bit of Turkish yoghurt and cinnamon.

I absolutely swear by this book for weaning - https://amzn.eu/d/4G7e84L

I was so anxious about getting it wrong or DD choking when we first introduced food so found this book invaluable for how to introduce various tastes and textures as well as allergens. I also really liked the what mummy makes books for quick and easy meals or family food inspiration.

At 7mths DD was mostly eating steamed sticks of veg (we bought a counter top steamer in the end which was super handy), omelette with mashed frozen veg, pasta or the occasional fruit compote made with frozen fruit mix to pop on top of porridge or natural yoghurt, or a modification of whatever we were eating.

If you want to set your child up to refuse vegetables, have weight issues and a sweet tooth when they are older, then go ahead and give your 7month old BABY sweet items and desserts.
What am I reading?? Do NOT give your baby processed sugary foods!!

Weaning is definitely a time to reassess your own eating habits.

neither of us have the time to spend cooking up food for her, freezing it and then preparing it for her after a full days shift

Who has time to cook a separate meal for baby?! And honestly @CJ98 - you don't have time to defrost and reheat a pre cooked meal but you do have time to order and await a takeaway? Do you literally subsist off takeaways/pizza every night?

Have you got a slow cooker? Air fryer? Microwave? Toaster?

You can microwave a packet of rice in 1m30secs and it doesn't take much longer to steam a piece of fish and some packet/frozen veg also in the microwave.
You can empty a packet of chicken thighs into a slow cooker with a tiny splash of water leave it on all day and pull it when you get in, mix it with a bit of BBQ sauce (low salt, not even homemade will do, but no honey under age 1) or soy or whatever flavour you fancy (lemon and black pepper), serve with wraps and cucumber or a few slices of avocado and quarters of tomato, grated cheese.
You can slice some potatoes into wedges and bake with courgette, lemon and a salmon fillet them in less time than it takes for a takeaway to arrive.
You can cut a thick slice of sweet potato and toast it in your toaster. Stick some cottage cheese on top, slices of pepper and a handful of blueberries on the side, whatever!
Stick a slice of toast on, and while it toasts mash a banana then spread it on toast. Sprinkle of cinnamon or cocoa powder if you must. You could even mix cocoa powder into the mashed banana, a All in the time in takes to toast some bread.

Keep it simple. It doesn't have to be a multi course gourmet meal. Whatever you manage to cook/prepare, siphon off a taster for baby to try the next day, no need to freeze.

What she doesn't need at 7m old is added sugar, chocolate buttons, snacks. She has so much time to discover those much later down the line.

ETA - ok, scrap the fish and banana suggestions, just seen you're allergic so can't prepare those. But there are so many things are doable quickly that you can adapt to your allergies.

Also @CJ98 I recommend the 'What Mummy Makes' cookbook, the follow up to that 'Family Comforts' both by Rebecca Wilson.

Also follow Charlotte Stirling-Reed she has some great quick recipes and good advice on weaning
https://www.srnutrition.co.uk/category/recipes/

And then look here as well for other recipe ideas

https://www.nhs.uk/start-for-life/baby/recipes-and-meal-ideas/

Good luck

Wow, definitely some parent police on this thread!

It sounds like you're doing great! We love the Ella's Kitchen snacks (our favourite is the carrot & parsnip puffs but a close second has to be the cheese & apple melty sticks!)

I really struggle with weaning. My HV constantly has to remind me that "food before 1 is just for fun" and that they still get the majority of their nutritional requirements from milk. DS is now 9 months old and has 2-3 meals a day. Breakfast is usually porridge or weetabix with some fruit purée to make it a tad bit sweeter otherwise it ends up anywhere but the spoon/bowl/mouth. Only just started with lunch today and we had toast for the first time which was a fan favourite! Dinner is usually the chunkier purées (I am not a lover of Baby Led Weaning as it contributes significantly to my anxiety) but after dinner, we offer a yoghurt or fruit puree.

Like you, my DS has the odd "treat." Why? Because it's fun and enjoyable - which is what parenting should be about - and I'm a first time parent who's learning this stuff with him. My DS having 1 chocolate button on the rare occasion isn't going to mean he's going to be obsessed with chocolate. He's quite a fan of yoghurt so maybe offer something sweeter after dinner? You could even try the Ella's kitchen Strawberry/Banana Puffs or Organix do these Apple or Strawberry Rice Cakes which my DS loves! Adding a "pudding" isn't a bad thing and it doesn't have to be something us adults would have.

It sounds like you're doing amazing and I'm sure your little one is loving the journey! Keep going 🩵

Thank you so much ! This is literally what I needed. It’s so reassuring knowing we aren’t the only one who uses the Ella kitchen pouches. We’ve been giving her the chunkier pouches for her evening meal and it’s always something like jacket potato with cheese or beef stew & she’s absolutely loving them… She honestly also doesn’t have chocolate buttons or biscuits every day it’s literally every once once in a while & she actually enjoys them. We are just getting in the swing of getting an “actual meal” down her for breakfast and I’m thinking of continuing with weetabix or porridge on a morning. It’s just difficult because she’s not doing great with sleeping on a night so her having me up all night I don’t have the energy first thing on a morning to make her a breakfast meal and so we go straight for a bottle: but I honestly am trying my best. 🤦🏼‍♀️

We’ve been giving her the chunkier pouches for her evening meal and it’s always something like jacket potato with cheese or beef stew & she’s absolutely loving them

But it isn't a jacket potato and cheese or beef stew. It's a processed pouch. You could cook baked potatoes for everyone's dinner and give her a little on her high chair tray with some grated cheese and veggies. You can make beef stew unsalted in the slow cooker for everyone. Honestly OP, there's nothing wrong with the pouches in moderation, my child had those pouches on occasion too. But it sounds like it's too often and you're literally only one month into weaning.

I understand that you're tired but it takes 5 minutes to make porridge. If she's hungry give her a piece of fruit, or toast with peanut butter while she's waiting. Use nice crusty bread at her age as it's easier for her to gnaw on and won't gum up in her mouth. 5 minutes makes a pot of porridge for everyone to eat and you can put so much in it. I cook an egg yolk into my son's porridge and add flax seeds, a drizzle of nut butter, and chop fruit into it. You could put a teaspoonful of peanut butter into it and mash raspberries in.

At only one month in, it's fine if she's not on 3 meals a day. My son was months before he was reliably eating 3 meals a day and most of his nutrition was absolutely from breast milk right up until a year old. Build up gradually but get rid of the pouches as your go-to meals.

The buttons are seriously not necessary. There's plenty of time for her to try chocolate. It's irrelevant that she likes them. She'll also like cucumber, mangoes, avocados, pasta, chicken, soup, strawberries... literally anything. There are so many quick and and nutritious options for her to try like porridge, egg and toast, avocado and toast, humous with rice cakes or breadsticks, salmon, roast chicken cut into strips, soup, cheese on toast, Greek yoghurt with fruit, nut butters, fruit and veg sticks.

@CJ98 It wouldn't let me respond directly in line with the last comment you made but honestly, you are doing amazing irrespective of what others may think.

I always believed that it was about textures and trying new foods. Also, those pouches must have nutritional value in order to be on the shelves. We love the cheesy jacket potato and also have started using the Stage 2 Little Freddie's Beef Lasagne & Chicken Casserole - maybe you could branch to these if you ever get unsure about variety. As someone with severe PP Anxiety, the pouches are what works for me and I'm sure many other mums around the UK.

I honestly think that it is easy for everyone else to say "make home cooked meals" or "when I had my children.." but the truth is, this is your baby and your weaning journey. If it was that easy, every kid would be the same! As your LO gets older you can slowly introduce the more whole foods such as carrot sticks and cucumber sticks which can replace the "melty sticks" but at this moment, it should just be fun and exciting.

Also, I'm only 25 and I grew up on Jars of food, pouches and snacky things and I turned out perfectly fine and as long as my child grows up with a fun relationship with food (which I've introduced to ease us both into it) then I know I've succeeded.

Sorry to hear your LO isn't doing well through the night, the sleep regression even at 9mo is getting to me too so I feel you!

Honestly thank you so much. ! I’m 26, a first time mum & extremely anxious. My entire journey into motherhood has not been easy & all I’ve needed is someone to tell me I’m going a good job so that you so much for making me feel like what I’m doing is perfectly fine rather than making me feel like a bad mum.
We’ve been progressing the pouches to coincide with our daughter’s age and progressing with the chunkiness of the pouches so that she’s not just having puréed foods. Every so often we do give her some “proper food” to try her with it but have found we are comfortable with using the pouches as she seems happy and enjoying them. Like you said the pouches, jars and snacks must be good as they are sold & I’ve seen so many people recommended them.