Elderberries no 2 - all old and new berry babies welcome!

[HazleNutt]

New thread!

All babies are different lilly sounds like you got a baby like I was. How do any of us kniw we are doing it right? All we know for sure is that we are doing our best!

lilly a friend is struggling with her second baby who is nothing like the first (reflux, gets poorly lots, cries loads, sleeps badly). They've done everything exactly the same but it's just a different baby. That's why it's so hard to compare and there's no textbook so relatives should keep a zip on it unless asked Luckily my mum thinks I'm doing a brilliant job (apart from texting me every five mins when I'm out to check S is wrapped up warmly enough!)

We're starting to think about weaning now S is nearly 19 weeks. So far she's licked a piece of mango, cucumber, pear purée and whipped cream (last one was DH!) Older baby berries, could I please have your weaning experiences? When, what, baby rice etc, any tips? Thanks x

Baby rice can seem very boring alex and H was far from impressed, pear puree was a big hit though. I started with pureed fruit and veg and just tried him with the different tastes, I mixed it with baby rice to start with as I thought it might be quite acidic on his tum but have all but cut out the baby rice now as he isn't a fan. I got a free 'cow and gate weaning guide' off of their website, I dont use the cow and gate stuff but it is a good handy guide.

Yes apple and pear mashed up was popular here and she also liked things like butternut squash/sweet potato mash with broccoli in it. I bought a box of baby rice and gave it to her about twice but I just looked at it and thought 'I wouldn't want to eat that' so eventually chucked it out just because I thought it looked so unappetising though she happily ate it. Baby porridge she absolutely loved though.

And at what age did you all start? Do you carry on bf on demand at the same time?!

we started um..after 17 weeks, but not sure exactly, maybe 20 weeks? First with baby rice, which he liked a lot, (only the plain one though, anything sweetened, vanilla-taste etc was firmly refused), but unfortunately it made him very constipated. (he's fine with baby porridge now, but I make it half-half with fruit puree, just in case). He was also fond of pear, butternut and sweet potato. And pear-broccoli mix, sounds disgusting but he liked it.
Yes, BF on demand.

Better be careful with constipation foods as S is weirdly only doing poos every 4/5 days at the moment!

Alex that's totally normal for bf, it's because it's all goodness there's basically no waste to come out and once their digestive system develops is totally normal to go that infrequently.

We started at about 20 weeks I think too. Started with veg purée as I was told that if you start with fruit you can develop a sweet tooth. M loved baby rice, I think because it just tastes of milk, and I found it really useful when introducing new flavours (eg he refused broccoli purée but happily ate it mixed with baby rice, now will eat it on it's own) and to get some carbohydrate into him. Agree re flavoured ones, no need, just mix it with your own foods.

You're supposed to introduce one new thing a day so if there's a reaction or allergy you can pin point it.

Big faves here to begin with were root veg and sweet veg, so he loved puréed sweet potato, butternut squash, carrots etc. I cooked up batches of each then started to mix then together, and then with other things eg salmon or chicken.

Now he likes pretty much anything and will happily eat a wide variety of things, from spag bol to fish pie wil curly kale. He's got much better taste than my DP!

At the airport drinking wine, waiting for our flight out to France. Pop over to say hi hazle! Although not long until we get to meet you. Have we persuaded you to come down for that Cavort? And are we all leaving babies at home, or bringing them?!

Oh and Annabel karmel is pretty much the queen of weaning - all my Nct friends bought one or other of her books and we all agreed they were v useful.

Can't believe S is old enough for weaning already!

Oh great, funnily enough, I ordered Annabel karmel's book this morning after another friend recommended it! S has just been sucking on cucumber, she likes it. Feels weird that she'll be eating soon and doesn't sleep on me during the day anymore, and will be in her own room and not in her babybay - I've decided to be positive about it all and look forward to things changing

Veg has been less popular here although he likes sweetcorn, butternut, sweet potato and red pepper, will tollerate brocolli, spinach and carrot, hates parsnip, cauli and potato though, but if I mix in some pear he happily eats anything. Fruits wise he will eat any, so far pear, apple, banana, apricot, peach, strawberry, blueberry, mango, cherry and cranberry, have all been eaten happily. H has porridge for breakfast, I also mix it with fruit to stop him getting constipated. You guys are lucky to have/have had one pooey nappy every 4/5 days, H sometimes has 2 or 3 a day!

Alex we started weaning at 22 weeks, although she was definitely ready at 20 weeks (could sit unaided for long periods, bring hand to mouth, etc.) but we spent 2 weeks scratching our heads over whether to follow NHS guidelines of 26 weeks before we though sod it, she's clearly ready so we'll go for it. There is a good table at the bottom of this page advising what foods to introduce and when. She ate so little at that point that she was still BFing (on demand) at the same frequency as before. It was only when she started eating proper meals that she decreased the BFing of her own accord.

And I just realised I never answered your tent query the other day. Yes, I think the smaller one would be fine. We just got the bigger one as it wasn't much more expensive and I thought it might get more use in the garden if it was bigger.

Have a lovely holiday Janey.

Hazle when is your trip to London in May?

I can't even imagine weaning, especially not at 20w which doesn't sound very far away to me. So scary! I don't want Imogen to grow up!!

I'm in London 18-20 of May, so we could all meet up on Sunday the 18th.

I started after H was ill, so around 19/20 weeks, it has helped hugely with his sleep so for totally selfish reasons I'm glad we started then

Weaning has made absolutely zero difference to E's shit sleeping.

Tally you will be glad when weaning time comes because someone else can do the feeding without the hassle of you expressing first. The BFing relationship is lovely but it's a lot of hassle (even with expressing) to spend a chunk of time away from the baby. It's so much easier once they eat actual food! It is semi-sad that they seem to grow up so fast, but also good as they do something new and exciting seemingly every day which makes you fill with pride. Yesterday E clapped her hands on her own for the first time.

Hazle we are supposed to be going to a birthday party on Sat 17th, but I could probably come down on my own the train on Sunday. Where are you thinking of meeting?

Yay, go E. Totally know what you mean cav! I love it when H masters new things, when I give him a squeezy hug he now wraps his hands behind my head and tries to squeeze back....so cute! I made homemade pear, pear and blackberry, peach, peach and pear and butternut pots of food this morning, feel strangely proud of myself.

no idea cav, I'm staying at a hotel near Hyde park, but as I don't have a baby with me, am more mobile than the rest. So maybe some London-berries can suggest a meeting place?

Are the other berries coming on 18th coming with or without babies?

with would be great, I'd love to meet the little berries.

I am biding my time to talk to DH about London meet up until the snow season has definitely ended in the Alps. He seems to think it's a fair swap that I get an afternoon in London and he gets a long weekend snowboarding no chance.

Wow. 2.5oz hungry baby formula and she's back on the boob for more too. Hungry baby indeed.

Do you remember my SIL was saying add baby rice to milk (from earlier days in her case but we wouldn't do that before now). Well surely the rice gets stuck in the bottle and wouldn't come through the tip?! Or has anyone done that?

Oh and happy Easter! I am about to scoff S's first Easter eggs on her behalf.

alex I think it just thickens the milk so it takes longer to digest, not sure though.