Share your advice and top tips for weaning with Organix: you could win a £150 notonthehighstreet voucher! NOW CLOSED

[AnnMumsnet]

We've been asked by baby and toddler food brand Organix to find out your top tips and advice when weaning your LO onto food.

So, what single piece of advice would you give to another mum just about to start weaning? If you were weaning again, what would you do differently and why? What 3 words would you use to describe your weaning journey? Which foods did your little one love during weaning, do they still love the same tastes now?

Share your thoughts on this thread and you'll be entered into a prize draw where one MNer will win a £150 voucher for notonthehighstreet.com/

Please note your tips and comments may be used, along with your MN nickname in an email MN will send out. They may well also be used elsewhere by Organix.

Thanks,
MNHQ

After first taste purées give small portions of any meal. Hungry is not a bad thing!

Piece of advice? Relax.
What would I have done differently? I would be more relaxed.
DC1 and 2 were both weaned identically on home cooked, carefully prepared meals and both have completely different tastes and attitudes to food. You can't control everything.
Variety is good even if they will only eat two things, keep ringing the changes.
Be prepared for firm favourites one week to be thrown on the floor the next. Also I've found that babies like stronger flavours than you think, both mine like garlicky things, smoked fish, olives, pesto and salami/chorizo so it's worth trying all sorts of flavours.

So, what single piece of advice would you give to another mum just about to start weaning? - All food is more desirable if (they think) it's yours. Put some aside on your plate for your child, so you can season your own portion, but your child won't realise. You can then dole it out & they are much more likely eat it. Worked a treat for us when DD went through a brief anti-meat phase.

If youwere weaning again, what would you do differently and why? - I'd get less stressed about how long it took for DD to 'get' finger foods. She was clearly hungry & loved all kinds of food but didn't start self-feeding until 11 months. Looking back, so what!

What3 words would you use to describe your weaning journey? - Mess Is Normal!

Which foods did yourlittle one love during weaning, do they still love the same tastes now? - When DD first tried them, she would not eat peas. They are now one of her favourites. Other than that, she's pretty much eaten everything we've given her. (She did become rather anti-meat for a while though.) She will still eat tomatoes until she is sick though, given half a chance! She has also always loved cheese (also rationed due to being salty).

Advice? Largely what CMOT said. But also - I have learned that it is perfectly normal for children (or at least, some children) to eat tons at one meal (or all day) and then virtually nothing the next meal/day. Or to want nothing but carbs at one meal, nothing but the meat or fruit the next. As long as it balances out (more or less), it's not an issue so just go with it!

3 words, hmmm - Why Start Early? I was baffled by some of my friends who seemed to rush into weaning early, not because their DCs were desperate for food but because the mums wanted to get onto the "next stage" or were excited about weaning. Well that soon wore off once they realised it would just give them several extra weeks of lovingly preparing mush and then having to scrape it all off the floor/highchair/baby. (Disclaimer - I'm not talking about where the baby is obviously ready for food, only where the mums are more impatient than the children!).

We let our DCs try pretty much anything as long as it wasn't too salty or spicy. Some things they have stopped liking - DS used to be a banana fiend, now isn't interested at all - but they still like a wide range of foods, including olives, broccoli, and seafood, so I'm happy with that.

With DD1 I was all Annabel Karmel purees, jars and dried food. If she didn't eat the purees, I'd eat them myself on toast. Her first food was banana custard, she was so excited that she started shaking once she'd tasted it!
I wonder if DD1 would be a better eater if I'd just given her what we had, mashed up.
With dd2 I was much more relaxed. I just gave her what we had but puréed. She eats pretty much anything (not keen on strawberries mind).

3 words? Messy, exciting, messy

So, what single piece of advice would you give to another mum just about to start weaning?
Not to stress about it, they will get there in the end!

If you were weaning again, what would you do differently and why?
I BLW for DD3, I wish I had done that for DD2 (although she was v prem). Other than that, nothing.

What 3 words would you use to describe your weaning journey?
Different between DD2 and DD3. DD2, messy, stressful and scary. DD, messy, fun and enjoyable.

Which foods did your little one love during weaning, do they still love the same tastes now?
Rice cakes, banana, toast. Yes!

Bananas. They just work!
Keep calm and ignore any stroppy food throwing.
Food from someone's plate always tastes better. Fact.
If you have to use a jar of baby food occassionally you haven't failed.
Fingers, food, fun.

nothing, special, together.
dont make your kids accept different.cook your own meals and they usually want to join along with you and eat the same.start early even by letting them try bits of things off your plate.let them no that this is what they can have soon too!!
bananas are great to pick at.cheeriois are a less messy option too.
if you have a meal with more chunky chewy bits in it just mush it up a bit.dont treat them all precious.letting them be picky grows them into picky eaters.sometimes just being a bit guilty about being forceful is worth it.
my parents did some crazy things to make me eat.but i appreicate it now because i like everything.and its the same.i have often thought eek should i have let him have something else!!what if he dies tonight because he wouldnt eat the tea i served!!but they learn.they want.and especially with borthers and sisters they want to eat what they eat.kids dont like feeling left out.
dont be scared.children have different tastes.hated mushrooms until teenager but started liking sprouts at 5!!dont give up trying,if they dont like it once it mihgt be stronger por different to milk and the mush but tastes like all things take attempts and keepiing trying to get used to them and to actually then like them.
make it fun.
my little neices were given olives and feta faces from very early and they are the unfussiest kids i know.they eat offal!!

Go with your instinct - 20- years ago when I had my first son, the advice was to wean early if they were hungry, which he was - so I weaned him extremely early by today's standards. Each of my 5 children has weaned at different stages and in different ways and no one approach is right.

Persevere - they will all get there in the end and I am afraid that you just have to let them get on with making a mess and everything being covered in food goo!

My advice would be not to get worked up about it if your DC isn't gobbling down every variety of foodstuff within a couple of months of being weaned. They are all different and at the end of the day even the very fussy ones who seem to have very, very limited palates will grow more adventurous with the passing of time. Our DS was a total nightmare from weaning up until he started school full-time. He has gradually blossomed with his enjoyment of food; although some might still regard him as relatively fussy, he now will eat most things including mussels, snails and smelly French cheeses which many other children wrinkle their noses up at!

If I was involved in weaning a DC again I would be a lot more chilled about it

Try, try again!

Bolognese and pasta was a big hit with both of my DCs. Also thick soups with bread dunked in. They are still mighty keen on the former but not so much the soups (a pity!).

please be patient!
Let your child find their own pace... they will eat, they might just need a bit of getting used to time
Do not push them and do not try to be helpful by feeding them

Be prepared for mess.

I would have been prepared for mess so that I found it less stressful initially.

Rewarding, time-consuming, messy.
He is not fussy at all and will eat anything!

Your child may wean beautifully onto a wide range of healthy food. Mine both did. Now at 3 my daughter will still eat tomatoes and at 5 my son will eat sweetcorn. So not a total failure on the vegetable front I guess.

My advice, like other posters above, is relax :-)

I won't do anything different with DD2 as I did with DD1, blw, no jars just whatever we were having. Didn't stop her having fussy phases but she's ok now and it's such a low-hassle way to wean.

oh and 3 words...mess, messy, messier!

3 words: easy cleaning highchair! (Get one that you can stick in the shower for really messy days. Those padded thrones are awful!)

We have done BLW both times and it has been great and so easy. I couldn't bear the idea of spoonfeeding and saying "into the tunnel". I agree with others whose children have liked strong flavours and curries. I don't know why we give children bland tasting slop!

Advice to a new mum: forget puréed food and just give your baby bits of what you're cooking anyway.

Tips for myself if I was doing it again: Well, I did with DC2 :o Be less stressed about everything being perfect. An odd chocolate button on a non-homemade breadstick is not going to hurt but staying up for hours batch-freezing salt-free bread dough and tomato sauce is bonkers!

Three words: experimental & a bit mad

DS loved meat while he was weaning but hasn't touched it since he was a year old. He's now nearly 4. Goodness knows why. DD is only just a year old but loves pasta.

I am about to start again with DC2! Best advice I'd give is real food as soon as possible. Don't worry if around a year they get fussy, it's quite common to suddenly stop eating anything other than spag bol a range of foods.

3 words: Learning about food - both you and them!

DS does love the same foods now as he did then, but mainly he's a carb fiend.

Now I'm about to do it again, I'm going to do less purees, more finger foods, but that's because it'll be easier to just make food for everyone.

Advice would be don't think they don't like the food if they don't eat it on the first go, you have to give it to them a few times.
My son loves his puréed fruit and still loves his fruit now. He used to love broccoli but doesn't now.
Weaning journey: fun, messy, experimental

If I was doing it again, I would give the baby some of the parents food as soon as possible. Our DS is so fussy and cannot ever imagine him eating the same food as us. It is a complete pain. I blame myself for making him his own food for too long.

So, what single piece of advice would you give to another mum just about to start weaning?

don't stress, they will pick up on your tension

If you were weaning again, what would you do differently and why?

Try even more random foods

What 3 words would you use to describe your weaning journey?

Messy, funny, frustrating

Which foods did your little one love during weaning, do they still love the same tastes now?

No, they hate veg now sadly

So, what single piece of advice would you give to another mum just about to start weaning? Spoon feed, finger foods or a mix of both. It really doesn't matter. Don't listen to people who tell you that their way is the only right way - they're wrong! The only right way is what your baby decides is right. Unless they decide the right way is chocolate and coke!

If you were weaning again, what would you do differently and why? I wouldn't get bogged down on the "BLW is the only way" bandwagon and would pay attention to what my baby actually wants and is happy with.

What 3 words would you use to describe your weaning journey? Different each time!

Which foods did your little one love during weaning, do they still love the same tastes now? They don't like the same things now, no. DS1 used to love cheese and now, aged 14, claims to hate it. DS2 used to eat everything and now, aged 12, is not a fan of "wet" foods. DD had things she loved as a baby which she doesn't like now she's 7. I guess tastes change and I assume they will like a different range of things when they are older still

Other useful advice for a first-timer:
Raisins come out the other end as grapes.
No, your child probably doesn't have some nasty parasite and those little black bits aren't eggs/worms - have they eaten a banana?
Yes, it is normal for them to keep each meal separate and do multi coloured poo.

best advice is not to worry and don't always compare what your child is eating to what others are - they are all different! So long as they are still having milk, it's not a major problem how much food they are eating so long as they are trying things. Also try to eat together as a family as they like to join in then.

3 words: have cloth handy!! :)

My advice (sorry organic) is stay gluten free for first year, and never use jars. My 3dc are fab eaters, and I made all their food myself

Single piece of advice: don't worry, it will all be fine! DD had days when she wouldn't eat a thing, others she would eat more than I would have thought physically possible! She didn't differentiate between home made and shop bought food, she ate and threw both on the floor indiscriminately!

Doing it again? Not that different - she still eats everything, loves fruit especially, seems to have gone ok. But who knows - DC2 might be different!

Three words: make it fun!

Her taste hasn't really changed. She's a bit more picky now, but will try everything. Only thing she really objects to is potato. Go figure!