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

my main advice as many others have said is not to worry - concentrate on your little one enjoying a range of goods and tastes. Try to all eat the same as a family but have various finger goods available for baby to play with/eat while you cook.

Yeah, messy it will be. PLASTIC baby chair that you can detach the tray and run thro' the dishwasher...

.......three words SOFT MASHED BANANA !!!!!

My son threw food for about a year, he even got it about 4metres away and actually managed to sling it out the front door sometimes ( we lived in a small flat).

I did get stressed, it was a 'mare ...
but then the 2nd ds came along and ate calmly and mess free from about 6 months.

I repeat ....... KEEP CALM AND MASH BANANA !!!!!

It's been lovely to see my son's expressions when he tries new food! It's all new experiences for him. My advice is to relax and enjoy the process.

So, what single piece of advice would you give to another mum just about to start weaning?
Chill out! Make this stage enjoyable- it doesn't last long and you want to remember it fondly, not as the time when you and baby were stressed.

If you were weaning again, what would you do differently and why?
I wouldn't change anything! I loved this stage- did a combination of purées and BLW and DS has always and still will try anything. I thought jars looked utterly disgusting and refused to use them. Still wouldn't although I appreciate some people do feel the need due to time constraints.

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

Which foods did your little one love during weaning, do they still love the same tastes now?
Most things! A particular fave was salmon, sweet potato and couscous with orange. He still loves those things except the sweet potato and was very cross when I gave him sweet potato mash for dinner last night! he still gave it a try though!

So, what single piece of advice would you give to another mum just about to start weaning?
If you eat together and prepare a version of what you are eating in their size then they learn that mealtimes are family time where everyone eats together.

If you were weaning again, what would you do differently and why?
Nothing, we did baby led weaning feeding her little bits of what we were eating and it has worked well for us.

What 3 words would you use to describe your weaning journey?
She taught us!

Which foods did your little one love during weaning, do they still love the same tastes now?
Banana, weetabix, any fruit and she is still the same, absolutely adores fruit.

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

Take a deep breath and just tell yourself you'll clear the mess up later!

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

I'd buy the flexible ice cube trays earlier as they are so helpful for Stage 1 & 2 portion sizes.

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

Messy, amusing and exciting. Messy because she loves to feed herself. Amusing because the look on her face when I introduce a new flavour makes me chuckle. Exciting because I'm so thrilled to see her enjoying her food which hopefully bodes well for the future.

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

She absolutely loves kedgeree. It's her favourite meal. She also loves fish pie like her big cousins who still eat it - although not as mushy! Can never eat enough yoghurt and loves rice pudding - blergh! Eats porridge likes it's the yummiest thing ever and has eaten it every morning for 3 months. Never gets bored of it and is just as excited every day.

Advice- it doesn't have to be difficult! You don't have to spend hours cooking, pureeing, spoon feeding. Blw all the way. Oh, and get a dog! I had to cut down on the amount of dog food I gave my dogs when I was weaning as they cleared up anything that went on the floor.

If I was doing it again - I'd do everything I did with ds2, blw with everything and anything (obv following the guidelines for honey etc) ds1 was purée weaned and I spent more time cooking and pureeing than I did with my baby. That said, I still gave ds2 the purée pouches ( organix, plum, Ella's) and the fruit pots and snacks, more for convenience than anything.

3 words - messy, enjoyable, amusing.

Foods they loved - ds1, anything home cooked, especially cottage pie, spaghetti bolognese, pasta, most veg (once we'd moved on from puréed) ds2, everything and anything, was weaned on cauliflower and broccoli, will eat broccoli still but not cauli, don't blame him!

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

Try a variety of foods

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

I would've been a little more relaxed about it all
And not worried so much that I wasn't doing it right!

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

Messy, exciting, tasty

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

Porridge, raisins, fruit

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

Not to worry too much when they don't seem to eat anything/ as much as their friends. they are all different!
If you were weaning again, what would you do differently and why?

Listen to everyone else telling me not to worry? and get my mum an easier -to-clean highchair :)
What 3 words would you use to describe your weaning journey?
messy, frustrating, charming
Which foods did your little one love during weaning, do they still love the same tastes now?
porridge, rice, pesto, dairy, creamy/tomato/ meat sauces - and she eats a lot more now. she didn't like banana, which everyone said she would.

So, what single piece of advice would you give to another mum just about to start weaning? Take your time, all children get there in the end.

If you were weaning again, what would you do differently and why? I'd ask for more help and support.
What 3 words would you use to describe your weaning journey?
Challenging, rewarding fun
Which foods did your little one love during weaning, do they still love the same tastes now?
Cheese, yogurt and fruit..still all firm favourites!

Single piece of advice? Don't worry about it

What differently and why? Less worrying it all doesn't matter that much. I would be less uptight fussy about having to have everything 100% perfect all the time. It doesn't matter if you take the easy route sometimes.

3 words? Messy, messy and messy.

Which foods? Porridge, bananas, carrots

Same tastes now? No, no and yes.

Advice: Don't purée food, but just chop/mash it up, and continue doing so. That way, you'll know you're giving them a balanced diet because you can be sure they're getting vegetables and carbohydrate and protein, and the food will still have some variation in texture and taste so they'll get used to different foods. I know this advice isn't fashionable whilst baby-led weaning is popular, but it has meant that my twins eat a balanced diet. I suspect they would just pick out the pasta and leave everything else if I didn't mash up their food.

If I were doing it again, I'd make more effort to get them used to different fruits.

Three words: unpredictable, chaotic, interesting.

Which foods? They love most vegetables as long as they're mashed up, and they have a serious pasta addiction. They don't like fruit.

Same tastes now? (At age three.) Yes, except they no longer eat banana. :-(

I used to buy lots of ready made pots at the beginning and nearer to the end i started making my own. Second time round im definately going to save some money by making my own food with fresh ingredients, mashing it and then freezing them in ice cube trays so that i can use them whenever.

3 words - save yourself money

So, what single piece of advice would you give to another parent?
Don't cut banana with a knife because it makes it slippery. Break it into lengths and squeeze it a little and it'll split into three down the length. Hey presto, dry banana.

If you were weaning again, what would you do differently and why?
Wouldn't have bothered with making purees. Finger food at home and the odd jar when out and about of fruit puree would have been fine.

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

Which foods did your little one love during weaning, do they still love the same tastes now?
Banana, pasta, sweet potato. They still like them now. They both eat pretty much anything.

What single piece of advice would you give to another mum just about to start weaning?
Let your child play and interact with the weaning spoons and bowls you intend to use, they will be familiar with them and more likely to be happy to receive food from them than an alien object heading towards them.

If you were weaning again, what would you do differently and why?
I would offer my child all different foods and textures, not just the ones that the rest of the family eat. I feel I have limited their palettes by only giving what fruit/veg I am familiar with preparing.

What 3 words would you use to describe your weaning journey?
Challenging, rewarding, fun

Which foods did your little one love during weaning, do they still love the same tastes now?
Roo loved toast and still does now, however Tigger loved all different tastes but refuses to eat them now opting for his firm favourite of Cauliflower Cheese

Three words - no added salt
We don't add any to our food when cooking so I was happy to give DS what ever we were having and let him get on with it. He is obsessed with the pouch on his bib so if he is not looking keen on something I drop it in the pouch and he finds it and eats it!
Other advice; never say never to jars. I cook and freeze whenever I can but if I need to ill fall back on the odd organix pouch. Life is hard enough as it is.

What single piece of advice would you give to another mum just about to start weaning?
Take it at baby pace, don't force them do try something they don't want to. My son wouldn't entertain anything new when he was tired but once he'd had a nap he was ready to explore new tastes.

If you were weaning again, what would you do differently and why?
I would try baby led weaning, my son was an extremely hungry baby so on the advise of my health visitor I weaned him early. This meant we had to start with the messy purees and baby rice which he hated.

What 3 words would you use to describe your weaning journey?
Messy, fun and learning (for both mum and baby)

Which foods did your little one love during weaning, do they still love the same tastes now?
My son loved mashed banana when I first started weaning him and its still a firm favorite now. He loves minted peas too.

Thanks for all the tips and stories: lolancurly wins a £150 voucher for notonethehighstreet! well done