Fairy Non Bio wants to hear your thoughts about feeding and weaning - £300 voucher to be won NOW CLOSED

[JustineBMumsnet]

As part of our new partnership with Fairy Non Bio, we’ve produced our first ever Mumsnet Babies Podcast. There are ten episodes in the series and so far we’ve released five. Episode one is about feeding and weaning, and you can listen to it here. Fairy Non Bio would like you to listen to the podcast whenever you can, and then discuss your experiences of weaning and feeding your child.

Feeding your child is one of the joys of parenthood but it can also be an uphill struggle. We imagine ourselves watching our little ones devouring something delicious and home-cooked, into which we’ve poured both love and superfoods - but the reality is usually rather different. Fairy Non Bio would love to hear your stories about feeding and weaning. When did you start weaning? What process did you use and what worked well for you and your child? Do mealtimes often become a battleground or are they mainly about having fun? Is your child a fussy eater? How do you deal with that - do you ignore it and let them eat nothing but yoghurt and toast if they want, or do you try to sneak veggies into their meals? Have you experienced interference from family members, friends etc who have different ideas about feeding children? Whatever your story, please share it with Fairy Non Bio by posting on the thread below.

Everyone who posts below will be entered into a prize draw where one MNer will win a £300 Love2Shop voucher.

If you want to rate the Mumsnet Babies Podcast, please go to the iTunes store and add a review!

Thank you and good luck!

MNHQ

Standard Insight T&Cs apply.

My DD loves sausage & sometimes that's all she'll ask for or eat so we resort to shaping foods into sausage shapes and pretending it is sausage. Sometimes we get found out but it generally works when she tastes things and realises that it's nice .

My daughter wouldn't spoon feed at all so I had to follow baby led weaning. At first I hated it. I hated the fact that my friends all fed their babies and it was over in minutes whereas my daughter would eat for ages!! Once I got over that I loved it. As she grew she already knew how to act at the table and how to eat well. It fitted in really well with family life and I loved the fact that we ate together.

I started baby led weaning at 6 months with my little girl (now 14 months). I chose this method after researching both BLW and traditional weaning and I felt this better suited our needs. At first it was fun giving her things to try and we were impressed with how well she handled food. After a month I started to get frustrated about the amount of food that was made for her that got wasted and I found myself getting stressed about preparing food for her for meal times. I know they say that food at this age is just for fun but at around 8 months she started to drastically reduce her breast feeds too so I was also worried about how much she was eating. The best thing I did was decide that she would always eat the same dinner as us, that way I had not wasted anytime and she got to try more things. I also started batch cooking and freezing breakfast and lunch items (pancakes, fritters, muffins..... basically every recipe on the 'mylovelylittlelunchbox' website). Not only did I enjoy this but it also meant breakfast and lunch became stress free. I now have a a 14 month old who eats really well and I never stress or worry about what to give her as she just eats the same as us. I would definitely recommend baby led weaning. Yes the choking is a concern and we did have a few panics over her gagging but on the whole we had no issues. It probably helped that we signed up for a baby first aid course so we knew what to do. I shall be following the same approach with our second when he/she comes along.

I think it's all down to the parents decision I had big baby's 9lb upwards so at three months they was all ready for baby rice and rusk but main foods like spag bolognaise I used to strip my kids off down to their nappy give them a spoon and let them explore got in a right mess but never had any problems with feeding make sure u have those baby wipes at the ready or as I used to do have a bath waiting for when they have finished lol :)

My kids were weaned by 6 months and eat really well. I was making our meals (typically meat and veg) and then blending some down to feed to the kids. I then made it lumpy and then didn't blend it at all. I am very grateful that they both like their veggies.

I was just looking at some weaning pics of my two DC. One loved baby rice and the other couldn't get enough of Farley's rusks. I experienced loads of judgement for feeding either of those foods but I did what was right for my children.

I tried to introduce loads of different flavours and textures so I wouldn't be raising fussy eaters. They both like different foods now but have a varied enough diet. I just wish they liked the same foods!

I started weaning by the book really. I took advice from a variety of sources on what is the 'right' age and started pretty much exactly then. I let him experiment with chunky pieces of buttered toast, pitta bread and soft pieces of cooked veg as well as mashed and pureed food and went on from there. He ate really well, was very enthusiastic and tucked into his meals (and ours!) fairly consistently. I love to cook and prepare most of our food at home, and thought I was home and dry with what my family termed DS as a 'good eater'. However by the age of two that all changed and I spent the next 5 years battling with an extremely fussy eater who ignored and refused most foods altogether. I'm not sure I have any good advice on how to tackle this! All my attempts at being strict/flexible/fun/firm/relaxed etc failed utterly. My son is healthy, happy and growing like steam aged 7, but lives off fresh air, fruit and cereal mostly. Hey ho!

eat together so they see you enjoying your food too

baby led weaning from 6 months very slowly with number 1 whilst number 2 snatched food and weaned himself at 5 months

I started weaning my son at 5 months as I felt he was ready regardless of the 6 month advise. Weaning is lots of fun, but ver y messy try to enjoy it though :) Non of my kids are very fussy eaters and I think this is because I introduced a wide variety of food from a young age.

just to be guided by your child not the books, all children are different and aer ready to wean at different stages. just don't try to rush it and don't panic if it takes longer than you anticipate.

I tried a mixture of baby-led weaning and purees with both my children and found the combination worked really well. It meant that when we went out to eat, we didn't have to rely on jarred food.

Follow your instinct and start to wean when you think your baby is ready, you know best! Try to incorporate lots of flavours, textures and colours in your baby's food and don't beat yourself up for buying ready made!

Always breastfeeding and baby-led weaning :)

First baby?? chicken liver pureed, butternut squash & organic EVERYTHING!!
Second time round it was ready made pouches & sat in his highchair with all sorts of solid foods to play with!!

With DD1 we did BLW. The mess was fun, she ate anything and it was great. She hated spoons. She's now almost 6 and very fussy.

DD2 had a mixture of finger food and puréed/mashed of whatever we were having. She's 3 and will try just about anything.

Just about to start weaning DC3 and not looking forward to the mess. Food may be fun until they're one, but not for the person clearing it all up.

4 months for both of mine, but it was a while ago. Milk alone wouldnt have kept them satisfied

Mine were about 5.5 months, I did a mix of baby lead weaning, annabel karmel, jars, pouches. They were definitely ready, trying to grab my dinner etc. I didn't stress about quantities and once they were bored it was time to clear up. Most ended up on the floor. DD1 ate everything except broccoli, DD2 liked more adventurous food. DD1 is now fussier, DD2 still eats more variety.

I started mine when I felt that they were ready - between 5 and 6 months. Made most of my own food and they loved it! They have all gone through fussy phases but as they have grown they have started to be more adventurous

Always a battle ground and very messy!

BLW and loaded spoons work well for my DN.

DD liked very smooth purees or finger food and nothing inbetween! Even now at 4 she's still very suspicious of mixed textures (veggies in sauce etc).

i weaned using the traditional method

We started at 6 months and just fed him whatever we were having. I've never bought jars or pouches because I find it easier to give him fruit as a snack and all eat the same meals. Grandparents seemed surprised at first but were impressed he grasped it so well and could see it made sense. I do have a battle to stop granny slipping him extra food from her plate, particularly desserts because he just doesn't need it. He was given some chocolate for Xmas when he was 7 months old that I took care of for him, and granny thought I was very mean. We are raising him vegetarian like us and nursery are great making him a Quorn alternative. We don't eat meat substitutes at home though, just pack dinners with veg and beans and pulses. We've had to reduce the dog's portions of food as he was getting fat off thrown baby dinners! In a nutshell, baby led weaning worked so well for us its the only piece of advice I've passed on to friends

i find exposing them to various flavours and textures from the get go make my children have a varied palette