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

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I started weaning DD1 at around 6 months. BLW didn't have a name then, but it was pretty much what I did. DD2 was less interested so started at around 8 months.

I know I was lucky, both were good eaters from the start and as they have got older, they are quite adventurous.

I'm weaning my littlest one at the moment & it's interesting to see how differently he takes to it than my first.
We are doing a mix of baby led & mushed up food on a spoon, where I tended to go for Ella's kitchen, baby rice & finger foods with my eldest, this one tends to get a bit of whatever we are having and seems (thankfully) to like quite strong tastes (asparagus, rhubarb, spiced lamb, pear & Ginger.....he loved paella the other night, in fact the only things he's completely turned down so far are weetabix and a bit of plain cod.
My HV said he would drop a milk feed when he really got into his food, I keep saying that she might need to tell him that as he seems to like both with great gusto.

DC was weaned around 5 months on HV advice, just baby rice and pureed fruit initially. I was worried about choking so didn't introduce hard foods for quite a while. DC was fed on jars and pureed fruit mainly. For a while as a toddler, all they would eat was tinned spaghetti. HV said not to stress about it, it won't last forever. Now aged 9, DC eats a wide range of food incuding vegetables and fruit. They don't like salad stuff though.

My main tip would be not to stress about it. If they will only eat pasta, or yoghurt, just roll with it for a while and things will change before too long

We started weaning at about 6 months old, with a bit of baby rice made with breastmilk (on advice from Midwife as baby was always hungry). Baby loved it straight away, and it felt right for all of us. My second child insisted on baby led weaning, mainly due to having a big brother and trying to steal from his plate all the time. I hated baby led weaning, it's so scary watching a baby tackle real food like a whole banana, carrot etc!
Mealtimes were tough, you spend ages making a healthy puree that's been steamed and whizzed to a smooth paste, for it to be spat out, and tantrums thrown!! I still have stains on the walls from fruit puree.
My son was always a fussy eater, who didn't like any bits in his food, and always seemed to noticed if i added extra veg to their food. It was hard because the easiest thing to do is feed them what they want....of course I don't mean chocolate biscuits and sweets, but we often gave the same food each meal just so that we knew he would eat. And on days out we had endless supplies of rice cakes or cheese puffs to keep him from screaming the place down! I didn't really have much interference from family when I was weaning. My MIL never liked that I chose to breastfeed alone, she thought it was rude that I didn't want to sit in the same room as people, but I stayed true to what I felt comfortable doing which is the most important thing you can do as a parent.

I weaned dd1 at four months and subsequent children at six months. Dd1 was the least fussy, and least messy

I weaned both my children at 6 months, they always had whatever we had but put through a blender, and we spoon fed them. As they got used to the puree we progressed to mashed food and finger foods.

We weaned at six months and did BLW. It was so easy and he took to it like a fish to water. His appetite is huge and he will eat most things except the dreaded lettuce!

I say leave it as long as you can as it's just an extra thing to tackle along with the 101 things you have to do with a young baby! My two were different, one weaned at 7 months the other at 4, I just went with how they seemed with just breast milk. My mum told me I didn't eat a single solid until I was 10 months old and I'm rarely I'll and love all types of food!

I have just started weaning DS at 6 months old. To be honest whilst he pulls a face when he first tastes food I've yet to find something that he won't wolf down. I'm a bit obsessed with cleaning so to reduce mess I give him a spoon to wave whilst I feed him with another one. The main problem I have is persuading other family members (looks sternly at my dad) that he's too young for chocolate, even if it is white chocolate.

Always fun and very messy! Dp was always very fussy as a child and had issues with texture and foods being mixed, we both wanted to avoid this and didn't want our children to worry about getting messy. In laws always wipe them in between mouthfuls and it drives me up the wall!

I'm actually quite excited about weaning my youngest little girl, to see her reaction to the delights of tasting her first taste of different foods, I can't wait to see what food she likes and dislikes

The first food ds had was baby rice, he was 4 months old and from his first spoonful behaved like a baby bird; head back, arms out, mouth open wanting more. After the rigours of breastfeeding, expressing and topping up with formula feeds it was such a relief that he liked eating solids.

I used an Annabel Karmel book to aid in meal planning and followed a schedule within it to swap milk feeds for meals and to give inspiration for which foods to try.

My home smelled of boiled veg for a couple of weeks, but ds fed happily so it was worth it. I batch cooked and froze in portions, which made things more convenient for me on hectic days.

Ds is not at all fussy with food, which is very lucky. He is now nearly 3 and has exactly the same meals as dh and I do. He has a big appetite and lots of energy.

I found weaning a little bit stressful to be honest. My daughter was a baby that liked to breastfeed frequently and I was always worrying about how little she would eat. First Steps nutrition trust helped a lot with that. I loved to cool for her but it was hard when she would reject stuff that I'd spent ages making. I wish I'd chilled pit about it all a bit more. Now at two years old she's a pretty good eater, she likes most things ...my only worry now is that she still much prefers to eat with her hands...baby led weaning has a lot to answer for :D

I've had different experiences of weaning with each of my children, but the one I'll share is of my DD1 as I hope it will encourage anyone who is struggling or worrying about weaning.

She was an absolute nightmare to wean - refused spoon-feeds, refused finger food, refused all flavours, textures, colours, everything! The most I could get her to take during 5 months of trying was the odd spoonful - I was totally disheartened, kept wondering what I was doing wrong, kept making new meals to try and tempt her but all to no avail. I ended up giving all my lovingly homemade purees and meals to my DSis who had a daughter the same age - she was a total bin and hoovered them all up! I was so envious of how good an eater she was.

Fast-forward 5 years, my DD is a fantastic eater now - eats almost anything I set in front of her, loves fruit and vegetables, has a healthy appetite. My DNiece on the other hand is incredibly picky, very fussy with vegetables in her meals, tiny appetite and is incredibly slow to finish her meals. Weaning can be difficult, but it does not mean you will have a challenging eater later on.

We started weaning our daughter at 6 months. Started off with purées (her first food was mushed up banana). I kept it simple, froze ice cube trays of carrot, broccoli, sweet potato, peas, pears, peaches, apples and strawberries and used them for the first few months. I was very good and didn't start using any jars or pouches until she was about 1 for convenience. She was fussy for a while and taking a pouch out with us was useful as we knew she'd actually eat it.

I always try to keep in mind that kids will eat if they are hungry and avoid a dinnertime battleground. At the same time there are foods I don't like so don't expect kids to like everything either.
We read the book green eggs and ham once the kids are two or three to get them to try new foods

We were a baby led weaning family with finger food aplenty. We completely bypassed the mush phase, mostly because I feared that it would end up being like when I put stuff in my slow cooker - whatever I put in ended up coming up looking and tasting indeterminately the same. No baby needs their first taste of food to be variants of sludge green goop meal after meal. Instead I figured the best way to get DD (and now DS, although he's in the 'sweet potato in his chin folds' phase) to get eating happily was just to give them chunks to try.

DD is a great eater and will try pretty much anything. I don't know if it's linked to the weaning, but it definitely worked for us.

When did you start weaning? 6 months
What process did you use and what worked well for you and your child? Started it off with baby rice mixed with baby's milk adding fruit the baby rice let me introduce lots of different tastes
Do mealtimes often become a battleground or are they mainly about having fun? I try to make them fun times by doing it gently and slowly
Is your child a fussy eater?yes and no mostly when I give veg

How do you deal with that - do you ignore it and let them eat nothing I keep adding the veg to the plate and usual after a few weeks she will try them I always say carrots etc makes your hair grow like a princess.
do you try to sneak veggies into their meal No because if she notices I have no hope of getting her to eat them.
Have you experienced interference from family members, friends etc who have different ideas about feeding children? No they usual ask me what to do

I waited to wean my little one at 6 months although I know friends who have started much earlier! I think its great to start with spoon feeding led weaning but also great and exciting for the little one to explore food with their hands :)

DD started weaning when she was about 5.5 months, she started helping herself to what we were eating, so we figured she was ready. We've gone down the BLW route, and she seems very happy feeding herself, either by hand or with a loaded spoon. It hasn't been very stressful, just messy. Real favourites have been porridge, sweet potatoes, fish and chicken drumsticks.

She's now 9 months and eats most things, although she's not as keen on meat or green veg. She'll also have a pouch from time to time if that's more convenient - you can give babies food on a spoon with BLW, you just need to let them dictate the pace, rather than doing 'here comes the aeroplane' movements. We've not had any negative comments from friends or family - giving babies finger food is hardly new, and most people just seem to enjoy watching her get stuck into her dinner

When did you start weaning?
1st child 4months 2nd 6 months 3rd will probably try a little earlier than 6 months as eldest is less fussy. Ilk just do it when she shows interest in food. I held off with second and i wish i hadnt
What process did you use and what worked well for you and your child? Bit of everything pureed veg fruit etc some baby rice mushed rusks etc plus finger foods when capable baby led weaning stuff etc
Do mealtimes often become a battleground or are they mainly about having fun? With 2nd its a battle food can be fun but meals are battle
Is your child a fussy eater?
2nd is
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?
Ignore it as best we can. Mixture of blending sauces and leaving lumps bit of gentle persuasion sometimes with pudding which i know you shouodnt but it Works!

DD is 18 months, started weaning at 6 months, and did baby led weaning. It's been a wonderful but messy experience!
She loves food but anything she doesn't want gets thrown to the dog. I don't make a fuss if she doesn't eat it, and will just give her a snack later on if she's hungry. Her favourite food is eggs in any form but dippy eggs are the current number 1 choice.

I was advised by the HV to start weaning at 5 months as my little one was crawling early and getting skinny burning up all the energy from just breast milk. I purreed everything and made all the recipes from the Annabel Carmel book super smooth.

I'm pregnant again now and definitely won't be doing the same with the next one. My now 2-year-old is still reluctant to chew anything as he was used to everything being so smooth.

Next time I think I'll try a lot more of the finer foods ans letting him do his own thing. I'm terrified of choking but will just have to try and be more relaxed about it.

Mine were all weaned at around 5 months. The only baby food i've ever bought is porridge. I've always prepared my own food for them as I think homemade is much better.

Started weaning at 6 months with both of mine, but they weren't interested. I got quite stressed about it as had been told not to leave it, but they really were nt the least bit interested in any type of food.

So we left it another 6 weeks, and by then it was far more successful.mthey North preferred fingers foods rather than spoon fed purees, and it's worked out well. They both use cutlery without any problems now.

Fortunately no one interfered in how we approached weaning.