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 think they more children you have and wean the easier it is. All children are different but you certainly learn from previous experiences.

There is lots of information and ideas and it is hard to know what is best, my first baby is due in May so I will be weaning around christmas time. Maybe start with roast dinner!!

we are doing BLW and it's great. I know it's completely at her pace and she eats how much she wants!

I started weaning just a little bit before six months and my daughter was ravenous! She isn't a picky eater, in fact she loves fruit and vegetables...even asparagus and mangetout! She would never eat baby food though (except for the dessert ones...go figures)

Because of this we tried to make her own baby food and she was a bit fan of finger foods and independent eating.

My problem is my daughter is 5 now and she doesn't want to sit down to eat. She wants to keep playing, or drawing or exploring. It can sometimes be a bit of a battle to get her to just sit to eat!

Both my boys started weaning at 5.5months. Mainly on porridge and pouches to be honest. I wasn't confident in giving them home cooked foods as the pouch recipes seemed so adventurous compared to our meat and 2 veg meals.

I gave them bits of chunky food in a BLW way... toast, broccoli, banana which they enjoyed.

Weaning is Messy. and frustrating. and scary because you think they're not eating anything and they're going to starve to death. Theyre not. Really.

Yoghurts are a staple food. ALWAYS have them in the fridge.

Both were fed in the same way, now 3 and 6 the eldest won't step within a foot of a piece of fruit. I manage to get him to eat broccoli and carrots if I'm lucky.

The youngest will scoff down fruit and veggies like they're the last ones on earth.

I've been very very lucky and both of my children ate whatever was put in front of them. On the odd occasion that they refused something and I knew they were just being obstinate I just took it away and didn't offer anything instead.

I tried to keep any 'afters/pudding' away in the fridge and out of eyesight so that they weren't tempted to leave some dinner to get to the pudding faster. I found if I left it out they tried to play me 😂

When we have had children who are picky eaters round I never really had a problem as they knew if they didn't eat it they wouldn't get anything. I have been told when my kids are round other picky children's houses that the picky children eat things that they always refused before

Who knows it may just be a coincidence but I'm glad with all the problems that we do have that we didn't have to wrestle with picky eating 👌🏼👍🏻

I started weaning mine at 6 months. It was a mixture of baby led and spoon feeding. They weren't all that fussy and used to help themselves to my dinner as well as theirs. I can remember and have photographic evidence of the complete mess they both made. I can laugh now that they eat pretty much everything. At the time I found it quite stressful. Have they eaten enough/ is it balanced/ why won't he eat this today when he wolfed it down last week? etc etc.

Mine was about 6 months when we started and it was tough, I was obsessed with making food myself (other than rusks obviously) and she hated it. I'd become so focused on being a 'perfect' mum that I lost sight of the fact that all babies are different. When my sister finally convinced me to just try bought baby food things became much easier although it's the easiest time ever! Get them a good bib and clean up immediately

I started at 6 months on the recommended baby rice. Small amounts, mashed fruit and veg just to get her used to the flavours. Trust your instinct and your babies and you will flourish in your own time.

I appreciate the HV advice but not all babies can wait until 6 months to be weaned. Hungry baby milk is just pointless empty calories. I started weaning and 15 and 14 weeks with my boys. Just baby rice and a very small amount (half a teaspoon, once a day) to start with and very slowly built up. It didn't help with them "sleeping through" but it helped stopped them projectile vomitting after their milk! Then after 3 or 4 weeks went on to pureed food - just single tastes like carrot, peas, apple, pear, bananas. Then from 6 months I did BLW and gave them whatever I was eating (within reason of course). My 4yo will eat anything these days. My 7yo has asd so has a high level of fussiness with his food but he will still eat things like carrot sticks, breadsticks, sweetcorn and peas and apple slices without the skin on as finger foods!

Goodness in... goodness out - but do not make the mistake of over-feeding or it may stay with them forever.

We started at 6 months. I just let my lo play with the food at first to get used to the tastes, textures and smells.

Wash in normal wash every 3 days.

My experience weaning both DD and DS have been overwhelmingly positive. Both were eager and curious and open to trying different flavours and textures. My biggest tip is to introduce as much variety as possible as early as possible, and to give them the freedom to figure out what they like and don't like- it's often very clear from their responses!

I actually really enjoyed weaning - I used to make batches of fruit and veg purees a few times a week and freeze them in ice cube trays so I could defrost small amounts at a time - increasing the amounts as he got older - and mixing a few together as he tried more flavours.

My advice is to relax and make things light hearted and fun it will rub off on your little one and they will feel at ease with the whole process!

Around 5 months old for my boy. Staying clear of foods containing Iron, but starting him of with what we were eating. A small portion whizzed in the blender and he took to it no bother. Obviously it didn't all go in his mouth. It wasn't just for eating, but also for flinging about and making a mess with. Great fun.

I was pressurised by family, friends and even my health visitor to start weaning my prem twins way before they were ready. I was badgered so much, I gave in, even though, instinctively I knew it was too soon. And so ensued months of stress, tears, and frustration - and sometimes the babies were upset too! :D It had been difficult enough to get them to drink milk, but smooth solids were a nightmare, chunky solids were nearly impossible and finger foods went on the floor! It was awful and I wish I'd been confident enough to refuse to do what everyone was telling me to do. It eventually worked out and they are brilliant eaters now, but I think it could have all been avoided, with hindsight.

DS3 was the exact opposite. He loved his milk and it was soon clear that he needed more and he quickly gobbled up baby rice, then moved on quickly to chunky solids and finger foods. He devoured everything and it was such a pleasure to feed him!

My advice would always be to trust your instincts, listen to advice, but make the decision based on your child, because they are all different.

I haven't started weaning my son yet - he will be 6 months next week. He had a couple of spoonfuls of baby rice when he was poorly and refusing milk but otherwise he's had nothing. I'm a bit worried about it as he seems to have a cows milk intolerance so we need to avoid that and also we are vegetarians and I don't know how to go about raising a vegetarian child as our older two eat meat.

My daughter is incredibly fussy and barely eats anything and I really want to avoid that problem this time around!

Started weaning at 6 months with home made food and both boys now eat everything and anything!

weaning was a process of trial and error for me with all 7 of my children, they were all different in their preferences, at times it was so stressful I worried so much that I was doing it wrong mainly with my first, by the time number 7 was born I was far more confident, its ironic she has food intolerances. I would say to parents trust your instincts and try to relax

I weaned mine at about 5 months and they ate really what we ate, just introduced different bits gradually

I weaned both of mine at 6 months, using mostly home-prepared food (with jars occasionally for on-the-go convenience). I found it massively helpful to make big batches and freeze them in small pots. Much more cost-effective too.