Share your 'weaning for beginners tips' with Lidl to win vouchers NOW CLOSED

[EmmaMumsnet]

Lidl would love to produce the ultimate 'honest mum's guide' to all things weaning, and need the help of the wise MNers who have been there and done that (and got the splattered t-shirt to prove it!).

Please share your trials and tribulations when it came to weaning your baby onto solid food – your favourite recipes for each stage of the weaning process, feeding tips and any shopping essentials.

"Lidl are very proud of their great range of fresh, quality and affordable products that are ideal for homemade weaning recipes. Their Fun-Size fruit and veg range (with Cauliflower Clouds to name just one!)) are a great way of getting your Kids into new snacks. They also stock their own organic baby food pouches, Lidl’Uns, which come in a variety of flavours – perfect for meals on the go, or even adding into other recipes!"

Whether you are weaning your first baby or are an old hand, please share your tried and tested recipes, and top dos and don'ts, favourite Lidl products, and any tips to help make weaning a breeze. Everyone who posts below will be entered into a prize draw where 5 winners will each get £50 to spend in Lidl.

Thanks and good luck,

MNHQ

Standard insight Ts&Cs apply

Best tip is wait till your child is ready and don't stress too much - the phrase 'food for fun till they're one' should be remembered!
Also give milk before food so they aren't over hungry and grumpy!

Baby led weaning was one of the best things I have done for my DD. To start with I just gave her a little from my plate, then when she started eating more I gave her a plate of her own. She eats such a massive variety of foods now and will try anything. Yes it was a bit messy to start with but she gets the majority in her mouth now

we never forced it, just always ate with her and hoped she would get curious. Strangely it happened when on holiday and I was off somewhere else and there was an irresistible pot of baby goo, pear flavoured. She never looked back and quickly progressed to wielding broccoli stems and drumsticks, - me on the other hand kept offering the breast as long as she needed it.

We did a lot of baby led weaning which I love - messy, but great for discovering new foods and helping to develop hand-eye co ordination. We also introduced lots of different flavours early, such as cinammon in her porridge and a little spice in a stir fry. We find that when our little girl irk is really teething she doesn't want to eat as much, so just up her milk a bit. Once she's feeling a bit better though, she's right back to eating anything and everything!

Time is on your side so don't worry. Even a tiny amount is progress.

Honestly? Honestly just give them some food. Don't overcomplicate things!

Do not stress yourself with the health visitor or relatives advices,
Take it slowly and do what works best for yourself and the baby.

I listened a bit too much to the health visitor with my first and I was stressed the whole time, my daughter is now very fussy and I think it may be linked as for my second I went with her flow and she is such a great eater.

We froze puréed vegetables in ice cube trays and mixed and matched.

I tried to feed one hour after a milk feed so I could make sure my daughter was hungry but not over tired.....especially when trying to wean her off breast feeding!
Don't give up on certain foods/flavours, just try again another day.
I also agree with Caillou about not stressing over hv advice!

I did baby led with my third but with my first 2 I began with purée to wean. When they were old enough, (when i felt that time was as they are all different) after every spoon fed Meal I used to follow it up with some solid like baby led. A piece of toast, fruit, bread whatever it might be.
I never had any issues with lumps, choking or gagging or any reluctance with textures and tastes as they were used to a whole different range of foods. Not exclusive to purée weaning or full on baby led.

With my third, she was smaller than the other two and I breastfeed /fed more as I realised they didn't need that much under a year. Even now I don't worry so much as I did. She tells me when she's hungry and I feed her if I need to and she's 19 months.
My Best Buy for baby led was a single microwave steam bowl and masher.
I grab a handful of peas/ courgettes etc fresh or frozen and can have a baby led meal in minutes.
No batch freezing now, simple quick easy food

Don't sweat it. There's no timetable. Yes, guidelines say 6m, but if your dc is grabbing food from your plate at 5m, or is still utterly uninterested at 7m, that's fine. As long as they are happy, healthy, developing, pooing and peeing etc.

And on the subject of pooing and peeing, anyone - adult or infant - who eats lots of carrots or red peppers, and very little else, will do vivid reddy-orange poos. They may even develop an orange nose and orange palms. I speak from experience! Freaky, but not in any way harmful.

at the moment my LO is coming upto 11month old. she likes to pick up food with her hands , so i tend to chope her food up and leave her to it-
her fave recipe at the moment is rice, chicken and veg

basically- boiled rice with chicken mince cooked in a onion and tomato sauce with a hint of garam masala and tumeric and add cooked veggies to the mix= voila!

Have weaned my 2 daughters - the youngest is now 18 months. I did a mixture of BLW and spoon fed and found it worked best for us as it allowed the girls the freedom to explore new foods plus I also had a little bit of control too by using a spoon. They also both wanted to grab the spoon and use it themselves so that helped with self feeding.
Recipe wise, I started off with plain puréed veg and fruit (sweet potato, parsnip, pear, apple etc) which I spoonfed, but also offered small sticks of very, very soft steamed veg. They mostly played with the finger food at the start so not a lot went in their mouths, that's where the spoon feeding came in handy. Also tried them on scrambled egg and tiny slivers of omelette.

Once they were comfy with lumpy food I started on meats and fish; chicken and salmon mainly, mashed up with potato, peas, carrots etc. Soon it was a lot easier as they would just eat what we had (minus the salt obviously) mashed up.

If you give them lots of variety, they'll get enough nutrition and find what they like. Fresh food, made from scratch, that can be frozen into small portions from the leftovers meant I always had something quick and easy in to feed them.

I love Lidl-it's by far my favourite supermarket!

We use those hollow feeding dummies with holes in them. Great for baby led weaning without worrying about choking and some chilled or frozen fruit in them is great for teething pains!

The transition to solids is a really exciting time (albeit a bit stressful with the inevitable mess and being spattered at mealtimes!). A key element for me is appealing to baby's sense of appetite through the look, variety of colours and textures of new foods. Having a good stock of fruit and veg (always excellent value and quality at Lidl!) cooked or uncooked and in various forms e.g. puréed, cubed, mashed or served raw in spirals / chunks to gnaw on really encourages that exploration and eagerness to try new foods.

Resist the temptation to try and rush things- it's not a race. Can feel like it sometimes!!

I really enjoyed weaning. We did purée fruit and veg to start with and then mainly did baby led weaning. Each time I cooked the family meal I would do some extra vegetables and purée these and freeze them in ice cube trays, and defrost a few cubes at a time for my daughter.
I tried to give her everything we had and to have the same meals so that she tried lots of different things and tastes. Although now she is a toddler what she likes changes on whim on a weekly basis...

Make your own baby food! I saved a fortune on making my own puréed food rather than buying jars. Also give finger food alongside purée so they get used to feeding themselves. Give a variety of food my kids still will eat anything now because they were introduced to a wide variety at a young age

Baby Led Weaning is the way to go. Watch them for cues as to when they are ready and let them try foods that they are expressing an interest in.

Try not to worry about specific timescales- if your babies are anything like mine they will let you know when they are ready & want food!
We did a combination of spoon fed & Baby led - fruit & veg purees, yogurt, breadsticks, rice cakes etc. We were 'advised' to start with baby rice but our DC didn't like it (neither did I!).
Buy lots of bibs, baby wipes & muslin cloths - it will be messy!
We also put a washable blanket under the highchair to save the carpet!!!

I have always done a mixture of finger foods and spoon food at each meal. That way they get a range of textures and you know some of it has actually made it into their mouths rather than being handed straight to the dog and they can play with finger food whilst you prepare the spoon food.

Quick cook pasta is better than the made for babies stuff. Ready in a flash, easy to hold and thinner than standard pasta so easy to bite through.

Plastic tablecloth under the high chair- goes straight in the washing machine for a quick rinse cycle every day or so

Tinned veg such as baby carrots, green beans etc are great for quick finger foods as they are lovely and soft

I have taken a baby led approach each time- my second little girl is coming up to 9 months and is starting to really enjoy sharing all sorts of food with us

Keep offering. Don't make a fuss. Don't worry.