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

Mix BLW and puree to see what your baby likes!

Bananas are brilliant. They're great as a finger food (slice or crush to prevent choking) or can be sneakily stuck to the roof of a wailing baby's mouth mashed to a smooth puree with just a fork. My two loved them, I think they're quite a gentle flavour to start solids with and they're more filling than other fruit.

They're also easy to take out and about, you can just stick one in your bag and and you've got an instant baby lunch you can serve anywhere.

Take time to appreciate the brilliant faces your baby will pull when introduced to new foods

It really is trial and error. We started by letting them lick grapes!

Was a while ago now since I weaned my 3, (youngest now age 6). However, it's not a stage easily forgotten...! It's a messy business, so relax, accept this & embrace it/be prepared for it - I think that's the top tip! You want a set-up that is easily cleaned after each feeding stint - If you're lucky to have access to outside space, a high chair or equivalent in a shady spot (weather permitting) worked brilliantly for minimal clean-up requirement. Otherwise, somewhere with a wipe-clean floor/(& walls etc!). Also allowing sufficient time for each meal is (sometimes tedious but) imperative for a less stressful episode. I found organic baby rice was invaluable as a thickener at the very start (we started with blitzed veg/fruit etc, some of which can go quite watery) in combination with finger-foods - which act as good distraction if you actually want to hold the spoon yourself to get any sustenance into your child (and of course is good for practising their hand-mouth coordination). And trying a wide variety/introducing plenty of different age-appropriate flavours/textures over time - even ones you don't like - makes for much easier kids to feed in due course...

Oh yes - or a second spoon for them to also hold (you'll need a few in reserve for each meal anyway as several will end up on the floor...

Tried and tested Recipe (just a few as have loads)

MAsh potato with carrot
mash potato alone
blended steamed vegetable like carrot brocolli mixed with baby milk to enhance taste

DOnt give up. keep trying

make feeding time fun and baby led, encourage then to hold spoon etc makes it fun

We did BLW and didn't mash anything at all. It was easy, and fun seeing DD eating all these new things. She didn't eat much at first but when she got the hang of it there was no stopping her. It meant we didn't need to buy or cook any different foods so it was dead easy. And if we went out she could either eat a bit off of our plates or a snack from my bag. I'd definitely recommend it.

The two tips I do have is research it online first, watch YouTube videos and thoroughly get your head around it! Also to try off small and to then go bigger, starting with maybe finger food first so they get the idea of them holding their own food first :-)

lots of usual tips so far, but by far the best IMHO is to make sure that your child eats when you do and vice -versa. Makes eating so much more sociable and takes the pressure off

I would spend a day just boiling and pureeing different vegetables. That would usually last a month. Mine were weaned and onto solids pretty quickly.

Yes, just make meals they can eat too.... Roast veg is brilliant for instance.
Let them feed themselves

Don't stress as you pass it on to baby. Keep persevering with different foods.

Finger foods that double up as soothing for a teething baby. Cold cucumber is a classic, but I have also found baby sweetcorn a winner (I think it's the texture); mashed banana frozen in a baby ice lolly maker or slightly under-ripe pear.

Every child is different...so research the different types of weaning. Try each one a little with your child and see which one suits them.
My daughter was a huge taker for finger foods and would not eat any of the savoury jarred food. We opted for making her food and letting her eat blended versions of our food (as long as it was suitable)

PS Rusks are the forever favourite! LIVE LONG RUSKS!

My main tip would be to try and make some lovely simple purée from reduced fruit and fruit from the yellow sticker aisle, it saves a fortune, and can all be frozen

Try them on everything! I loved batch cooking and making up lovely dishes for my four. The Annabel Karmel recipe books are brilliant and take you through it step by step! Expect explosive nappies haha!

Be open-minded about baby-led weaning vs spoon feeding. I was all set to BLW my first and it went disastrously, ending up with her refusing everything except jar food. Nos. 2 and 3 did a combination of the two without any difficulty and no. 4 point blank refused to be fed so I had no choice but to let her feed herself.

P.S. to Lidl: Nestle have just brought out low-sugar oat Cheerios here which have long been a staple baby snack in the U.S. I personally try not to buy Nestle products, so would be a very grateful customer if you were to introduce an own-brand version!

Take off clothing when they are feeding themselves if you are at home. Or get those bibs with arms.

I had so much pressure from my Health visitor with my first born, as my son didnt have a big appetite, and was underweight, resulting in me trying to force feed him and because of that pressure I would get myself all worked up and upset, to cut a long story short, the problem did evenually work itself out and he is now a healthy 21 year old man.

When my daughter arrived I vowed I would not let anyone put that amount of pressure on me again, so I let her feed herself from the start, it wasn't long before she got the hang of it and although it was a bit messier it was so much easier than trying to feed her myself and she seemed to develop her motor skills a lot quicker than my son did.

I dispensed with a plate or bowl altogether and used to put a handful of mixed cooked frozen veg onto the highchair tray. Both my babies LOVED picking up the bits one at a time and eating it - and it was cheap, healthy veg already in small pieces. And fwiw - they both prefer veg to stodge now!!

Be patient. Sometimes babies love playing with their food rather than eating them. Let them explore the different textures through touching and as well as tasting. A good way is to have a sensory play with food for them to explore the different textures e.g spaghetti or bake beans. It's messy but fun. Also, if you wish your child to love their veggies, introduce them at an early age and give a variety, not just the sweet Vegas such as carrots, sweet potatoes etc. Had no problems with my son eating veggie and fruits.

Patience and lots of it

Try simple recipes first. There's nothing worse than spending hours pureeing, just for it to be thrown off the side of the high chair! My sons loved fish, just cooked alone or mixed with orange juice and tiny pasta shapes. I was terrified with my youngest as every time I introduced lumps he was sick but he got used to the difference soon enough. Also mashed banana and avocado sandwiches were interesting!

Give baby a little bit from your plate to play with. They will be keen to try some of what everyone else is having. I usually gave baby the same as us at meal time mushed up with a hand blender. Be prepared to clean up cos its going to get messy ha ha.