Q&A about weaning with Annabel Karmel - ANSWERS BACK

[LucilleMumsnet]

This week we're running a Q&A about weaning with Annabel Karmel MBE. Mother of three Annabel is the UK's leading children's cookery author. In her latest book, Quick and Easy Weaning, she takes the stress out of your baby's transition to solid food, guiding you through the weaning process step-by-step, from your baby's very first purée to introducing more complex flavours and textures.

Post your questions about weaning to Annabel before 10am on Friday 20 June and we'll send over a selection and post up her answers on Monday 30 June.

This Q&A is sponsored by Ebury Publishing.

[scotchtikidoll]

Mumsnet, I hope that you don't just present her with the nice weaning query-type questions. There may be people out there looking for guidance regarding weaning, and take her advice as gospel, thinking she is has all the credentials.
Of course, by challenging her,others may read her answers and decide her advice is best for them and their family after all and win her some customers! Or lose them. It is all about informed choice. If she really does care about parents and kids then she will jump at the opportunity to fight her case.

[TheNightIsDark]

I love the lorraine Kelly book. It was affordable and I could find the ingredients in tesco.

AK nearly bankrupted me and ds1 wouldn't eat anything.

[Queen0fFeckingEverything]

I totally missed the interview linked above, where her 18 yr old son talked about her cooking 4 different meals every night and him picking what he fancied

I now have further questions, starting with - would you say now that that is an ideal way for a family to eat?

It seems rather odd to me, but then I cook one healthy balanced meal for my family to share nearly every night and the DC can eat all of it it or eat some of it or eat none of it or have bread and butter, I'm not fussed. That's it though. There is no way I would pander to whims like that - I do of course cater to everyone's tastes and likes/dislikes as best I can, but they can sod off expecting restaurant service every night!

[OneLittleToddleTerror]

I can't believe the rude comments here. DD didn't like purees as she refused to be fed. Therefore she was weaned entirely with finger foods and didn't have spoonable food like yoghurt until she can used a spoon herself. (She's still a very very independent girl at 3yo. No change there).

However, I would actually recommend Karmel's complete baby/toddler book to anyone who is unsure of weaning. (I owned it and have gifted it to a friend).

My question is, what is different about this new book compared to the complete baby/toddler one?

[Itsfab]

When someone sets themselves up as a guru and font of all knowledge then they should be prepared to be challenged when they are found to be saying thing that aren't true (recipes that don't work) and recommending adding salt and sugar to food for babies.

[KateSMumsnet]

Hullo everyone,

Thanks for all your feedback.

Did you nor your agent think it a good idea to do a search for 'Annabel Karmel' on Mumsnet before you decided this was a suitable forum to promote your latest wares?

We understand that Annabel's work isn't to everyone's taste (pun intended), but we also know there are lots of people on Mumsnet who are interested in her approach, and would like to know more about it.

We do believe that parenting is generally horses for courses, and what works for one family might not necessarily work for another. That's why we're also running a Q&A on Baby Led Weaning with Aitch next week, so people can figure out which approach is best for them (or maybe a mixture of the two?)


Mumsnet, I hope that you don't just present her with the nice weaning query-type questions. There may be people out there looking for guidance regarding weaning, and take her advice as gospel, thinking she is has all the credentials.

With any Q&A, we don't send every question posted over to the guest. Obviously we can't guarantee what will get answered, but we will send a selection of questions from this thread over to be representative of the thread. We encourage all guests to tackle the tricky questions as well as the nice ones.

As this thread has generated so much interest, we're going to close it this Friday so we're not absolutely swamped with questions, but there's still plenty of time to put your question to Annabel before it closes.

[Itsfab]

I am disappointed and a bit that the web chat visitor don't read the thread as we do and answer, and address, every comment. I know there are time limitations but even so.

[Oriunda]

Whilst I offered DS finger foods, I didn't do BLW per se as I followed (very successfully) AK route. Therefore I feel no need to rudely comment on the BLW Q&A.

[Oriunda]

Btw itsfab, her recipes always worked for me. They also clearly stated no salt under a year so I don't understand your comments.

[Itsfab]

I can't help that.

If you really want me to I can name the recipes that don't work but it would be pointless.

[IfYouTolerateThis]

Oriunda, this Q&A is with someone who is putting themselves forward as an expert in weaning. BLW is a method of weaning. Why shouldn't posters ask about it? Especially as AK has been quite dismissive about BLW in the past and made some strong statements about it.

[littleducks]

Oriunda it's things like this that she has said about babies not liking bland did so adding salt to make then eat it that I think itsfab I'd referring to:
www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2010/01_january/25/panorama.shtml

[littleducks]

Bland food....Not did

[Tabby33]

Where are the answers to the questions posted please?

[FrankelandFilly]

The answers are going to be put up on Monday.

[littleducks]

Is there another thread with answers somewhere? I can't find it on mobile site

[GeorgieJo]

I can't find the answers either - can someone link to it please? Thank you very much!

[LucilleMumsnet]

Sorry for the short delay with the answers. We now have them back and will be posting them up shortly.

[AKarmel]

@ExBrightonBell

Is your disapproval and concern about baby led weaning rooted in the fact that parents who take this approach to weaning won't need to buy your purée based cook books, equipment and ready meals?

In my own opinion, I believe that the most effective way to feed your baby would be to combine purees with soft finger foods. After 6 months, breast and formula milk no longer supply sufficient nutrients to sustain your baby's growth and development, in particular the iron a baby inherits from his mother starts to run out at 6 months. My concern with Baby Led Weaning in isolation is that it might not provide your baby with all the nutrients he needs. It is, however, good to offer babies soft finger foods like banana and steamed carrot at around 6 months in order to allow your baby to get to know the feel of their food and learn to chew. The more a baby practises self-feeding the more proficient he will become, however it is generally at around 8 or 9 months that hand to eye coordination is sufficiently developed that a baby can self-feed successfully. That said, everyone is different, and you have to do what you feel is best for your baby. If you are giving finger foods, take care not to give harder foods too early as your baby could choke. Always keep an eye on them when they are eating.

[AKarmel]

@scotchtikidoll

Why should people buy your products (or any other, such as Heinz baby jars) as opposed to buying fresh fruit and veg and making their own purees? As you know, it is fairly straight-forward, cheap and nutritionally sound to blitz fresh fruit and veg and freeze what you have left over.

I know on your website you do have recipes for parents- I know from a business point of view it makes sense to release a range, but please explain why people buy your stuff when it is oh-so-easy to do at home. If you really cared about kids and parents you would be promoting this.

Fresh is best, absolutely, but there are times when a pouch can come in handy – especially if you are out and about or travelling. Despite the fact that my puree recipes are easy to prepare, often parents tell me that they rely on my meals as a back-up when they just don't have time to cook or prepare homemade food.

I wanted to develop a range of purees that taste just like my homemade recipes; particularly savoury recipes like my Salmon and Sweet Potato and Cosy Cottage Pie. These are the types of foods that take a little longer to prepare, so my meals make for a convenient alternative. Sometimes babies are given only fruit and vegetable purees only for too long and they need nutrient dense foods like meat or salmon in their diet from 6 months or a vegetarian alternative like a lentil and vegetable puree.

I’ve made sure that all of my organic purees contain only natural flavour, and are free from preservatives, flavourings and colourings. All the ingredients used in the meals can be found in a home kitchen, as I want to stay as close to my cookbook recipes as possible.

[AKarmel]

@ZenNudist

Hi Annabel. I found the complete baby and toddler meal planner really useful when weaning ds1 (now 3) and a few recipes have made it into my long term stand by family meals.

I especially liked the meal plans by age group. I used them as a general guide of how to phase in food and where to include milk feeds.

I'll be using your book again soon when weaning ds2 (20weeks old). What does your new book offer to parents who are more experienced at weaning?

Thank you, my aim has always been to help families keep on track with feeding their baby. It's not always an easy task, but the meal planners provide a good structure. My new book was born out of the fact that so many parents tell me that they are just so busy that they need quick and easy recipes. It also cuts through all the weaning advice out there to offer bite-sized guidance. And for more experienced parents such as yourself, this book has a lot more recipes to try and a new range of meal planners.

Some of my favourites are the Mediterranean Vegetable Puree and Lentil Puree with Tomato and Cheese. There are also tasty finger foods like Mini Chicken Sausages, Salmon Nuggets coated with crushed cornflakes and Parmesan and Spiced Sultana Rusks.

[AKarmel]

@littlemonkey2013

My DS is 7 months old, is it best to be giving savoury dinners in the evening or a multigrain porridge type mix that is supposed to be more sustaining overnight? I am currently introducing new foods at lunch time as that in our main family meal.

You could give either; it's important to give a variety of meals. At this age it is easy for babies to get into the habit of expecting certain foods which could lead to fussy eating and between 6 months and one year babies tend to be quite amenable to trying new flavours. Variety also provides them with a range of different nutrients.

If you provide savoury foods in the evening, try including something with a source of tryptophan (which helps our bodies produce serotonin and aids restful sleep). Sources include turkey, spinach, eggs, or legumes, so you could do a turkey Bolognese, or if you needed to do something quick you could make eggy bread or thoroughly cooked scrambled egg.

[AKarmel]

@Poofus

What are the advantages of puréeing everything rather than just giving your baby normal foods in finger-sized portions?

I like giving a mix of purees and finger foods. Pureeing food is a great way to introduce foods that are a bit harder to give in finger food format such as dark green leafy veg, or pulses and legumes, which are a great source of protein (particularly if you are bringing your baby up a vegetarian). I couldn't get my son to eat meat, which I knew was important for his iron intake, so I used to make slowed cooked beef casseroles with sautéed red onion and lots of tasty root vegetables that I would mush up – and he couldn't get enough of it.

It's good to give your baby a selection of soft finger foods from around six months for them to experiment with alongside purees. The more he tries to feed himself, the quicker he'll master the art! It's also good for developing hand eye co-ordination.

[AKarmel]

@Itsfab

Have you actually tested your recipes as quite a few don't work and saying a baby needs 2 ice cubes of food when they need 7-8 is a way to make a mum worry her baby was greedy and would end up fat?

Sorry you have found some of the recipes do not work for you. I always test my recipes many times. There are no official guidelines on quantities to give babies, however, I recommend around two food cubes at the very beginning with a view to increasing this as your baby grows and gets used to eating solid foods. Every baby is different, so each will require different quantities.

[AKarmel]

@katemyn

Hi,I've found your books really useful so far as a FTM with no idea about weaning! my baby is just nine months and I am just starting to introduce finger foods. She's happy to chew pieces of food if I put it in her mouth for her so I know she's ok with the texture, but she won't put them in her mouth herself and just plays with it! I'm assuming she'll get there but in the meantime, Isn't really eating when I give her finger food. I know she's hungry as she'll eat a yoghurt etc after. How long should it take to grasp this?

Some babies do take longer to move from playing with finger food to actually eating them, which is why I like to mix finger foods with purees. This stage of learning to play with food and self-feeding is really important as it's a good way of developing hand-eye coordination. The more she experiments, the sooner she will get the hang of it. Babies will often learn from following, so maybe seeing you eat the same food she is putting in her mouth might help her make the connection sooner.