I'm dreading weaning! Is anyone else?

[mrsturner]

Hi, Im absolutely dreading weaning, my baby is 23 weeks and I have started to read up on BLW but dreading the whole process AND just don't know where to start.....Please tell me its not that bad...or is it!!!!

I'm dreading it too with dd2, also 23 weeks! The mess....

It's lovely :) Sharing the joy of food with your child is brilliant

Firstly, it not that scary. Secondly, buy any weaning book by Annabel Karmel and follow that. The Gina Ford book is useful for the first few days, but then I did my own thing!

I loved (am loving) it - it's wonderful introducing your child to new food (and watching the horrified look on folk's faces when your 10 month old happily chews away at your slice of lime from your soda water..)

BLW is not compulsory, if you want to start with a few simple purees, it isn't against the law and it's quite enjoyable.

It's messy, and another thing to do but it's really not that bad. The amount of enjoyment your baby gets from being able to play with tastes and textures is wonderful to see. :)

Have a look into ways of spoonfeeding and also BLW and work out what suits you best. There are some good thread on here.

If you're doing BLW, you don't really need to know 'where to start'. Just offer them some of whatever you're eating, as long as it doesn't have salt added. Chip shaped things are easiest to pick up at first. Roasted veg work well in the first couple of weeks, as does well-steamed broccoli. You can start with one meal a day, or go straight for 3 - whatever is easiest for you.

Judging by my spoonfeeding friends' experience, Gina Ford and Annabel Karmel make it much more complicated than that - but if following a 'system' suits you better, go with that.

BLW is great fun and makes for fantastic picture opportunities. I am definitely glad I waited til 6 months though just because weaning is messy.

Ive just started a few days in now. Decided to do a mixture of BLW and spoon feeding, so have been offering some baby rice before milk, has had few spoonfulls. Also started some finger foods though not sure how much is being eaten and how much is being smeared on face/dropped etc! at least this way I know he is having something! I was dreading it too but am just taking one day at a time, he wasnt that interested yesterday so I just gave him milk & will try again today

Why are you dreading it? I wasn't looking forward to it because of the extra work (have a 2.8 yr old toddler too). We're just taking it slowly via BLW and trying to see the funny side of all the mess. It's amazing going from them not having a clue to what food is to actually being excited and interested in food, and becoming more skilled in eating. The most important thing to do is to relax, and take each day as it comes.

Hi ohnelly, you will know how much your LO is eating soon enough... we are 3 weeks in and the nappies!! Oh, the nappies! Have considered switching back to EBF until DD is old enough to change them herself!

mrsturner - sorry if that's part of what you're dreading, but you just have to see the funny side. Weaning is the most fun I have had with DD so far, she seems to enjoy food so much (most of the time), and mealtimes are just an extension of play for her really.

Early days for us so far, but my top tip would be to throw out any book that says 1tsp of this, 3 tsp of that and just give your baby what you think is right and what they seem to want, it takes all the stress out. Then so long as they are putting on weight and seem happy then you'll know they're eating enough.

Good luck