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Weaning

Find weaning advice from other Mumsnetters on our Weaning forum. Use our child development calendar for more information.

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Original poster

Right I hate weaning

21 replies

megcleary · 16/08/2011 11:33

Am a born worrier so this gives me ample how much, what & when areas to freak out about.

I tried ready brek this morning not a huge hit, someone here suggested sweetening it with fruit so tried some from a mango pouch thing. Did that and she stopped crying and tried some seemed to like it.

Am I going to cause future issues, if I keep sweetening stuff and if I use shop stuff.

I started weaning last week at 26 weeks.

advise please

OP posts:

BertieBotts · 16/08/2011 11:38

Could you let go all control and do BLW? I found it stopped me worrying, because I couldn't get it wrong - all I had to do was put some food in front of DS, if he wanted it, he had it, if he didn't, never mind, he could always fill up on milk.

YaMaYaMa · 16/08/2011 11:42

Weaning is not only worrying (choking, giving the wrong things, setting up bad habits such as getting them on to sweet stuff, etc) but is a real ball-ache as far as I'm concerned. I just give some mashed stuff, some fruit, bits of cheese, toast, yogurts, bits of what we're having. DD has eaten everything up to now. If you're worred about getting her inot sweet stuff, maybe only put a little banana in with the ReadyBrek?

Sorry if not much help, am really fed up of this weaning business

Cheria · 16/08/2011 11:44

Personally I would mash up a bit of real fruit if you are going to do that. It's cheaper and healthier.

And stop worrying.

snitchrose168 · 16/08/2011 11:47

DS has fruit in his ready brek every morning. I boil up whatever fruit I have, mash it and then freeze it. It's great. :) He's 1 and up until recently loved everything I made him. Now it's a fight and he wants to feed himself, which I let him. At least I know he's had a good breakfast!

juneau · 16/08/2011 11:47

There's no harm in putting a bit of apple puree, banana, etc into your baby's food. Babies prefer sweet flavours to start with anyway. But I wouldn't add sweetened fruit out of a pouch - stick to things that are as natural as possible. Some jar or ready prepared foods are fine - just check the label first.

Flisspaps · 16/08/2011 11:48

BLW :)

snitchrose168 · 16/08/2011 11:48

And stop worrying! :) What your DC is doing this week will not necessarily be what they're doing next week!

RitaMorgan · 16/08/2011 11:49

90% of the fruit ds gets is from a pouch I don't eat much fruit myself and if I buy berries or something for him we don't usually get through them all. I buy him bananas though and he'll sometimes share an apple with me.

I agree with Bertie, although I didn't go the whole hog with BLW as I did mash and spoonfeed stuff. Just give the baby a bit of what you're having, and don't fret about whether they eat it or not.

witchwithallthetrimmings · 16/08/2011 11:58

call it something else! weaning implies that the aim is to get the baby to replace milk by food and this is not what you should be doing. The aim is to get your baby to taste and enjoy different foods and work out how much he wants to eat. Make sure you eat healthily and simply give your baby a bit of yours - mashed or not. If he eats it fine if he doesn't don't worry. It is also not a competition

Original poster

megcleary · 16/08/2011 14:41

I couldn't do BLW I gave her a slice of pear yesterday and she near died on it!
I gave her mashed banana last week and she had terrible wind kept her up all night so I avoided that. I just keep ploughing through I still hate it though.

OP posts:

RitaMorgan · 16/08/2011 14:45

Do you mean she gagged on the pear? It's normal for them to do that when they're learning to eat - their gag reflex is a lot more sensitive than an adults.

Flisspaps · 16/08/2011 14:48

She nearly died on it?

I would say that was unlikely (not impossible, but unlikely) - it's more probable that she gagged on it rather than choked, which babies can and will still do on puree - they have an amazingly strong gag reflex which helps prevent them from choking :) Please don't be put off letting DD have finger foods even if you do continue on the puree route, whichever is easiest for you.

However, don't worry so much about her preferring something sweetened - babies, like adults, have likes and dislikes and what they don't like today, they may try again tomorrow. She might just not like Ready Brek (I wouldn't eat that or porridge without something sweet in it!) so see tomorrow as a new day and try something else. There's nothing to hate about it :)

naturalbaby · 16/08/2011 14:55

get the blw book. you don't have to do 100% one way or another but it's a great book for general stuff about kids eating. i'm mainly doing purees with my 6month old but he gets something to hold and chew/suck on at most meals and is doing really well. a week or two later he's properly eating chunks of toast rather than just flapping them about and choking when a teeny bit breaks off.

this is my 3rd baby and i still got in bit of a flap the other week about what to feed him, how much and when to do it. you won't scar them for life if you don't give them precise 'baby' foods and the proper 'baby' times of the day. mine gets thrown a chunk of whatever's on my plate whenever he's awake and near the table. breadsticks and rice cakes are great - the big adult plain ones with no added salt are a better shape and size for baby to hold and last longer than the tiny baby ones. they just dissolve in their mouth so really easy for baby to eat and they don't gag so much on them.

Original poster

megcleary · 16/08/2011 14:57

No I know finger foods are important, took her a fair while to cough up the pear to a point she felt comfortable. I'd like to be a more chilled mummy but just don't think I can change my personality that much.

Even worse this is not my forst but I have blocked out a lot from first time round...sigh..

OP posts:

AngryGnome · 16/08/2011 14:57

Soft fruit is great for starting BLW in my experience - DS loves strawberries, cut in half and put in front of him. All babies gag when starting eating. DS goes bright red for a couple of seconds, and then spits out a pellet of food. First time he did it, I nearly had heart failure, but he's fine!

Would you be reassured if you used a baby recipe book? I was scared of starting DS on BLW, so I did purees for a few weeks before i got too lazy decided BLW was better for DS. Annabel Karmel does some good healthy puree recipes, and also suggests menus, so you could be reassured you are giving your DD a healthy varied diet. Then as time goes on, you will gain confidence to give her finger foods - the BLW cookery book has some good recipes in it.

Good luck!

NeedToSleepZZZ · 16/08/2011 14:57

meg I feel your pain! Until this week when ds turned 29 weeks he had been refusing anything really, I think it's more stressful for the parent. I gave it a break for a few days then tried again and lo and behold he's decided that eating is fun. I'm mixing puree foods and finger foods, mainly porridge for breakfast then pieces of mango, banana, sweet pot for tea. Remember that as you're not dropping any milk feeds it's just about baby getting used to ( and playing with) different tastes and textures. Ds gagged on some banana but didn't choke, there is a difference but I know how scary it is. Good luck and try to let dd play with the food a bit more, it's messy but fun! Hth

NeedToSleepZZZ · 16/08/2011 14:59

Oh and I can recommend organix for finger foods although they're bit addictive for parents too

Yesmynameis · 16/08/2011 15:03

I agree with Rita, I love BLW but have done my own version in that DD feeds herself everything - with the exception that anything that I would eat off a spoon, she has off a spoon too.

You are not going to cause a problem by mixing fruit through porridge or by using the odd shop bought stuff. Don't worry, there's no way my DD would eat plain Readybrek either (but then neither would I for that matter - yuk). Sometimes I mash a banana or some raspberries to mix through it or the HIPP Organic fruit pots are sugar free.

If like me you can't be bothered haven't got time to prepare and puree your own fruit in advance, I have sometimes wacked a pear in a mug full of water and zapped it in the microwave for a bit before mashing it up. I could even have peeled it first if I was feeling thorough :)

milkysmum · 16/08/2011 15:06

I understand the anxiety but couldn't recommend BLW enough. It's very very unlikly she nearly died and is much more likely that it was a nautral gag reflex. (just as easy to choke on mush by the way if not more?). My dd is now 2.5 and we have another baby on the way- will definatly be doing BLW again. Maybe just have a look into it and give it a go- it will take a world of stress out of the the whole weaning process I promise.

Ineedcake · 19/08/2011 17:26

Re: readybrek - I've found that if I mix in some natural yoghurt my ds likes it more (guess it's a bit creamier).

Paschaelina · 19/08/2011 17:32

Weetabix in yoghurt is a good one too. You can mix it to a slop and spoon it or leave chunks in and let them feed themselves.

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