Please help me work out what I'm doing with weaning!

[Ecgwynn]

I have a few questions about weaning, please help!
DS is 5 months next week and puts everything in his mouth. He can't sit up on his own yet, although is fine if sat up on sofa, on my lap etc. Do I have to wait more than 6 months if he still can't sit up on his own or is it ok if he can sit up in the high chair?

I'm planning on getting an ikea antilop high chair after hearing excellent reviews of it. Although I worry as this is my PFB, that 15 quid is too little to spend on a high chair and it will be crap. Anyone got and liked the antilop?

With regards to the actual weaning, I was really keen on BLW until I read about a local baby choking to death. So now I think I might do a bit of BLW and purees. Should I give him the same purees for a few days, eg carrot and courgette in order to get him used to those tastes before moving him on to something different? Or should I just whizz up our dinner minus stock/salt and give him that, providing he is 6 months when we feed him meat and gluten?

I have no idea what I'm doing and HVs say one thing, pesky mothers and MILs say something else! Guide me oh great mumsnetters!

Well I'm not an expert but we started 3 weeks ago so I can share what we do. Ds was 5 1/2 months. Started out with baby porridge for a couple of days then started introducing purees and finger foods. For a week I would do a puree and have some in a bowl to spoon feed then put a bit on a breadstick or rice cake during a spoon feed so he understood it was food. He started to get this and now picks them up and munches them. This week I've introduced tea time with us and he plays with it a bit but is eating quite a lot. I'm cooking food thats quite soft and easy, fish pie went down really well. It's a bit of a random approach I know but he's enjoykng his food so it works for us :)

I was also interested in BLW but was quite apprehensive about it so I opted for the traditional approach using purees and finger foods. I started out making a puree of just one fruit or veg to get my DS used to the taste. I steamed carrots or stewed apples and whizzed them up in a blender.....I found that they had to be really smooth at first, even small lumps caused a problem for my DS. I know that guidelines state that you should introduce a new food every 4 days so you can look for signs of allergy or digestion problems but I wasn't strict on that. I kept offering DS soft finger foods like banana and steamed broccoli and sticks of toast he could gum (he loved them!). He had problems keeping hold of them at first and got very frustrated but I just continued to offer them until he got the hang of it. After a couple of weeks I started to mix flavours, such as carrot and parsnip. I started weaning at 5 1/2 months. DS could hold his head but couldn't sit freely. I weaned him at this age because EBF wasn't satisfying him anymore and he was showing interest in foods I was eating. I also think you should get the highchair if it's had good reviews!

If u intend especially to blw the antlop high chair is probably the best ull get. The table is nice n big n no tight angles for food to get stuck in. The seat is solid plastic so it's real easy to clean. Plus it can go in the shower if it's absolutely covered! no point spending over the odds cos its just going to get covered and embedded with food

Dd1 is 6.5 months n we are blw. Dh was concerned about choking but babies have an amazing gag reflex so will bring things FORWARD rather than choke. Bit scary the first couple of times but if ur watching them ull be fine they probs won't eat much to start but it's all about the experience of texture n smell n taste rather than nutrition. Mills still the main nutrition source for the first 12 months "food is fun until they are 1!"

We don't do anything special for Dd. she has what we have. We had burgers last night so she had sweet potato wedges, she had bagel and cream cheese for dinner today. And for tea tonight she had some spag Bol n banana n yoghurt. YUM

Ok, well, if baby seems interested in the food you're eating it's probably an indication he might be ready to start with some food. If not in a high chair maybe a bouncer?

Antilop chair has had rave reviews and I will be getting one for dc3.

I started my boys with the dried, packet baby cereals, like Heinz banana breakfast or similar. So make about a tablespoon up of it with baby's normal milk and literally spoon it in to see what he thinks!

I tend to give a spoon to baby too with a little of the cereal on as it keeps them busy and they're curious.

I sat the baby's down for some of the cereal each time we had a meal to start with.

Then I gave them a quarter of rusk, or lightly buttered toast,banana or bread stick to chew on.

In the early days it's not important how much they eat as such, just getting them used to the feeding routine, used to putting food in their mouths and the chewing reflex. Literally learning what to do with their teeth, mouth and tongue!

Carrot purees. Banana mashed up. Apple or pear purees are all good starters and easy recipes.

At the end I the day, weaning is a minefield and there are many different ways of soon it.

Take your time, follow baby's lead and very gradually build up to him eating the same as you (without salt etc) but there's no rush.

The antilop is great.

Our baby has never choked or even gagged on blw. It's an approach not a type of food - purees and soft food can be a part of blw.

The book 'Baby Led Weaning' explains how a baby's gag reflex works and why finger foods are not inherently unsafe.

We did BLW and never had any problems - it is a tiny bit scary watching your baby gag the first few times when they are working out how much to try and swallow in one go, but they are learning a very useful skill at a young age!
As long as you follow the "rules" (never leave the baby alone with food as real choking is silent, make sure they are sat upright) it's very safe. In fact if you think about it, at least this way if they come across a piece of food left by accident they are more likely to know how to deal with it safely!

We started weaning dd at 17weeks. Very slowly and at her own pace. We went down the purees and finger food combo route. She took straight away (we started with baby rice) or we would have left it and tried a couple of weeks later.

The antilop is fantastic. You can buy an insert if you're worried dc my be a little small (not sure if ikea do this but you can get them in mothercare and toys r us). If it gets too messy you get throw it in the shower or dishwasher (apparently). Far better than the gorgeous wooden one we were given.

I wouldn't use a bouncer as suggested upthread, baby will be reclined which is a choking hazard. maybe a bumbo with a tray?

Ikea Antilop chair rocks. My DTs were premmies so tiny and we started them off with the inflatable inserts from IKEA, then cut the sides off the insert so it was just a back panel, then gave up on it entirely. For ages they would happily sit in the Antilops but struggled in lots of other styles of high chair. It isn't a style statement but ANY high chair will end up with a fine layer of mush so I'd rather throw away £15 worth of skanky plastic in a year's time than £150!

Plus the antilop is great for taking with you if you go away as it comes apart easily.