feeling rubbish

[sparker22]

I got my 7 month DD weighed today, and even though her weight us great and she's following the centile line perfectly I'm feeling really rubbish.

the clinic woman said by 9 months she should be on 3 meals a day and 2 snacks.

thing that is, DD has breakfast fine, toast fingers and some fruit, but lunch and dinner is a nightmare, She won't really have anything other the a little Petit foulis yogurt.

feeling a bit rubbish and as if I really don't have a clue what I'm doing.

I don't really know how to cook either so am feeling a failure when it comes to what I should be trying to give her.
she refuses jars/purees to the point where she's almost crying. by the time I've cooked up any veg for her she's not interested or so fed up of being in her highchair she's fussy and upset. I can't leave her with her toys while I boil some veg coz she cries when I leave the room.

I just don't know what to do or shat I'm doing anymore

Remember the saying 'under one it's just for fun' if she's following the centile line you're not doing anything wrong.

A very wise poster put on here 'as a parent it's your duty to provide food for your offspring, but you can't MAKE them eat it'.

Do you have a cookery book? The River Cottage Baby & Toddler Cook Book is really useful and has lots of interesting recipes - which aren't hard to make. This might be a good place to start and will help you find some different recipes that your DD might like? It will also help if you don't have much confidence in the kitchen.

I would like to bet your daughter is a happy, healthy little girl and, according to your HV, you've still got 2 months to get into a plan as discussed. Babies change every day . . . and there's no reason why her appetite won't grow in the next 8 weeks. Stay positive - you're doing a great job.

Best of luck.

Can you make up food in advance eg after she is in bed for the night?

Could you put her in a bouncy chair or jumperoo in the kitchen while you prepare it?

Foods my LO has enjoyed: soft fruit like very ripe melon, avocado, strawberries, bananas. Anything easy to hold like potato wedges or breadsticks dipped in Philadelphia?

I'm happy to prepare and freeze meals but I'm just completely clueless to what to prepare, how to freeze, defrost & reheat food

She sounds just fine. Fwiw three meals and two snacks is toddler meal plan not a baby. Let Yakut baby decide how much , how often and when she's do young still there's no need to worry.

I was feeling quite relaxed that food before 1 is just for fun but the thing the HV said is made me feel like I'm doing it wrong/not offering or feeding enough solids.

feel a bit stressed out now I started to have a cry

Your. Major typing fail today

Oooo HVs 'advice' make me cross sometimes!

You can get books (like Annabel Karmel's ones) which have very easy recipes and even suggest weekly meal plans for specific age groups. It's quite good for including a wide variety of flavours and textures.

Freezing food is exactly what you'd expect - put food in a container with a lid & freeze once it's cooled. Pull it out of the freezer about 6 hours before you want to use it. I re-heat food in a microwave, make sure it gets nice & hot, give it a good stir to get rid of any hot-spots & leave it to cool before giving it to your baby. Do you cook much for yourself?

Also, have you tried giving her a spoon to hold while you're feeding her? My DD just loved waving hers around, trying to dip it in (and then flicking the contents across the room ), it made her feel a bit more involved I think.

I don't cook much for ourselves, ktry to but coz my knowledge in the kitchen is very limited, I just end up doing pasta, pizza, hotdogs and chips, easy stuff. I can make spag bol and Mac & cheese from scratch but that's it really.

I've given her spoons/to us to help mealtimes be more fun but it just distracts her from the actual eating bit

The woman at the clinic is wrong, the NHS advice is to move to 3 meals a day between 8 and 9 months. So please don't feel under pressure.

I was a hopeless cook when I had DS but in time I've found recipes that we all like I can can at least make edible and I'm sure you'll be the same.

How about making spag Bol for tea tonight and give her some of that? Does she feed herself or do you feed her?

What do you eat for lunch? Have you tried her with things like beans or cheese on toast, soup or a sandwich?

If you can cook spag Bol, have you tried carbonara? It's really easy and ready in 10 mins. Could you do things like jacket potato with fillings and have you tried making toad in the hole? Again Its simple, well I've managed it so it must be

thank you all, I'm feeling less rubbish now

Sparker, your baby sounds a bit like mine - likes the taste of the puree but not the texture. He wants something to chew as his gums are sore and it helps. I find giving him breadsticks or broken up ryvita dipped in whatever puree I've made or bought works a treat and occasionally I can get a spoonful down him.

If it is a texture thing, try things with lumps, cook some plain pasta and stir it into the jarred stuff- he can then pick up the coated pasta shapes. Also my ds seems to like the texture of cottage cheese. You can grate apple or pear into that - no cooking required! Also try ordinary sliced bread spread with cheese spread (primula is good for different flavours) and fold it over and cut into fingers. An omlettee sliced into strips is good and you could grate courgette into it, or cheese or tint bits of ham. All very quick.

Don't feel bad, we all do it differently and as long as your baby is happy and healthy then no one should criticise you.

I've got the annabel Karmel book - it's not bad and very clear instructions especially on the bits you're worrying about , ie freezing etc. Some recipes are a bit involved but some are so easy.

is it OK to give toast fingers more then once a day if I know its something she enjoys to munch on? say for dinner as well as breakfast??

Instead of toast fingers, for a change could you give oatcakes or rice cakes? You can also spread them with things like Philadelphia or peanut butter. Just as easy as toast but a bit more varied.

wentvwithva fish finger, minus breadcrumbs, dd didn't touch it

Try it again later in cheese sauce. Tty adding some broccoli - just boiled or steamed. Most kids will eat anything covered in cheese sauce. Their tastes change frequently. If they don't like it one week they will another. Just keep trying different things. That's why it's nice to make batches of stuff and freeze. A bit of time/distance between cooking it and them throwing it on the floor makes it less gutwrenchingly disappointing!

My 3.6 year old and 1 year old have had sandwiches for lunch and dinner. DS1 refused to entertain the idea of anything else and I'd rather he ate something than nothing.

An easy meal is to make some pasta and put a block of frozen spinach or a handful of frozen mixed veg to the water five minutes before it is cooked. Drain and mix in some Philadelphia to make a creamy sauce. Because pasta doesn't need your attention most of the time she should be ok while you make it.

another winner in my house is the one egg omelette with cucumber sticks and bits of tomato on the side. Takes five minutes to prepare.

I wondered if I had the meal times off? we successfully have breakfast between 8&9, tried and failed with lunch between 12&1, hand tried and failed with dinner between 5&6.

I found those steam bags of veg very useful when my 2 were this age. Bung em in the microwave for 4 minutes. either serve them as they are or with a cheese sauce and some pasta.

make up ice cube trays of cheese sauce and other things and pop a few different cubes out reheat for instant baby meals.

Read up on baby led weaning-the principles behind it are to let your baby feed themselves and not to worry about how much they are getting.

The HV was wrong to make you feel under pressure.

Don't cry, you are doing great xx

Mine is 9 months now, on 2 or 3 meals a day (depending how we feel). Like hell am I going to introduce 2 snacks too- each meal and resulting clean up or bath takes over an hour already!! When she eats more and gets more efficient then I will add in snacks.

I give:
Breadstick, rice cake or rusk to play with while I sort out the meal, she eats some, but mostly chomps it and spits out (so I am not worried about salt).

Meals: I 'cook' most days or reheat home cooked bol/chilli/curry as its cheaper and means there can be leftovers for the baby. I always save a little bit for tomorrow for the baby lunch, as she eats better at lunch than tea time (tired by then):
Pasta twirls if we have bol or mac/cheese, save some for the girl without sauce on
Mashed potato - take some out before adding salt

Meat and 2 veg meals are dead easy for the grown ups -boil potatoes, carrot and something green on the hob - potatoes 20-25mins at a boil, carrot about 15, greenery about 10.
Meat: 2 chicken breasts wrapped in a foil parcel slammed on a baking tray and in the oven for about 20-30 mins 180C. Serve with Bisto .

If feeling really posh, also serve with paxo stuffing made up as per packet instructions, cooked in balls or a muffin tray and freeze any left over balls (reheat from frozen in about 20 mins)

For the baby take out carrot batons, bits of cabbage, bit of meat trimmed off the breast and pop in fridge overnight. Microwave for lunch tomorrow.

She also has baked beans on toast (well not really more strips of toast with a bit of sauce and the odd bean). Heinz tomato soup and pasta (more like plain pasta with the occasional dip in my soup).

I also have baby recipe books, which I havnt really used. Most of my efforts get flung across the kitchen - so don't feel bad!

Can you get a steamer/blender? Lidl do cheap ones and they are easy to use (must be - I have a bad track record with kitchen gadgets ). You just chop any fruit or veg, steam it, blend it and then freeze it in icecube trays. Then empty the cubes into plastic bags and keep them in the freezer. You can do a load at a time then just microwave a couple of cubes when needed. They make quite nice adult soup and snacks too!

I am no great cook but DD will almost always eat a couple of cubes of defrosted fruit puree mixed into plain yoghurt (Petit Filous is full of sugar).

Weaning is a right fiddle, especially when DC isn't hungry!

oh and she adores sausages. In fact, she seems to prefer everything she shouldn't have much of!

thanks for all the advice everyone

I didn't realise Petit foulis was full of sugar, I never thought about, just assumed that because they were baby yogurts they would be fine

I've got some great meal ideas from you all which I am definitely going to try! wish me luck! I'll let you know how we get on. I feel loads better after chatting on here!! thanks x

at the sausages. At that age my dd adored grabbing hold of a sausage, they are such handy finger food.