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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

Scared to start weaning

47 replies

Kessernags · 31/08/2006 15:00

I have a six month old baby girl who is currently breast fed exclusively. She is definitely ready to start being weaned but I dont really know where to start. I live abroad and cant get baby rice here (Monaco/France). They start babies here on "food food" if you get what I mean. I want to make my own purees and have an Annable Karmel book but it talks a lot about baby rice to start with. Does anyone have any advice or reassurance? Am I just being a wuss and should just get on with it?

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Original poster

Kessernags · 31/08/2006 15:31

Yes we can get carrots in France! Did you know that the reason the French dont eat Parsnips is because they feed them to their live stock! (well so I have been told!) Lucky live stock in my opinion!!

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Olihan · 31/08/2006 15:36

Oh god, lemonaid, don't!! Dd helped herself to an entire punnet of blueberries last week and had bright blue poo for 3 days. I have never seen the like.

Weaning poos do brighten up your week though....'what colour will we find today? . Welcome to the sad reality of motherhood (or is it just me?! )

lemonaid · 31/08/2006 15:36

Yes, I vaguely remembered that just after hitting "Post" on my message that mentioned parsnips...

I suppose raiding feed troughs for baby food would be considered inappropriate... Yes, I thought so

Olihan · 31/08/2006 15:37

Sorry kessernags, meant to say, organic is better in a lot of people's opinion. Personally I never di because it's so expensive over here. Neither of my 2 have shown any ill effects from all the pesticides yet!!!!!

Mumpbump · 31/08/2006 15:37

I found my baby boy didn't like apple or pear, possibly because they were a bit tart. Carrots are sweet without the acidity so if I were doing it again, I'd start with them. Don't know if ready-brek has salt in it, but will check as I'm about to start giving him it instead of baby porridge which turns out to be loaded with sugar!!

lemonaid · 31/08/2006 15:38

I used organic but then I am a bit lentil-weavy (though not as much as some).

mumfor1standfinaltime · 31/08/2006 15:42

I didn't do any of the ice cube tray stuff. I didn't know how to wean or how to begin weaning. It is scary and frustrating.
I just did things week by week, I thought 'well this week I will mash up some veggies' and ds liked them! I slowly introduced different foods week by week. I didn't purree them, I mashed with a fork. I gave ds things like yoghurts, sticks of food to hold like bread and banana (soft things at first as he had no teeth til he was 10m!)I gave a few jars along the way when I had a busy day or while out. But generally ds ate what we ate without the extra salt.
It is amazing how quickly the whole process can go.

Original poster

Kessernags · 31/08/2006 15:43

Now someone has gone and mentioned allergies!! I hadnt even thought about that!! I didnt know that anyone could be allergic to apples. Is there anything else I should be watching out for? And how do you know if your baby is allergic to something? Please dont tell me horror stories of throats closing over and babies going purple (unless absolutely necessary) otherwise my little poppet will never be weaned!

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mumfor1standfinaltime · 31/08/2006 15:44

Weetabix was always a winner for ds. He loves it.

Original poster

Kessernags · 31/08/2006 15:46

Thats exactly my problem! I dont know where to begin. But I do now thanks to you all. Thanks for your story "mumsfor1standfinaltime".

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catrin · 31/08/2006 15:46

Don't feed nuts/honey/shellfish till over 1. If you have allergies in the family, eg asthma, excema, probs with gluten, etc, avoid dairy/wheat until she is a bit older. Stick to veg/fruit for the first few weeks and then decide how you want to proceed. Am sure you will find it to be not nearly as big a deal as it does now.

aitch71 · 31/08/2006 15:52

kessernags, i think you should take a big deep breath... do you want to wait a bit longer before weaning? you don't have to do it bang on 6 months if you don't want to...
hopefully you are just kidding along but you do sound a bit stressed about it, are you okay? i'm being so cheeky here, sorry, but what is it you are worried about? is it choking? allergies? do you have any food issues yourself? cos the thing is, if you aren't ready to wean your baby yet i'm sure it can't be a problem to wait a while longer while you work out what's bothering you about it...
i went to an infant resus class at the hospital, for example, and i just felt SO MUCH better about weaning afterwards. i'm the one that writes the blog that a couple of people have directed you towards (thankyou ladies), so obviously i like baby led weaning, but if you are very anxious they do say that the babies know about it and feel your apprehension whether you are plonking it on the table or spooning it into their mouths.
anyway, sorry if i've got the wrong end of the stick and you are just kidding on about being anxious...
good luck, what no-one's mentioned so far is that weaning is great fun.

anyway, sorry

aitch71 · 31/08/2006 15:54

oh by the way, on the top right hand corner of the blog there is a list of ingredients to introduce for an allergic-y child, so you could work from that if it bothers you and then you'd know you were playing it totally on the safe side. (although i bet you'd get bored of it after a few weeks...)

Chloe55 · 31/08/2006 16:11

Just wanted to add that I used Aitch's website when I weaned ds onto fingerfoods as I was so worried about choking etc. It is a really helpful blog so please have a good read through it. Ds was gagging all the time (not choking) and I just had to learn to take a step back and let him naturally work out how to swallow properly without me frightening him by panicking and interfering. Since I have been calmer about the whole thing he has come on in leaps and bounds and now it is really good fun to try him on new foodstuff.

Original poster

Kessernags · 31/08/2006 16:20

Sorry Aitch71, I didnt mean to worry you. I am not worried about chocking or anything, I was just a bit unsure about how to begin thats all. Now I have had this chance to grill all the mums on mumsnet I feel much better. My husband and I are intending to get her started at the weekend video at the ready to watch her reactions. I just wanted some advice on how to start etc. Thanks for your concern anyway.

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aitch71 · 31/08/2006 16:33

oh good, i am glad. it's just that nowadays there are lots of women with food issues themselves and i always think that must make weaning their own child very daunting. i'm glad you got the help you needed, good luck with it all and remember, put something down on the floor... (you'll see... )

Chloe55 · 31/08/2006 16:39

Or get a dog

hunkermunker · 31/08/2006 16:40

I am allergic to pears and apples.

Neither DS is though, afaik.

I bloody hate weaning. MUCH easier to bfeed, IMO and IME. WHY anyone starts a baby any younger than 6mo, I cannot fathom.

Anyhoo. Hope it goes well for you. Aitch is a modern day marvel when it comes to this stuff

aitch71 · 31/08/2006 18:14

or a geek. i much prefer modern day marvel, merci bien madame 'unkermunker.

mumfor1standfinaltime · 31/08/2006 20:31

kessernags - no probs! I'm sure once you have started you will be fine. Just take it in slow steps! I did! That's all I knew how to do it! Never even heard of using ice cubes until reading it on mn!

Mumpbump · 01/09/2006 12:15

Checked the ready-brek last night and it doesn't have any added salt or sugar in it, just extra vitamins and minerals. Hope that helps...

Original poster

Kessernags · 01/09/2006 15:15

Thats great thanks for checking that out. I will have to see if I can get some now. I can always try the "English" section at a local department store.

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