I've been weaning my 5 month old, he was not gaining weight fast enough on breastmilk alone, but solids seem to be helping so far. I've been keeping a diary and thought I'd share here for anyone who is interested. I'm happy to hear any feedback and suggestions of what foods I should try next!
Apart from the commercial baby rice, all the purees are homemade by me and my blender.
Week 1 - solids given at lunchtime only
Mon: Baby rice, a few spoonfuls
Tue: Apple and baby rice puree - Made with 1 ice cube apple puree, 1 ice cube breastmilk, and a teaspoon or so of baby rice
Wed: Apple and baby rice puree
Thu: Apple and baby rice puree - first time he ate the full portion
Fri: Carrot and baby rice puree - ate most of a 50ml freezer pot
Sat: Carrot and baby rice puree - ate whole pot
Sun: Apple, raisin and apricot puree - ate whole pot
Thoughts so far: Became very constipated and I realised baby rice is probably to blame. Stopping baby rice and decided to start giving pear, raisin, dried apricot and prune purees to help things along. Otherwise, seems to be enjoying food.
Week 2 - moving to 2 meals a day at the weekend
Mon: Apple, raisin and apricot puree
Tue: Mashed avocado - hated this, didn't eat any. May have been because it was too cold though, as wasn't long out of the fridge. Gave him carrot and rice puree instead, ate the whole pot, plus a small amount of prune puree. Managed to drink a few sips of water from a cup for first time.
Wed: Apple, pear and prune puree
Thu: Apple and pear puree
Fri Sweet potato and carrot puree
Sat Breakfast: banana puree, Dinner: Sweet potato and carrot
Sun Breakfast: apple and prune puree, Dinner: Courgette and pea puree
Thoughts this week: Seemed to be less enthusiastic at the start of the week, distracted by other things and less interested in food. Very messy. However, things picked up again at the weekend when I stopped feeding solids at lunchtime and started two meals a day, at breakfast and dinner. He was opening mouth wide and trying to grab spoon to shovel food in. I was disappointed that he didn't take to the avocado but pleasantly surprised that he loved loved loved the courgette and pea puree! I guess I didn't expect a baby to enjoy green mush so much! Tasted it myself and it was lovely though, bit like mushy peas but nicer! The banana also went down well.
I was previously hoping to do BLW, bought the book etc. but in the end decided to start with purees as he's only 5 months, and introduce finger foods properly at 6 months (having said that, I've given him things like strips of red pepper to munch on and he does enjoy giving it a good lick and chew). I am trying to make the spoonfeeding as "baby led" as possible by following his cues and allowing him to grab the spoon or my hand and guide it into his own mouth.
Any suggestions on next foods to try would be much appreciated, as they are pretty much limited to fruits and veggies at 5 months, so it's easy to run out of inspiration!