Is it just me who dislikes weaning?

[SpaghettiMeatballs]

I'd forgotten the mess and endless tipping of food in the bin tbh!

DS is 8 months and it's a case of 'spoon food goes in, spoon food gets spat out', 'finger food is thrown on floor followed by water cup', 'only fruit pouches, yogurts and biscuits are actually consumed'.

It's made me realise what a good eater 3 year old DD is despite my previously held belief that she is picky!

ive just started weaning my nearly 6month old DD. i've wasted a lot of pumped milk and finger food lives on the floor. im really not a fan so far!

Oh no don't say that, I'm dreading weaning and think I'm likely to hate it too.
DS is 4.5 months and Ive recently had the weaning talk with the health visitor but still none the wiser.

SellMySoul she did say you could use cows milk for mixing with food eg porridge and mash etc, if that's what you've been wasting your expressed milk on, but just not as a drink

Sorry Eminy I'm sure I am supposed to love it but I really don't.

I expressed with DD. DS had cow's milk right from the start as I anticipated it would just end up spat out or on the floor.

Today DS has rejected all food apart from a yoghurt and a chocolate chip DH snuck him when I wasn't looking. He loved that. Go figure.

I cant wait to wean DS as it means we have got through the awful first six months of newborness.

Roll on teenagerness.

I enjoyed it with dd as we did baby led weaning. So I just made myself healthy meals , sat her on my lap and let her help herself. If she didn't eat anything, not a problem as I had made it anyway for me. And she is a great eater, though it was a slower route off milk than spoon feeding it was definitely less stressful.

Yeah, but the floor MakeMeWarm. Three times a day sweeping and scrubbing up the mess. Ugh!

Mind you, the white tiles were a moment of madness I regret.

Table is by the back door - I had a big mat under high chair, lift after each meal and throw contents into garden. Voila!

I really enjoyed it, it was the only part of parenting I really feel I got right, perhaps because I really stuck to the 'system' I never got stressed about the mess or if she didn't eat a single mouthful, which was very common, I just didn't care at all!

I hate the time it wastes. No longer me, a baby and a spare nappy going on adventures. Packing endless Tupperware and worrying about where to feed, or staying in cos she's gonna want lunch soon and realising too late she needs a nap soon cos she won't sleep for long enough in the pushchair anymore. Bah!

I hated weaning. Such a bloody faff. DD is now 12 months and mealtimes are getting slightly easier, but I still don't particularly enjoy it.

YANBU, I hate it with a passion. I just don't have time for all the faff and mess. Trying to get DD to eat a decent breakfast when I have to get the others to school on time is a nightmare. I did BLW with the boys, which was fine, but DD isn't interested enough in food for that to work. My friend has been saying how she can't wait for her 3.5 month old to start solids and I just looked at her like this-> It was soooo much less hassle when she was just on milk.

Oh yes littlef I hadn't even added that to the list.

A long, hot summer of going where I wanted, when I wanted on the days DD went to nursery. No stress about what DS would eat.

Dd luurrved food from the beginning, but I was still on 1 sometimes 2 meals at nearly 8 months, I put it off for as long as possible!

No I hate it too! Messy, faffy and having to think about what they're going to eat and when and pack stuff instead of just whipping out your boobs as needed!

I honestly am completely baffled as to why anyone starts before 6mo - I mean just make the most of not having to bother with it!

Both my DC have been pretty uninterested in weaning to be fair, so it's probably more faffy with them than with other babies, but I still think the whole process is a right PITA.

My tips for keeping it as faff-free as possible?:

• they eat what you eat - either as finger foods or pureed up, whatever you're most comfortable with, or a combination - don't bother with any of this baby rice and first tastes malarky

• don't stress about them missing a meal here and there. If they're awake and up for eating when you or your other DC are eating, then great, but if not don't bother

• have a stash of cloths and use one cloth per meal. First it wipes down baby, then highchair, then floor, then gets shoved in washing machine

• if you're lucky enough to have a dishwasher make sure you buy plenty of cutlery and crockery so you don't have to keep washing up and can shove it in the dishwasher

• no shame in using good old Ella's Kitchen and similar, particularly when out and about or just don't have anything else suitable, or all the time if that's what works for you

• get a dog!

Love the one cloth per meal idea. Related it to DH:

Me: you use the cloth to clean DS, then the high chair, then the floor, then you....
DH: throw it in the bin?

Loved it! I'm so pleased I went down the blw route.. Never faffed with purees and dd eats what I eat... Makes me eat healthily too.

It wasn't my favourite thing ever, first time round with the traditional spoon-led/purée thing..but this time round with BLW it's far more enjoyable...and far less of a monumental pain in the ass!

I loved it, both DC's enjoyed it so much that it was fun, and both preferred to eat rather than chuck. It was hard work with DS as I cooked a lot of food just for him, but second time around DD just ate what we did, mashed up if it helped, and it wasn't really much to worry about. I bought 10 cheap flannels that I used to clean them with , one flannel per meal, and whenever possible stripped them down to nappies so as to reduce mess on clothes.