weaning at 6 months, any tips??

[Maxiesmum1]

Hi there,
I've just started weaning my lo this week and am a bit confused if I'm dong it right??? I have Ella's kitchen book and so far its not going great...

Day 1: potatoes, tiniest bit went down then gagged and was sick
Day 2: courgette , didn't like the taste so offered a bit of banana which seemed to go down better, even think he liked the taste.
Day 3: avocado, seemed indifferent but didn't outright refuse it, played with the spoon a bit too.
Day 4: meant to be green beans but couldn't get them into a fine enough purée so went with bananas again, this time he spat it all out and was sick again

Hardly anything has actually gone down and what has has instantly made him sick, don't want him to not enjoy food and am a bit worried that day 4 he has started refusing the spoon. Doing a mixture of approaches, feeding him the first taste then letting him play and bite the spoon with some food on it, think I'm leaving finger food til 7 months or at least until I see him swallow something first.

All NHS advice seems to be not to purée but I have pretty much puréed everything so far and he's still gagging on it, can't see that mashed food wd work so early on?

Anyone got any tips/ advice/ experiences they could share?
Thanks xxx

Also is anyone using any planners/books that are particularly useful? I'm a bit of a planner/ list maker so maybe something fairly prescriptive? Really like Ella's kitchen book but think I might need something else until I get a bit more confident with weaning (first baby, nervous disposition!) x

You really don't need to wait till 7 months for finger foods. I would give some well steamed veg fingers and see what happens. It might be that he gets on better with self feeding, plus it's a fab sensory learning experience too.

If you continue with purees then don't be put off if the savoury is less appreciated. Keep offering it and he'll become more accustomed to it. If you offer sweet as an alternative every time then he may well learn to hold out for sweet things. Also, the Annabel Karmel book on weaning might suit you, it has all the "stages" and meal plans etc.

I would just give whole green beans and let him chew them

My LO has just turned 6mo and we've just started weaning too.
I can only tell you what I've been doing:
My advice is to try some root vegetables first- carrots, parsnips, squash, sweet potato. They are veggies, but once roasted / steamed have a 'sweet' taste. Agree with above that you don't want them to get too attached to sweet (fruit) foods initially.
She tried regular potato tonight and didn't seem to like it (day 13) but has liked carrot etc and also LOVED banana.
I roasted courgette, peppers and carrots - half to mash and half to have as finger food.
I've not pureed - mainly because my hand blender is cr@p - so my food has always had a few lumpy bits but in the first week I mixed the veg with a little milk (whatever milk you are feeding is fine) so the consistency was like double cream. I think I did too lumpy/thick on the first day when she threw it up and mixing in milk definitely helped.
I've also frozen cubes of stewed pear, apple, apricot and cherries.
My wee one has taken really well to weaning but has also thrown up twice (make sure you have a bib to catch it!)
For lunch she has 3-4 'food cubes' (ice cube tray size) and for dinner she has expressed breast milk with baby rice and 2 'food cubes'. In the first week for dinner she just had baby rice.
I was advised to give a new food for lunch rather than dinner just incase she adversely reacts to it so in the first week she had carrot on Tuesday and apple on Thursday so this week she's had carrot and apple mixed together.
(Lukewarm unseasoned cauliflower plus apricot is disgusting! I'm surprised she ate it for lunch!!)
I've baked my own bread sticks which she sucks on, and I've recently put finger food on her tray (raw pepper from my salad when we were out for lunch, and roast pepper and courgette slices tonight) which she has picked up and licked!
I know food is going through her system as I've seen pear and pepper skin in her poo.
She also plays with her spoon, and shovels food from the spoon into her mouth - then smears her foody covered hand EVERYWHERE! My OH does dinner duty and somehow manages to keep her clean (?)
I'm going to try dairy next week and maybe fish / chicken the next. Just take it slowly.
I was advised that for the first few months you are not really 'feeding' her - just getting her used to new flavours and textures. She'll still be getting nutrient from your breast milk / formula.
If you feel you need a 'planner' try www.madeformums.com/baby/weekly-baby-meal-planner---6-months/18965.html but try and smile at baby and relax at mealtime as they can pick up on your anxiety. HTH.

Thanks everyone, sorry I've not been back on sooner - been in the kitchen covered in sweet potato and bananas !!

See what you mean about offering sweet stuff, will take ur advice and plough on with the veg. Actually had a bit more success this week with avocado and aubergine tho cabbage was an absolute no go!

I tried some finger food, carrots and parsnips but was also wondering about toast, anyone know what type of bread is recommended? X

Also thanks for th link fantasticmrsfox x

White bread is best for little ones as wholemeal can be a bit too fibrous.

If you want more info on the finger food side of things babyledweaning.com is good