Weaning an almost 7 month old - how is it going and food ideas

[dodi1978]

Have an almost 7 month old DS. Weaning is going well - we're doing a mixture of finger foods, pouches / jars and mashed up versions of adult food.
I just wanted to know how everyone else with kids a similar age is doing, and to also ask for food ideas.
This lunchtime we had a bit of a mixture of things. Breaded Mozarella sticks, which he nuzzled on but found difficult, roasted carrots which he loves, and a bit of bread with cream cheese. As this was all finger food based and most went on the floor, I am planning on a jar for tonight.

My DD is almost 7mo old and still getting the hang of solids / not bf all the time
Finger foods tend to end up on the floor.
Porridge for breakfast with mashed banana.
Lunch was scrambled egg and some avocado puree, plus toast to suck/throw on the floor. Few spoonfuls of yoghurt.
Dinner.....been trying some veg puree with chicken (mashed up with formula).
Pinterest has ideas for baby meals.

Must try the veg puree with chicken, good idea! I haven't given him much meat yet other than in jars. Will look at Pinterest, too!

Scrambled egg... completely forgotten about this option. Tomorrow is another day.

What birthday does your LO have if I may ask? Mine is 29th September.

Mine was born 10th September and it's going SLOWLY. She will suck/gum things, but ends up on floor or down her front. Favourites are roast sweet potato, banana pancakes, peanut butter on bread, and raspberries. Occasionally she will have a good go at mashed stuff (porridge, mashed banana, mashed sweet potato) but she quite often has a meltdown when presented with a spoon. Can't work out why. She will mostly play about with food and taste it quite happily, but very little actually goes down. Am starting to find it all a bit disheartening actually. She just doesn't seem to be getting it.

Weaning is HARD. The constant mess!!! My kitchen towel use is through the roof!
But I think at some point they all cut a corner, don't worry... that is until they turn two, realise they have a choice not to eat and become fussy again !

DS is almost seven months now and I'm finding weaning really tricky!

I wanted to start at about five and a half months but we went on holiday for ten days to visit family over Easter so all my big plans came to nothing in the chaos.

He's at nursery 7-4, five days a week (harder for me than for him!) and although my friends have suggested BLW I don't feel like I can send steamed broccoli into nursery and expect the nurses to sit for thirty minutes watching him chuck it on the floor. I've been sending in one of those small Ella's Kitchen pouches thinking he'll eat a few spoonfuls but they keep returning them to me empty! So I've started packing a few of those little melty puff things (because I'm paranoid about choking) for a snack. And then in the evening he has some avocado and a rusk or whatever. Frankly I have no fucking clue what I'm doing, everyone keeps telling me different things and I'm slowly coming to the conclusion that as long as I'm not feeding him scraps from the bin he should be fine. Right?!!

He didn't have any dinner tonight at all except his bottle... we were so busy after work and I just didn't get the chance

Fartniss - gosh, I feel with you. I didn't know that some nurseries don't provide food! That'd just about kill me when I am back at work (I am planning to go back when he is 9month).
With my first, I actually found weaning easier once he started nursery - it was one responsibility shared!
Well, at the weaning workshop I attended they told us that the only mistake you can make is giving them salt, honey and whole nuts.
I wouldn't worry about doing BLW under these circumstances. I always found it more important to give them a taste of how nice food can be, even if this means spoon feeding!

My ds is 6.5 months I mix finger foods and mashed food mainly this week he has had Thai green curry, spinach fresh pasta, Tuna and sweet corn pasta, banana muffins, cheese flapjacks, fish pie and various vegetables

Last week we were away so he had Ella's kitchen pouches

I use the Gill rapley book for ideas but I spoon feed mostly as don't want the waste and uncertainty of pure blw

Oh it's nice to see this thread!

DS has just turned 7 months and is doing pretty well with weaning so far. I'm doing a mix of spoon feeding and finger foods although as he's getting better with finger foods I'm trying to move more that way.

Today he's had:

Baby muesli (10mth+) plus toast fingers and pieces of banana

12.00 - 1/2 ellas pouch, thin slices of apple and mini rice cakes.

4.30 - a mishmash of finger foods - strips of chicken, brocolli, omelette strips, sliced new potatoes (most on the floor or thrown in the air!) followed by some natural yoghurt.

I feel like I've lost my way a bit, he's a big boy and I spoke to my HV who advised to cut down his milk AND up the finger foods instead of spoon feeding (he's being "lazy" by eating from a spoon apparently ). Tried this today by reducing a bottle and finger foods only at dinner but the poor boy was so hungry he was ramming food in his mouth, not chewing properly and gagging badly on lumps and being sick so I'm ignoring her advice, going back to 4 small bottles and a mix of mashed/finger food at every meal. It does feel constant now though don't you think, between milk feeds and meals?! Can't get anything else done! I'd love to hear how everyone is spacing the milk feeds and amount (if FF)
DS is down from 40oz to about 24oz

It's great to see all of your approaches! My approach is "Make it up as you go along" - when our food is suitable, he will eat with us. When it is not, he will have a pouch / jar or some bread and fruit.

Today he had Greek Yogurt for breakfast, then a jar of rice pudding for lunch (at a cafe as we were going swimming) and then just some toast in the evening (I was so tired that I couldn't be bothered....).

He loves roasted carrots!

Yes, I know, feeding at that stage feels relentless! At the moment, he has a small bottle of formula in the morning (only about 4-5 ounces normally) - he takes the bottle in the two hours before, during and after breakfast (if that makes sense). Then usually a bottle at around lunchtime (sometimes we start it before lunch and finish it afterwards - about 8 ounces usually). In the afternoon, it is a bit hit and miss depending on whether we are at home or out, and I am currently trying to cut down to just one afternoon bottle of 8 ounces. Then dinner and a few ounces before bed.

He has definitely already cut down on milk, maybe a bit too much as sometimes he can be a bit constipated... but has really taken to food and loves feeding himself.

By the way, heal visitors: ignore and do what feels right for you! The one sensible thing a HV from our team has said to me is that, for babies with reflux, it is quite important to develop their muscles and to make them chew. I am doing a lot more finger foods and lumpy foods that I would have done with DS1. And I have to say, it has really helped with his reflux. He doesn't really have a problem with lumps at all and doesn't gag very often any more.

Anyway, keep your ideas and experiences coming. This week, I want to try making some sweet potato chips.

I've mainly been doing purees and mashed food so far, with a few prepackaged finger foods (e.g. Ella's Kitchen melty puffs, rusks). I've been too scared to try anything that doesn't melt. So yesterday I decided to be brave and give him some banana. He promptly gagged massively and threw up everything he had eaten beforehand - his bottle, mashed food, everything. It was scary and awful. I'm sticking to mashed food now.

He was three weeks early being born - does anyone know if that might put him a little bit behind with weaning? I genuinely have no idea how I would feed him some of the stuff people are saying on this thread and I refuse to just sit and watch him gag at every meal.

Also, he's gone from sleeping twelve hours at night easily to taking a five once feed at 3am last night and a six puce top up before we went to bed at 10! Why?? Why is he hungry? Yesterday he had four bottles (not counting 3am one), almost a full rusk mashed on milk, a third of a mashed banana and half a pouch of yoghurt. He ate it all and kept it down. He's being really funny with his milk sometimes and taking ages to eat without finishing the bottle.

Should I just up the solid food or go back to five bottles a day? He's refusing food when we wake at 5:30am (for work) altogether now.

Yes the food/milk balance is a pest We are on 3 meals a day but he's still having 5 bottles and probably 35oz he will not entertain less milk and if I do he just wakes up for 2 night feeds rather than 1

Roughly how much solid food does he have in a day Figgygal?

He wouldn't eat when he woke this morning so I asked nursery to give him three bottles (they kept replacing a bottle with solids - that wasn't what I'd intended, but there's a bit of a language barrier and I don't know if I made myself clear enough). He took them and then had another before bed so hopefully that and a top up will see him through the night. He also had half a yoghurt and. It's of a rusk with milk.

He's always slept so well - I'm not used to this any more!!

I have just noticed that normally, I only sterilize bottles once a day these days - given that we only have four bottles, and he doesn't finish all of them, he probably has only about 25 ounces or of formula a day (we put 250 ml, roughly 8 ounces in each). The internet suggests this is ok :-)!

So, in the morning today we had Weetabix with a bit of fruit puree - DS had an impressive spluttery spit when he coughed and then managed to grab the bowl and empty it over my knees.

For lunch we had mozarella sticks and his beloved roasted carrots. Most if it went on the floor and in the big, but he went to great length trying to fish it out again.

For dinner he had mashed up Schnitzel, Semmelknoedel (it's German - sort of a savoury bread pudding), mushroom sauce and broccoli, which he ate with some gusto. I then gave him a strip of Schnitzel (basically breaded pork), which he chewed on.

So, all in all not a bad day! Tomorrow I'll probably be lazy and just go for a pouch or a jar.

dodi1978 I'm lazy every day. DS is always eating pouches.

Is your baby waking up at night? DS ate more yesterday so he slept better than he has been but he still woke up at 1am and took five ounces. He hasn't had night feeds since he was about three months old and as I'm working full time now I'd really rather he wasn't waking up at all, if possible.

Great to hear others' experiences!

Our DS is 7 months corrected - he was 6 weeks prem so we started weaning early but seem to be around the same stage as many of you.

He's just had puree / mashed things so far but I'm planning to start the finger foods this week. Any top tips?!

We recently switched to teats with a larger hole and he has started having fewer, bigger bottles. His intake on days he eats well is around 33oz - and around 38oz if he's not had much solid food. That includes 1-2 night feeds.

Fartniss, have you tried increasing the teat hole size? (If you are bottle feeding of course) Our son was taking ages too (and not finishing his milk) and this made a big difference.

Following 😉. I have a nearly 8 month old and weaning is driving me quite bananas at the moment 😔. Also had unhelpful advice from HV saying DS "should be on 3 meals a day by now." Made me feel really cheesed off... Wanted to say I do offer him food but it's not my fault if he doesn't want it??? My son is happy with sweet purée (fruit / yogurt) but now rejects all savoury purées so we are trying the baby-led route. Very very slowly 😩 x

MiniMaxi, that's something to think about, but he has not long moved up a teat size and demolishes bottles when he's in the mood! Worth a try though.

I'm terrified of finger foods after a few horrid gagging episodes but DS loves the Ella's Kitchen melty puffs. Ella (whoever she is) is basically feeding my child right now, along with Weetabix and Farley's

Yes, going up a teat size might help! Will try that next week when DH is at work again as he is very PSB. His milk intake is really going down, and I don't really want it to decrease further - consolidating into three bottles would help though (I am thinking one morning, one afternoon, one evening).. and more at night if he wakes up ( a bit inconsistent at the moment...)

Dodi, I have a similar worry....DD won't take formula but I'm desperate to stop bf
So I worry that she's getting enough calories, especially because it's still hit and miss with how much solid food she'll eat, and getting enough to drink.

Well I think I've got the hang of this weaning shizzle now. Basically I just give him squishy stuff and melty stuff and let him go to town on it. I'm not doing BLW, I'm spoon feeding with a few bits and bobs of finger food and he's loving it and getting very big

DS has decided he likes bottles again so I'm not sure what was going on there. Sleep is a bit better but still the odd night waking when he hasn't had enough milk in the day.

Thank fuck for Ella's Kitchen!

Hey fartniss
Are there any things in particular that he likes? Just after ideas for what to give DD.

Just the thread I've been looking for! Doing blw with 7mo DS and maybe I've been a paranoid first-time parent bit conservative, judging from some people's posts!

Can someone reassure me about giving stuff like toast/bread/pits? How thick/long do you cut it up? DS has tendency to properly stuff his mouth, not chew and then gag, hence my slight wariness.

So far he's got on well with a variety of soft-cooked veg sticks, porridge, weetabix, scrambled eggs and some fruits - mainly strawberries, orange, banana...

I was told by my local sure start centre to cut finger foods like toast so they are roughly the length of my index finger. Not sure how thick really, I've just been cutting toast like you would for a boiled egg. My DD also stuffs it whole in her mouth, or tries to, so just have to watch her like a hawk.

Thanks Fatty. Will give toast a try soon, I guess I just have to watch him really carefully like you say. Im going on a first aid course next week so hopefully that will make me feel a bit more confident about the finger foods too!

I've also done a first aid course - not a full course - but training on what to do if your child is choking so I feel a bit better from this....but still on edge when she shoves loads of food in her mouth!
Lunchtime hasn't gone well today. Think I can say that she no longer likes egg!