Random weaning Qs

[MeadowHay]

Sorry if I sound super naive and anxious ...

• If you're visiting a family member, and you are able, do you take the high chair with you, or just hold baby? (She can't sit up herself yet.)
• Shall I still offer a beaker of water with every 'meal' even though I've just started and a 'meal' is only a couple of baby spoons at most? Also how do I teach her how to drink out of it (sippy cup)? I can't imagine her being able to do that yet .
• Are chantaray carrots a choking hazard?
• I'm meant to offer milk before her solids, right? She usually has a bottle right around when we have our tea anyway (about 6ish), so have been giving that then when she's had enough, offering her solids, is that ok?
• I am starting with fruit, veg, and carbs I guess - when is the right time to start introducing eggs, dairy, what about meat substitutes as we are vegetarian, are they ok, or not yet? She's 6 months btw.

Oh also, where can I buy some good bibs that cover their whole trunk and arms??

• you can get portable highchairs that strap onto normal chairs, they are very useful but when they are just starting its fine to have them on your lap.
• water, I always offer it, but it takes them a while to get the hang of drinking water and when you are just starting they are getting most of their fluids from milk so don't need to drink much, it's just a good habit to get into.
• carrots - I wouldn't offer finger foods until she's confidently sitting up unaided. Also, get some first aid training (even if it's just watching YouTube videos) so you know instantly what to do if baby chokes.
• milk before solids is fine, at this point it should be their main source of nutrition.
• eggs, cheese etc are fine at six months, they can eat anything you eat at that age (exceptions being honey, whole nuts etc), tofu is good, quorn. might be a bit processed to give at this point. Smooth peanut butter is a great source of protein.
• I really like the baby Bjorn bibs, they are pretty expensive but you only need one as they rinse and drip dry between meals, they cover everything and make great messy play overalls when they no longer need to use bibs.

Ikea do great bibs which cover arms and trunks!

Ikea also do a fabulous beaker for £1.50. DD was a bottle refuser but miraculously took to this beaker

Ah, will have a look regarding the portable high chair thing, any ideas where I can get one? We have a high chair at my parents house too as we usually eat there a couple of times a week, but I'm thinking over the Xmas period we will be at a few other relatives' houses sometimes.

She will drink a little bit of water from a bottle (have had to offer her some sometimes when constipated). Going to try the sippy cup this evening. She has that Ikea one Lashes . I didn't know they did those big bibs KTD, but we won't be able to get anything from there for God knows how long as we don't drive and isn't accessible via public transport. I will have a look online but I didn't see any bibs like that when I last looked.

DH and I are both first aid trained (incl. paediatric, incl. infants) and DH is a HCP. DF and DB live 5 mins away and are also both HCPs. So not worried on that front fortunately. I didn't know I wasn't supposed to introduce finger foods until she could sit unaided...what if she doesn't sit unaided for ages though?? I don't really want to do fully purees/spoon feeding for ages. I'm not doing BLW but I'm also not faffing about pureeing everything and don't want to feed her exclusively on jars/pouches.

Will also look up Baby Bjorn bibs, ta! Was planning to try her with raw carrots this evening though, hm...I mean, she doesn't have any teeth so she won't actually be able to eat it but just to introduce her.

I think it’s less about sitting up unaided and as long as they can hold their head up well.

The first finger food I introduced was cucumber batons and they’ve been a winner ever since.

I watched some videos on YouTube of BLW to get me used to seeing babies gag.

Just enjoy it, take it slow and see what your baby likes!

Her head control is excellent. She can sit momentarily without support but then tips over .

www.smythstoys.com/uk/en-gb/baby/high-chairs-and-boosters/booster-seats/ingenuity-baby-base-2-in-1-booster-seat/p/137845

Hi OP I'd really recommend the ingenuity seat. It's a stand alone seat with a tray and you can strap it on to a kitchen chair too. I keep it in the boot of my car and have gotten so much use out of it when out and about and visiting relatives. It is very supportive too. And it can be used up to age 3.

We got a second hand bumbo with a tray on eBay and plonked it on the table at tea time when we ate at relatives when our little one was tiny.

We’ve also got a couple of ‘bumkins’ bibs with sleeves which are still in daily use at 15 months; a bit pricey but much better than fabric ones that stay soggy for ages and wash well.

We’re not veggie but eat lots of veggie food: he’s not had quorn but loves tofu and has since he was tiny. Cubes of silken tofu are easy to pick up and pretty much impossible to choke on.

Weaning so far:
Day 1: Ate about 1 little spoon of an Ella fruit pouch, then lost interest and was turning head away etc for second spoon so that was that.
Day 2: Ate about four little spoons of the same fruit pouch .
Day 3: Offered her mushed potato, mushed carrot, boiled carrot baton, and a raw carrot. Obviously I knew she wouldn't eat this all but just to introduce her, but she wasn't particularly interested and didn't really eat any at all . She didn't even really try to put the finger food bits in her mouth. She tried a little bit of the mushed potato and carrot from the spoon and decided that she didn't like them and then didn't want to try anything else lol. It is quite fun this so far! She's been a really difficult baby so I'm glad I finally have another vaguely enjoyable thing to do with her.

That’s the main thing, enjoy it, and don’t panic about what they eat, milk is main source of food for months still! My baby has some days where food is really appealing and then other days he’s just not interested.

Some more questions (I'm so clueless!) - is it ok to introduce egg yolk and egg white at the same time, along with other things we're having for dinner, or as they are allergens should I introduce yolk first and nothing else but egg etc, or is that silly and overcautious? Allergies don't run in our families so I'm not really worried about it but I dunno what other people do with 'allergen' food?

I just give the food. None of us have any allergies so I’m not particularly worried. I’ve certainly never heard of anyone trying yolk separately from white.

Unless there is a family history of allergies introduce all known allergies quickly. Research suggest introducing them early reduces the occurance of allergy. Allergies rarely appear on the first exposure so there is no need to offer single foods.

Can I just mention you shouldn't feed in a bumbo seat. I do occasionally but the way there spine dips in them makes it difficult for them to swallow safely and also if they do start choking it's harder to get them out than a normal highchair. I personally would leave that idea until you're a bit more confident with feeding.

Don't worry too much about the sitting unaided thing. As long as they can sit upright in their highchair and keep their head up you are good to go.

My DC2 is the same age as yours, and just eats what we/older siblings are having (I do baby led weaning as I'm too lazy/busy to sit there and spoon feed a baby).

Yesterday she had chopped up fried egg and a slice of jam and toast for breakfast

Lunch was tomato pasta (fusilli)

Supper was steak chips and onion rings - I just cut her bit of steak really thinly once it was cooked so she could tear through it with her gums.

I hold the sippy cup of water for her to drink out of at the end of the meal but she is just about getting the hang of holding it herself after about a week or so of using it.

I have a Chicco pocket snack (a highchair) that fixes to the kitchen chair and is very transportable.

I don't believe there is a 'correct' way of weaning you just have to do what you are happy with and try and not overthink it too much. At the end of the day they are human babies and are designed to start eating solids at some point so you can't really get it too wrong.

@weaselwomble I’d not thought about that - will avoid with the next one!

@Verbena87 I wasn't having a go or anything 😀 I found out after we'd started weaning and I'd already used it for feeding so 🤷. Just thought it was worth pointing out as I too had never considered having to get him out in a hurry, god forbid.

@weaselwomble I’m not a bit offended, just glad you pointed it out! Little boy is 15 months now and sat independently pretty early so wasn’t too ‘sunken in’ to the bumbo but I’m hoping for another at some point so am really glad to avoid the same mistake again.

This was my favourite carry about "highchair". Gro store harness www.gro-store.comthe-chair-harness-jazz-stripe.html?gclid=CjwKCAiAu_LgBRBdEiwAkovNsFnrT5Q1HtsrnkryAATol6WNDzZI1vP6ye2De1xfgA9MCArw00TahBoC5uUQAvD_BwE though my youngest is 5 so might be a bit out if date. Might be a bit early for your just yest though.

Weaning for us was a bit if whatever everyone else was having chopped up a bit if needed. Things to avoid are anything processed - because of the high salt, things like gravy etc. And big chocking hazards for example whole nuts - chopped up are fine. Whole dried apricots also get stuck - not a pretty sight!

Milk is still their primary food source, do that first then let them play with food - sitting with you whilst you are eating the same thing is good experience.

Have fun with it!

We used the mantra 'under one it's just for Fun' so don't put any pressure on yourself. We just put DS in the high chair whenever we were eating and gave him a little bit of something that we had. He loved mashed banana and yoghurt for breakfast, when he got a bit bigger a few Cheerios or rice Krispies dry on the tray were a great way of him entertaining himself.

At lunch we would offer soup, mash, pouch or anything we were eating that was soft. Bits of cheese, ham, some cooked mixed veg, pieces of cooked pasta.

Then we would offer him some tea at about 4pm. Stuck to normal milk times.

If he ate that was cool, if it all went on the floor to the dogs that was cool too.

He is now 14 months and eats everything. Especially at nursery where they feed them a quite exotic range of foods. He is not a fussy or picky eater at all. Loves things like filled pasta, hummus, falafel, egg mayo sandwiches, jacket potato with tuna, roast dinner etc ...he can eat a piece of fruit like an apple, pear or banana whole even with just 4 teeth. Absolutely loves blueberries and raspberries, strawberries etc.

I liked the Holly Willoughby book which I got from the library. I didn't do any of the receipes out of it but liked the schedules and blw ideas it had. It was great for age related guidance and reassurance.

But until they are one really just do whatever suits you best as long as the milk situation is all a-ok. The more relaxed about it you are the more relaxed they will be. When DS was bigger we did try all the ready made baby snacks in aldi and Lidl for something easy when out and about. Some of them he liked, some not so much. We liked the Heinz range of toddler tray meals, which are often on offer in asda...we used them when what we were eating was too crunchy, sharp or spicy, or needed more teeth than he had, or if we were eating later. He liked those better than stage 2 pouches because they had texture and wider range of flavour. He would eat half of one for lunch and the other half for dinner.

We got some basic all in one cover alls with sleeves from eBay and I then popped a soft small cotton bib over the top to stop anything going down inside the cover all. I got some lovely soft microfibre cloths from the pound shop to pop under the tap warm to wipe his face and fingers and then clean the tray with and it just goes straight into the wash. Loads better than trying to clean up with baby wipes.

HTH

This is so useful! Another mum of a six-month-old here. Currently despairing over the huge amount of mess and multiple baths - I never even realised long-sleeved wipe clean bibs existed. Have ordered mine just now. Thank you.

When I first weaned, I filled ice cube makers with different puree'd veg and had bags in the freezer and would create different mixtures. Sweet potato, carrot, butternut, apple. After a few weeks we just mashed what we were eating. One of mine I puree'd for too long until one day she grabbed a Jaffa cake and demolished it and I realised normal food would be fine!

How cute! How old was she when she did that vdb? Do DC have to have at least some teeth before baby-led weaning?