First Time Parent HELP (weaning 6months baby)

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Hi my little boy is 6 months on 8th June and we began weaning this Monday 1st. We created a plan with the health visitor to give him baby rice/porridge mixed with breast milk for 1 week. Then week 2 we are giving him purée vegetables for tea as well as breakfast.

However this week he's not even having half a teaspoon of the baby rice or porridge. I know it's the getting used to tastes and textures and they only have one or two teaspoons but I'm not sure what to do anymore. Today I'm creating a mean plan and shopping list and I don't know what to give him for breakfast. Should I continue with the baby rice and porridge? I'm so confused I don't know where to look for help

Hey OP- remember food before 1 is for fun, your baby doesn’t need to finish a meal they just need to try new tastes and textures.
I personally never did baby porridge, I followed the general plan in this book:
www.amazon.co.uk/Ellas-Kitchen-First-Foods-Purple-ebook/dp/B00VFZ7F34/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?hvlocphy=9044978&hvnetw=g&keywords=ellas+kitchen+book&hvadid=259099567429&qid=1591433741&dchild=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjw_ez2BRCyARIsAJfg-kuhY9kXjXN4U7tLTqLd2t_pg6iq7PTVtBPDUG84tLsFoU1GR9pYUrgaAmpNEALw_wcB&hydadcr=21199_1749500&hvdev=m&hvqmt=e&tag=mumsnetforu03-21&hvtargid=kwd-299397674390&adgrpid=60016424544&hvrand=3907998489830377089&sr=8-3

I generally started with a veg purée around lunch time to get mine used to bitter tastes first. I did a mix of baby led and spoon feeding- and if she ever looked intrigued at my food I’d give her a bit on my finger.
Please don’t stress.

I wouldn't worry too much about the quantity that he is eating, just keep offering. He can have anything as long as not too much sugar or salt and nothing like whole nuts that's a choking hazard.

If it was me I would probably offer some fruit or veg tastes but it's up to you!

That’s quite quick to move onto two meals a day. Is he maybe just not hungry? Or maybe wanting a tiny tad milk before he has breakfast to feel hydrated. Or he might not be ready, give him a week and start again. All natural to happen. I’m a FTM of a 7 month old so this is all recent lived experience to me.

At 6 months mine would have various things, toast fingers with different toppings, porridge, a strip of pancake and finger of fruit, a small amount of weetabix basically any normal breakfast food just watch out for salt content and no honey under 1.

I just wants to add ditch the baby rice, give him real food!

Thank you I have just bought the kindle version of ellas kitchen, I will speak to my health visitor on Monday as well for further advice. I feel like now I've started with breakfast I have to continue with it.

I usually give him milk anytime between 5:30-7 and then we give him breakfast about 8/8:30

Are you doing only purées or a mixture of both? I was told to start on the meal that was easier for us so we started with vegetables at tea time and moved on to giving fruit at lunch.
Breakfast ideas you don't need baby porridge or rice. Baby porridge is full on sugar.
Readybrek has the lowest salt content and recommended for babies. You could also give weetabix. I give them with some pureed fruit mixed in.
I found we just naturally increased meals when she was ready. When she was taking a little more we would mix the vegetables etc and go onto meals.
You could also look into Baby lead weaning,there is lots of information out there and ideas on what to give. As long as your child is 6 months and can sit unaided.
I found doing a mixture of both best for us. Some babies don't like to be fed and like to feed themselves xx

If they are 6 months you dont need to be so cautious. Ready brek with fruit puree, weetabix are good. You can also offer food for them to hold and eat themselves. I personally started introducing lunch then dinner and breakfast last.

Baby rice has absolutely no nutritional value for babies. At 6 months, weaning is purely and simply getting baby used to different textures, tastes, smells etc. It has nothing to do with "filling" them up with food as they will still be having such a large quantity of milk (which they need) that they won't be hungry for huge amounts of food. Ditch the baby rice and get him exposed to different food - start with vegetables (don't bother with fruit as it's sweet and babies are almost guaranteed to like it), and then move onto mixed vegetables and go from there.

I remember being so so worried with DS as he just wasn't interested in food for such a long time, then one day at around 9/10 months old it just clicked and he started eating. I will add that he refused to be spoon fed though. I started with puréed vegetables (reducing the amount that I blended it gradually) and also offered finger food at the same time. But DS would happily pick up and play with the finger food but hated being spoon fed. By 7 months I gave up completely and just let him feed himself and now he's a wonderful eater. We didn't follow traditional BLW of course but with any further children I probably will.

Don't put too much pressure on yourself. Your job isn't to feed baby lots of food at 6m, your job is to expose baby to different tastes and textures so they get used to the process of eating - whether that's one tiny spoonful or not, it's the exposure that's important. Remember if baby spits it out, that's not because they don't like it, that's their immediate reaction to a new taste or texture. Sometimes babies need to be exposed to new foods 15-20 times before they accept it. Just offer new tastes each day and he will begin picking it up when he's ready. Also, remember that babies also pick up on your stress and anxiety. Make mealtimes fun and don't focus on how much their eating, just them picking up a piece of broccoli and licking it is a win at 6m!

Also with all due respect, don't bother asking the health visitor. They can't help you at this point, they will just give you the advice they've already given you. As PP said - don't be so cautious, just go with it!

At 6 months my ds liked mashed up banana, mashed up avocado, vegetable purées etc. Good luck and relax! As previous posters have mentioned, the amount of solids that babies eat initially really doesn't matter - it's all about having a go / having a taste.

You could have a look at baby led weaning OP. Babies from 6 months can eat everything you eat minus a few exceptions (no honey, whole nuts, very little salt).

With my DC I just started giving them bits of fruit (banana, cut grapes, peach, melon etc) while I ate my meals. After about a week I would just give them some of my meal. So cooked vegetables, pieces of meat, bread, pasta, etc. Most of it would get smushed round their mouth or go on the floor but that's ok as it's just for experimenting. I saw it as exploring and learning rather than filling them up.

Watch a couple of YouTube videos on gagging vs choking if you feel anxious about that.

Thank you so much this advice is so helpful, it's hard being a first time mum as I don't have any experience. Thank you will go through all advice and create a plan to re go about this next week

We are doing a combination of both. We wanted to start with purées making on our freshly then go to giving him overcooked carrots to pick up etc

I did ready brek (hardly any salt in it) mixed with breast milk as the first solids, and then after a fortnight introduced veg purees for dinner, and then 2 weeks after a puree for lunch. I then added finger foods to each meal in addition to a puree and increased the amount of food and decreased the amount of purees at every meal until just on solids. Every baby is different as is every parent, and just need to find something that works for you. I always planned to do BLW, but just didn't feel comfortable at first with it, I don't think any way is better personally. If you do BLW it's worth doing a first aid course to build confidence as it addresses the differences between gagging and choking. There are also other signs of readiness as well as age to look at.