Horrible attempt at weaning - have I gone wrong?

[lavenderandwisteria]

Ds is six months on the 16th June. When the HV came a week ago she noted he’d dropped a centile and recommended weaning him. I didn’t breastfeed despite desperately wanted to and so was very anxious to get this right.

Ugh. Yesterday was broccoli and wasn’t too bad - he didn’t eat much but I expected that. Today was carrot. I thought he’d love it.

It seemed to be going okay until he randomly started crying in his high chair. I tried to pick him up but OH had strapped him in sort of behind one of those giant bibs and I couldn’t get him out and the more I tried the more he got stuck and screamed and screamed. He inhaled my hair at one point and then vomited over us both. I cleaned us up, tried again and he just cried.

I know food is for fun until they’re one but it wasn’t much fun

Any pointers? Worried I’ve put him off veg for life now.

He's gorgeous!

Years ago now, but we used the Annabel Karmel book, with added finger food for ours. DS1 took to it very quickly (this was in the days when we started at 4 months), but DS2 wasn't bothered until he was 7 months.

Definitely pick a time when he's not tired. We started with breakfast, and then added lunch.

Oh bless him. Milk is still their main source of nutrition at this age, I found weaning so stressful as i was the same, worried he wasn't actually eating much- but I wish I would have relaxed a bit, easier said than done I know.

I would start by just letting him explore the texture, colours, plopping hands in it; every meal you have pop him in the high chair and he can watch you both eat (although of course keep an eye and assist with him too!), and he will try in his own time. I bought the sachets to be honest, and gave finger foods alongside, if you look for the single veg sachets, or the ones without fruit added (as the sugar mounts up), you might find that a bit less stressful for now? And then build confidence up. Oats with formula milk as well is a good to try, it's a familiar taste along with the new texture.

Thank you. I mixed a bit of his formula into the veg as recommended by mr joe wicks will persevere with carrot tomorrow. I have some baby porridge he’ll probably enjoy but I don’t want to limit him to sweet food.

Sounds good OP, remember with baby porridge to just add water and not milk, I made that mistake oops! Honestly its early days, won't be long I am sure until he is a toddler pestering you for choc cake and breadsticks, and this feels like a lifetime ago- but I do understand its all consuming in many ways at the time.

You're doing amazing :)

Aw he's a cutie!

We did BLW slowly. Cut some carrots into sticks and boiled, boiled broccoli, asparagus etc and just put them in her tray to pick up and play with/chew/lick.

Very quickly went from picking up and dropping, to putting to mouth, to licking, to full in chewing and demanding more! After a week or so she was having one full meal with us a week and now at just turned 1 she eats weetabix for breakfast with slices of strawberries and orange segments, then whatever we're having for lunch and dinner.

Try a range of food, some finger food, some purée, see what he gets along with and what you feel comfortable with. You won't have traumatised him don't worry

(Oh believe me, even with no teeth they can chew through plenty. Mine has recently got her first teeth (2) and she had steak and home made chips for tea!)

I won’t tell DP that gin - he keeps winding me up by threatening to purée a kebab!

It doesn't have to be baby porridge op, like you say theres often quite a bit of sugar in it.

Normal porridge or ready brek is fine. With a bit of mashed banana maybe?

Let your baby , who is gorgeous btw, sit with a fe bits of food on his tray while you eat your dinner. He will soon get the hang of it.

I started my premature son at around this age, with purees, on paediatrician advice. He had no hand eye coordination then, and wasn't sitting up unaided, so it had to be purees at first. He loved pureed banana, sweet potato, etc, but then was very uncomfortable with stage 2 which had lumps, and would gag and grunt. I started BLW- style feeding at 6.5 months, putting well cooked broccoli on his highchair table and letting him explore. He used to then have those organic snacks later on, plus babybel cheese, strips of banana, well cooked soft veg like carrot etc.
With DD, who wasn't premature and was sitting up unaided, grabbing everything, I did BLW for everything, even porridge (I loaded the spoon and handed it over). If he's not there yet though, and it's just about weight, I would definitely persevere with the milk (even mixed into porridge for babies), as pureed veg isn't going to have as many calories I would have thought. BLW is to be done when baby isn't full, but isn't so hungry they're going to lack patience to experiment with eating solids. Maybe the same could be said with any sort of weaning, i.e. making sure he's in a good mood next time? I'm sure he won't be off his solids forever

Lovely picture! What I would say is that is a really big bowl of food, would be impressed in early stages if they ate a fraction of that amount. Supposed to start eating solids from six months but get their calories from milk still.

I would only have expected him to have a tiny amount of that - it is just a small potato and carrot mixed with formula milk.

It’s hard to say if he is perhaps not ready? With the broccoli he tipped it out but then didn’t really try to put his hand in it or put it in his mouth much, he did need that guidance from me.

Six months is the recommended age to start earning, so at one week younger you would expect them to be fine, but it is expected to take many months to transition from not eating solids to eating lots of solids. Messing about with food for the first period is very normal and doesn't mean he's not ready to begin the process.

I personally might get some more advice about the weight change if you are concerned about that, as weaning is not going to put weight on - the foods we wean them onto are usually lower calorie than milk.

Has the HV encouraged you to start this process earlier than you intended, and are you concerned by the weight change? Sometimes a visit from the HV can unnerve us!

P.s. we are both awake at an ungodly hour!!!

Start weaning, not earning!

Tell me about it - ds thinks it’s party time!

I asked if the HV could just do a bit of an ‘MOT’ on ds a couple of weeks ago as his sleeping went to pot and he seemed not himself (it turned out to be a bit of a cold which he’s thankfully on the tail end of now.) We’ve weighed him but she did note he’d dropped a centile from birth. He was 8lbs 8oz then - but he was an emergency section after nearly three days of induction and me being pumped with every drug known to mankind (so not the birth I had envisioned, but never mind!) so I don’t know if he was just a bit bloated and mucusy from all that. He lost 12% of his birth weight in the four days after birth and we were put on a feeding plan and he refused to take to the breast after being bottle fed. I did manage to feed him a combination of expressed breast milk and formula for the first few months but it became impossible to sustain. So there’s a lot of emotion tied up in this - I recognised some of those early feelings of anger and frustration (obviously internal, I didn’t in any way take it out on ds but I was feeling angry and upset and frustrated with myself more than him.) So that was a long answer but I think his birth weight was a bit inflated. He weighs 14lbs and I think average is about 16/17lbs so he is below that.

The HV did say he should be taking more in per feed but he just can’t - it just comes back up. So she suggested weaning him. But as PP have said I’m not sure veg will help with that. I don’t really want to go down the route of pouches and jars, though.

Just offer lots but don't get stressed. My dc1 took until 14 months to eat anything and that was me offering three times a day every day. Dc2 are an entire plate of spagetti at 6 months. I didn't do anything different! So don't panic, they'll get there when they get there. Just offer regularly and take time to sit with them.

@colouringcrayons

Start weaning, not earning!

Personally I think 6 months is plenty old enough to be earning. Parents are too soft these days. Babies expect to be allowed to lay around literally being spoon fed lovingly cooked and pureed veg. Send them up a chimney. That's what I say. They can lick the soot off the walls if they are hungry and if they are lucky it will still be warm!

Disclaimer (just in case its not obvious) I am joking. I didnt send mine up the chimneys until they were about 6.5 months

@lavenderandwisteria He's gorgeous! Sounds like you are doing a grand job. Just keep offering a variety of foods. He'll get there

I'm currently weaning my baby who is now a couple of weeks over 6 months. She now grabs the spoon and loves feeding herself (with a bit of help( and will munch on some fruit and veg sticks.

This is soo different from when we first tried weaning her a couple of weeks before 6 months, when she just didn't get into it.

Even now, if she is not in the right mood she won't go for it. She also didn't like carrot first time, turned her nose up at banana, but seemed to enjoy brocoli.

I have used a mixture of pouches and home cooked. She only had a bit and so the rest I put in ice cube trays and then defrost, so whe gets to try different things but without the wastage.

Thanks everyone. He’s due a nap and I’ll try him with some carrot at about 11. Hope it works!

I'm utterly prejudiced I know but health visitors talk a lot of shit about weight etc.

When you say dropped a centile, you mean he has gone from e.g. 75th to 50th? I would ask my GP if they are concerned and not do anything on HV advice as they are wrong as often as they are right, so if you'd got a different HV you'd have got different advice.

Sorry, bit ranty. Seen some shockers.

To be fair to her, she did say how healthy he looked. But going on numbers alone, he has gone from 8lbs at birth so above average, to 14lbs at nearly six months, so below.

I’m very staunchly against early weaning unless directed by a paediatrician but I think this close to six months makes little difference.

OP - I couldn’t breastfeed DS1. I did baby-led weaning using the Gina Ford book. I worried about everything and constantly felt like the worst mother ever, totally undeserving of this perfect human baby.

He’s now 18, 6’, eats EVERYTHING IN THE WORLD and is the light of my life.

Please please please don’t worry. You ARE good enough and everything WILL be fine.

Snap! We started weaning our little boy yesterday with Broccoli too. He is just over 6 months. He wasn't very impressed with it at all and had woken up from his last nap it a funny mood. Think we are going to try a little earlier today and having cauliflour.

It can take a little while for them to learn how to eat. My LO took around 6 weeks to "get it". I did BLW and food was picked up, mushed around the mouth and spat out initially.
Now 13 months and eats everything in sight...

He just keeps vomiting

@lavenderandwisteria

He just keeps vomiting

You said he wasn't taking more milk because he was vomiting? Has he always vomited or is this a new thing? Could you ask the GP to check what could be causing the vomiting?

Sorry to bombard with questions!