What to introduce and when - help me please or DD will have to eat veg batons for eternity.

[routineschmootine]

Am MNetting crazy this morning in the hope of a more inspirational food day for DD.
She is a little over 6 months and we started a mix of BLW and pureeing at about 5 and a half months. At first DD would eat purees - now only finger food, whch is not a prob as this is what we wanted anyway.
So... so far she has had lots of diff fruit and veg, but she doesn't really do much damage to them. Lots of exploration and sucking. My question is... when do I move on to dairy / other food groups and what would you suggest next? I think I am almost waiting until she completely devours all fruit/veg before trying something different. Is this wrong? She will probably be about 30 when this happens at the rate we are progressing!
Heeeeeeeeeeelp me please!

ooh - also should I be cutting back on the milk feeds now? Wish I could just BF forever! No effort needed!

I know how you feel, I was not prepared for the hassle of having to have food in the house for my ds when we started weaning! re. cutting down breastfeeds, if you are feeding on demand you´ll probably find she cuts down herself if and when she needs to. Esp. if you are blw you might find she isn´t getting much from the food for a while yet and so your milk feeds may stay the same.

I´ve only been dipping my toe into the world of blw after a scary carrot incident when he was just 6mo so he gets a mixture but now he is 8mo I´m happier to let him chomp on most things. I think at 6mo you can give her a lot of things, maybe not honey and not nuts? Babycentre.co.uk has a list if you have a quick search.

dairylea triangles are good, rice cakes, pitta bread filled with whatever, scrambled eggs. I think basically give her some of what you have and let her push it around. I found that aspect hard as our eating is a little bit scatty but we are slowly getting more organised and it´s making life easier.

look on Aitch's blog, loads of recipes, most of them fairly straightforward (coming from a person who thinks boiling pasta is cooking)
I made the turkey twizzlers yesterday, they went down really well, even DH had one and asked for another

Thanks SPB and Maveta. I have found Aitch's blog very helpful. I guess what I am really asking for is permission to Go For It! Can I really just go from fruit / veg to anything at all or should I be slowly progressing through the food ranks of digestibilty if you see what I mean? I know the foods to avoid before a year - honey etc - can I really feed DD anything else? Is it that simple? Or will she explode?

you can start feeding her anything and no, she wont explode. Marmite on toast, lentils, baked beans. Shepherds pie.
Go for it.

Hello again! Thought it would be easier to post the recipe on this thread. I must make it myself soon.

Lentil and cheese wedges

225g red lentils
450ml water
1 large onion
25g butter or marge
100g grated cheddar
1tsp mixed herbs
1 egg
25g breadcrumbs

Cook lentils in water until soft and all liquid has absorbed. Chop onions and fry in butter til translucent. (Can use olive oil instead). Mix all ingredients together and press into a 23cm sandwich tin (or whatever tin you can find!). Bake at 190c for 30 mins. Can serve hot or cold in wedges- hence name!

I waited til 9 months to give eggs to my kids but that info may have changed now. And actually they had probably had it in things before then, just didn't give it straight if that makes sense. You can replace the egg with a tablespoon of oil. It is just a binding agent so you could mix everything else up and it might not even need to be replaced with oil.

GO FOR IT!

you dont need to cut back on the breastfeeds as long as you are happy with it.
i gave my dd proper cheddar at a little bit older than this .because, like yours, she wouldnt eat purees for more than a week. we started at 6.5 months, and a week later, she refused all purees.
toast
cheddar
bread sticks
and about 8 months ish kebabs made from mincemeat and veg!
rice grains. or rice cakes if you dont want to boil rice if youarenteating it.
but dont worry about reducing th emilk

oo yes, forgot about boiled eggs. just make sure they are hard boiled
cooked flaked fish

Thanks everyone! I think I might just GO FOR IT now! Am feeling a lot more excited now as the prospect of another lump of pear did not have me reaching for the high chair. I am thinking toast and cheddar may well be our starting point today (at least I think I have both of those things in the kitchen!) I feel wonderfully liberated from the peeler. Long may it last!

[Whispers: But Marmite! Are you insane?]

I think I still have a long way to go!

A quick end of day update. BLW success! DD has devoured a large chunk of bread which she absolutely loved; sucked on some cheese and finished it all off with some delicious juicy orange which she also adored - and which has resulted in fixing the problem of her constipation! So a very, very good day, thanks to all your help this morning. I am already plotting tomorrow now! It's got exciting again!

Hurrah! Glad you have had a good day. And that she is all happy and pooing!

Hee hee - all is working well again and the groaning has subsided! Thanks very much for the recipe - it sounds delicious. I shall definitely be making it soon! Now the world (or the fridge)is our oyster!

there's also a dambusters spread on the blw blog if she gets bunged up again... well done.

Thanks Aitch - I will have a look. I must confess I have dedicated the entire morning to your blog, (which has been really helpful) and have now compiled a list of exciting things to tackle next. I definitely have a renewed excitiment for weaning now I hve at last Gone For It - and nothing terrible has happened to her! (although I did try cheese for the first time with DD just before bed - then realised this was probably a bad idea should there be any reaction in the night!) Another quickie of you are still there - is it okay to introduce a few different things in one day? Yest she had quite a few new tastes for the first time.

oops - if not of

oops - if not of

i think the delaying thing comes from weaning before 6 months, as i recall, and i know we played fast and loose because it was all very exciting to see what she would eat. i think i'd be more cautious if i knew there were allergies in the family, though.

Thanks - I am glad you said that, because as I type DD is sitting at highchair surrounded by delicious lunchables! No history of allergies luckily!

Yesterday DS 6 1/2 months had quesadillas filled with cheese, avocado, refried beans and fresh coriander. Can you guess we had fajitas the night before?

He has also had chicken dhansak and loves his garlic naan. I know my favourite meal at a year was chicken madras and had food parcels from my indian / pakistani friends during my pregnancy (big dhal cravings), but I didn't expect to raise a spice freak quite so early...

Wow! I wont tell my husband that or he will start throwing the chilli powder in already!

It was those big blues eyes begging me for something other than courgette that made me do it , oh and a fist that strikes out faster than a preying mantis

Another recipe for you, big favourite in our house is fish on toast. Usually a bit of the salmon or trout me and DP are having for our tea, but works well with tinned sardines as well. Mash fish with a fork, make sure there are no bones in there and mix with philadelphia cheese. Spread on toast fingers (and wait for baby to spread into hair and eyes and behind ears......Best given just before a bath!)

RBH - I have just finished making those lentils and they are in the oven now. A bit late for DD's supper today but good for lunch tomorrow I hope (and for DH and I tonight - yum!) They are smelling good right now! Thanks again. LoveLove - that's a good idea thanks - I will definitely try it soon. Must admit I had not thought about fish yet - def a bath after that one tho - fishy baby! Nice!
MIL observed DD feeding today and not overly impressed with BLW - contending with that now!

I still have the lentils and cookbook out but have yet to make some .

From other threads I have read on here I think the MIL reaction is fairly common so at least you will be able to share stories and compare bizarre comments you have had!