How the F do you wean? Am I thick?

[AlwaysAnnoyed]

Honestly I don’t know if I’m thick. I just don’t get it.

DS is 6 months. Has had Ella’s kitchen satchets for the last 2 weeks. Loved them, opens his mouth likes he’s been eating from a spoon since before he was conceived.

but what next???????? Ok I’ll give him cooked veg and fruit etc. but then how do I know when to give him actual dinners? Does he have 3 meals a day? Seems like a lot of cooking? What if we’re out and about? Must he have food everyday from the SECOND he turns 6 months?

what do I do about the milk?????

DS was prem so I’ve always been slightly obsessed with how much milk he’s had, but I can’t track it anymore with food!

can someone give me a guide on how to navigate these next few months cos I am STRESSED

Stick with purées whether bought or made for a bit then introduce chunks like it’s not totally blended properly. Once they’ve handled that for a bit try moving into finger foods/ things they can pick up in their hand and stuff in their mouths. Yes they need food every day, if you’re out take some with you or go places that sell it.

Food before 1 is meant to be fun. Relax. I did a bit of both traditional and BLW. You can use purée and also give things like toast etc for them to chew on. Milk is still the most important thing though.

Oh I can so relate to this from my first! It won't help if I say you just kind of figure it out either, will it?

My youngest is now 11 months and what I did for her was just as you have in terms of starting with bits of fruit and veg and then puree too (I combi weaned both of mine, so they generally had something solid and something runny each time they ate). Until she was say 7 months she had one meal a day, I started introducing meats one at a time for a couple of days, just little strips and/or Annabel Karmel meal recipes with meat, then a day of just fruit and veg. Generally did this at either lunch or tea time.

When she got to about 8 months we added in a spot of breakfast which was usually toast with something nutritious on it. Now she's got her pincer grip she will eat shreddies that have been soaked in a bit of milk. Lots of people advocate porridge fingers but I've never managed to get them right!

She started having three 'meals' offered to her at about 9 months but to be honest it's only last few days where she will reliably eat something at each mealtime. Breakfast is as above, lunch is more nibble bits (as the elder one has her lunch like this) than a full meal. Then they both have dinner and a 'pudding'.

Can't help with milk as BF but others will definitely be along who know more.

Two books I like for laying out what to give when as in timings etc, the AK Wean Your Baby (or something like that) and a DK book called Feed Your Baby Every Day. The DK one in particular gives you a menu for literally every day for months on end, obviously don't have to stick rigidly to it but it gives you a good idea. If it's a meal to make and that isn't going to fit I will happily use a pouch that's along the same lines.

When your child is a bit older I also really recommend using a complete pouch/puree as a 'sauce' so for example if I've got a rice-based pouch or puree I'll also cook some real rice to serve with it, same with veg based ones. It might make things a bit carby but it does help with making the transition away from liquid food, I find.

Honestly Ds was the same. The minute food was introduced he lost all interest in milk. I just started including him in mealtimes to there was some kind of routine and that was it.

I just gave mine what we were having from the off. Let them pick and try whatever they want. No separate meals. And let them have as much milk they wanted, they were bf so they want any measuring or anything anyway. As PP says food before 1 is just for fun. Let them eat as they wish, or not as they wish. Nutritionally they'd be fine on milk anyway.

Agree with Ginger1982 and this takes a lot of the stress out but I’m already a bit nervous too (gearing up to start with our 3rd).
what I would say is definitely avoid those premade pouches if you want your LO to be a good all round eater at home for normal meals - they are far too sweet often IMO so get them used to this. I remember mixing banana and avocado together and it being an absolute favourite .

Try not to overthink it, you'll be a dab hand in a few weeks. I recommend solid starts app as a quick reference point for a yeh irn you're unsure of.

At 6 months I did a week of my wee boy trying one thing a day. A banana, some avocado, piece of broccoli etc etc. Then the next week we did two new tastes. Something at breakfast and something at dinner as we knew we'd be at home for those meals. I think he had two "meals" a day for a little while. He was mainly faffing about with new tastes and textures and very little actually went in. A big favourite was corn on the cob as he had plenty of teeth early on. It's a good teethed.

After a few weeks, as I noticed more was going in him than all over the floor, we upped to 3 meals a day but we skipped meals often in favour of breastfeeding where it was more convenient right up until 9 months when he made it clear he wanted breakfast lunch and dinner every day.

He eats what we eat because I don't want to cook separately for him. If I make something in the slow cooker like a curry or chilli I cook it without the salt and chillis and portion his out before cooking for another hour with them in for us.

If we're having pancakes for breakfast, he does too and I make them without sugar. Maple syrup for us, butter, cream or cream cheese and fruit on top for him. If lunch is soup he has soup too maybe with some toast or a sandwich. Dinner might be chilli, curry, Bolognese, salmon and veg. Anything. Just don't add salt to your cooking and avoid honey.

And don't be disheartened if they eat really well to begin with and then later go right off everything and seem to barely eat- it comes and goes. Just keep offering food and don't get frustrated when they look you dead in the eye and drop it on the floor, the buggers!!

We didn't use any purée at all. I think it is too much faff and totally unnecessary. I got the BLW handbook and my son fed himself at the table with us. Definitely planning on doing that again this time.

If he’s 6 months you can give him anything you eat except for salty foods and honey. I never gave any purées or baby food. Not because I was a BLW purist - sheer laziness and the expense of baby food. They get their nutrition from milk (breast or formula) until 12m so what you’re basically doing until then is introducing tastes and textures. I would give mine porridge or toast soldiers with peanut butter or scrambled egg for breakfast, then lunch might be a bit of pasta with bolognaise (I used to make a batch with low-salt stock cubes and freeze) or picky lunch like cut up veg, strips of chicken etc. dinner was a little portion of whatever we were having, provided it wasn’t salty. The BLW cookbook has good recipes in it and there are lots online.

I started with just lunch. So kept all milk feeds and just introduced some food before the lunchtime ish one. Once that meal had some protein (nice and filling, not just veg) I dropped that bottle. I did a "dinner" next, maybe 4.30 or 5pm, in same way. Still got night time bottle before bed. Last move was breakfast. We didn't introduce that until they clearly weren't lasting from first bottle to their early lunch we had already established. Ultimately we ended up with morning milk, 3 meals, bedtime milk (and eventually snacks when needed, one morning and one afternoon). However there is no rush and this whole process happened over a few months.

Oh and for out and about you can get spoons to fit on pouches but tbh I batch cook things like savoury muffins and mini quiches or puff pastry roll-ups and freeze them. Just defrost a few bits to take out as they only make crumbs not a giant liquid nightmare, and they are good to mess with so a bit of an edible toy kind of thing. I'm no cook at all but even I can make a half decent job of these according to the critics 😂

Most of the baby snacks are grossly overpriced but Aldi do good, cheap rice cakes that almost every child seems to like. Blueberries and grapes prepared safely (see the Solid Starts website) are ideal too as they travel well.

Keep giving the same amount of milk, he’ll refuse it if he’s not hungry.

Don’t panic if it’s all going well and then he suddenly he starts refusing to eat. Mine had a phase like this for several weeks. Just keep offering stuff but don’t worry if none of it goes in.

Most of all, don’t stress, they all get there in their own time.

If you've been using the Ella's Kitchen pouches, you could try the Ella's Kitchen cookbook (its purple - i think its called First Foods?). It has recipes by age (6months, 7months, 10months, 12months) that move up from homemade purees, to chunky textures and then more normal food and ideas for finger foods. It worked well for us. Lots of veg and bitter flavours too!

Then when DC got better at eating and i got more confident, i borrowed the What Mummy Makes book from a friend. Its got loads of great recipes that can be eaten by adult and baby so easy cooking.

I had an IUGR baby on the 0.4th centile so was also milk obsessed and i found weaning really stressful but these books really helped.

Breakfast I just did a tiny bit of porridge with the milk and bottle after. Then purée fruit for lunch then milk. Purée chicken and veg or potatoe for dinner but it's tiny amounts really. I put the dinner in ice cube trays and freeze them. Then just get a couple of cubes out in the morning ready for tea time.

Oh thank you all so much. Deffo stressing more than I need to but clearly a first time mum here! HA!

he’s been having porridge with a bit of a pouch in it. Will deffo start to use actual fruit to get used to textures.

then I think I’ll offer whatever we are having.

@PensionPuzzle amazing idea, will Deff do this

Hi OP.
first time mum here too. My DD has been refusing purées.
she’s also poorly at the minute and hasn’t been drinking much milk, so I’ve had to bite the bullet and today I gave her plain omelette for the protein. I just made sure it was well cooked & cut into strips - she was great with it. So I think I’ll continue trying finger foods.
I will say, I tried the melty puff crisps first and banana wafers. After offering purées / after porridge. Not many but enough to get her used to chewing.

I read the Solid Start app is good, tells you exactly how to serve things / what age / allergens etc.

Honestly dont stress!
Buy some baby porridge..
Give him aome of that in the morning for a couple of weeks and then introduce some soft fruit, banana for example mash it or let him hold it and try feed it himself.
Then introduce lunch, start with it mashed/pureed, avocado, baked squash etc and then as the weeks go on let him try finger foods. Green beans, potatos (i would cut sweet potato into wedges and let my DC eat that). If you have instagram theres loads of accounts that have recipes (just search baby weaning and they should come up)
Then start giving dinners by 8 months. Just trial and error. You'll get the hang of it i have a 9 month old and they're currently on 3 meals a day and snacks. Bottles are inbetween meals so give those as normal x

So this morning I mushed up a banana and mixed in with some baby porridge. He LOVED IT. But he ate the whole thing, so a whole banana. Is this ok? Or have I over fed him? He wanted to keep going forever!!

I keep offering food until he makes it clear he's had enough. He's one now and going through a suspicious, fussy phase. All his previous favourites get thrown on the floor. Enjoy this stage while it lasts!

Bananas can cause constipation in some babies, so as long as you alternate it with some prunes, i'd say crack on!

Still give the milk as the main nutrition and give the food as a taster. Slowly build up and go by your baby's needs and appetite until they're reducing the milk naturally for food.

At 6 months I'd try 1 meal per day where he gets to try some finger foods +/- another meal of just puree if he's handling that well. Finger foods are generally the size of a finger - anything they can pick up and bring to their mouths. Maybe boiled courgette lengths, toast fingers, some slices of cheddar, avocado slices, melty sticks if you you're out and about etc. Slowly build it up from there. We were at 2 meals by 7 months (breakfast and evening dinner) and three meals plus snacks at 10 months.