Increasing food amount - please help I’m so confused!

[Newbiemum76]

Hi all,
This is my first baby so I am just looking for some advice really. He’ll be officially 6 months old next week but we have started weaning the past couple of days. He has had mashed up broccoli (not a fan haha!) and I have also blended some sweetcorn and frozen it ready.

I’ve been told to just start with once a day with a couple of spoonfuls to let him get used to the tastes and the whole experience of chewing etc.

I’m just wondering how do you know when it’s time to up the amount of food you give baby? Should I be doing it twice a day? What times? Just looking for some advice really! 🙂

And just to add - what did everyone feed their baby during weaning? Apart from blended vegetables and I’m hoping to do some finger food too, I’m not sure what else to give him! (Have bought some rusks but apparently they have a lot of sugar in so not sure I want to give them)

Get yourself a copy of Baby led Weaning. The basic premise is that baby sits up with you at mealtimes and has the same as you, or a version of it. Easier for you, sociable for baby and gets them used to lots of different foods. Or if you want to do purees etc you can follow one of the mainstream people like Annabel Karmel.

Get yourself to the baby aisle of a big store.

So much choice!

My boy loves the corn puff crisps. I love them too haha - like giant weird flavoured wotsits 😂

For breakfasts there’s baby rice, porridge etc. We do porridge or baby rice with half a satchel ppt of ellas fruit purées. Then it’s different flavours.

Solidstarts app shows you how to prepare all the fresh finger foods.

My boy loves butternut squash, advocado, and bananas the most.

There’s also these fruit feeder things which you can use for small fruit like berries or anything with a skin difficult to sort like peaches, orange or plums.

I think we started with one “meal” a day then increased every month or so. Start with first tastes - smooth purées, then add in textures a month later and aim for the baby to be eating what you eat at 1 year.

or you can introduce them to what you eat straight away. Along with bits of soft veggies you can add strips of omelette, squares of bread, grated cheese, spaghetti and yogurt (not together, both fun!), soft fruits like peaches and plums, stewed harder fruits like apples etc etc

I think the stuff in the baby aisle is great for inspiration and on the go, but it’s quite expensive for what it is and they add in fruit a lot to make it more palatable. Therefore sweeter, the Ella’s breakfast fruit pouches are really high in sugar.

porridge oats are fine, or ready brek if you want a fine texture. Stewed fruit is really easy to make yourself and freezes in to little ice cubes really easily

I just gave food whenever I was eating.

I didn't do purees and things just finger foods. They don't need much, it's just playing and trying new things at the moment "Food before one is just for fun" they should still be getting the majority of their nutrients from breast/formula milk up to their first birthday.

Oh yes absolutely you can do everything organic home made but I don’t have time or budget for that. Especially when trying to do a variety. It would cost me more than a pouch if I am trying to blend passion fruit, mango, banana and star fruit together for the sake of a breakfast topper!

I don’t mind doing the staple single veg purées like carrot purée dip or butternut squash dip to have with finger food sticks for lunch. But breakfast needs to be quick and fast for me and I don’t mind paying for convenience.

Winged it really. Read up on Baby Led Weaning/weaning on trusted sources like NHS website. Started with one meal a day for one month, then two meals a day for one month then on three meals a day. Gave as much quantity wise at each meal as they wanted really. We mostly took a baby led approach, we did do purees as well sometimes though for convenience but both mine have had 'proper' meals to self feed from early on. In fact I think we did evening meal first for both of them so they had proper dinners straight away. Obviously they didn't hardly eat them at first though haha.

I really would not bother with the baby aisle, the baby food industry is massive and plays on new mums insecurities that they have to buy special baby things, it's expensive and although great to grab something on the go once your baby is older a mashed up banana works just as well. We have been feeding baby's for all of human history, only on the last 100 yrs or so did we need a baby aisle.

You don't need special baby porridge, just normal porridge with no salt or sugar - although I'd recommend avoiding porridge or weetabix like the plague as it makes a mess and dries like cement.

Things like a handful of cheerios on the highchair table are also great for fine motor skills.

Just look in the NHS site. Food isn’t just fun until one - your baby will be getting sufficient nutrition that milk isn’t necessary by one. I’d your baby is around six months, can sit up, has list the tongue thrust reflex ans is picking up food and bringing it to the mouth then they are ready to eat. The best food is low salt homemade, other things will do. You don’t need the smooth purée stage and can offer food whenever you are eating. No need to stay at one meal a day. Make it as easy as possible because the one rule is that the more time you spend prepping the less well it’s received. Be prepared for lots of variability where tastes ans amount will change day by day. Just offer healthy easy foods and it will all work out ok.

Follow your babies lead. As a guide I added a second meal at 7 months and a 3rd at 9 months, as milk is still their primary source of nutrition. Portion wise increase it based on how much your baby will take. For finger foods I would stay away from processed foods likes rusks. Try soft cooked carrot, brocolli or potato wedges. Grated cheese, fingers of toast or pasta.

Don't use baby rice, as well as having no nutritional value, it can contain arsenic.

Normal porridge is fine - no need for spending more on baby ones and if your using purées - veg are better due to the sugar content in fruit and you can easily mush some yourself.

Baby can have what ever you have, just watch the salt and sugar content.

This is really sad to hear, you saying you don’t have the budget for homemade. Homemade is much cheaper than pouches, water is usually the first ingredient (certainly in things like beef stew), the actual meat in them is just tiny. Babies don’t need star fruit purée, a mashed banana or porridge is just fine and pennies in comparison.

A huge part of the whole industry is feeding in to parents insecurities and making them feel like they need expensive purées and to give their baby crisps (puffs) early on which have no nutritional value.

they certainly have a place - I used them for on the go when needed but please don’t think it’s more expensive doing it home made

I started off giving porridge to mine once a day. DS currently has porridge for dinner and will be having a little bit of mash and salmon for lunch tomorrow. This website is super helpful for suggestions to give them. Good luck

www.nhs.uk/start4life/weaning/recipes-and-meal-ideas/

Weetabix in formula so it's super soggy
Blended foods like banana, mash potato etc, also baby rice with blended foods added to it.
I found Ella's kitchen pouches really helpful or super market down. I remember my DS loved the sweet potato ones.
The solids I started with were the Ella's kitchen/supermarket crisps like wotsits/sweetcorn wheels etc. then after few weeks I introduced toast and he would suck on it.
Then from there it's just an experimenting game 😁 it's so much fun at this age.
My DS is 30 months now and he's got a taste more so for stodge! Toast, chips, waffles , pasta etc.. I have to blend fruit into his weetabix and hide veg in things like his pasta/curries etc to make sure he gets them.

Happy weaning 😁😁😁

• Brocolli or cauliflower florets not mashed just let him pick it up and gnaw on it.
• Bread and butter fingers
• Omelette cut into strips
• chunks of banana

As for how much to give just let him pick at a few bits at every meal, if he eats it all offer some more.

20 months*

Which baby rice has arsenic in? 😱 Sounds alarming.

FWIW I use baby rice and baby porridge because I breastfeed but can’t pump. So I can’t mix much with ‘babies usual milk’, and by buying baby versions usually they have formula milk mixed in so I just add water.

Really judgey thread btw! Fair enough to extol the virtues of organic homemade but to slate using pouches or puffs well unnecessary. My boy loves his puffs!

@LemonSwan the food standards agency states theat rice (all rice) takes up more arsenic than any other cereal and is in quite a toxic form. Arsenic poisoning is quite common in areas of Bangladesh and other Asian countries as its in the water. I think in the UK because we have a varied diet it is less of an issue as it doesn't form the base of a majority of our meals as it does in some other countries.

I think people are very judgemental of the baby food industry that has stripped parental confidence in feeding their babies simple, cheap and healthy food. When weaning starts and confidence is low it can be good to hear that those jars and pouches are not as good as healthy home cooked. Convenience aways us a place but weaning is a straightforward business. The nhs site gives clear info.