Overwhelmed with how to start.

[BoyMumToBe34]

Can anyone share their plan with how they introduced food and what type, when and how much, watching videos is confusing me as I am neurodivergent. I feel overwhelmed.

My baby is 6 months and feeds 7oz at approx 6am,10am, 2pm, 6pm, 8:30pm.

when would I feed him and should it be like 2 spoons of say mashed mashed avocado or do I give him a chunk to hold? What if he chokes? I just don’t get what to give, how or when…I keep reading different things.

can you share your personal experiences please

Just give little tastes for now. I’d start with puree if your baby will take to it. Mine never did so I ended up giving him mashed food and then bigger (soft) but to eat and hold. Think banana, soft carrots, soft broccoli, etc.

Like I say, start with little tastes and build up gradually over time. For this reason, this shouldn’t affect milk intake at all - weaning at this stage and for a good while yet isn’t supposed to replace milk feeds, milk remains the main source of nutrition.

Don't overthink it. Both of mine just had a bit of whatever we were having whenever we were having it. If it was soft/solid we'd give them little bits to pick up, say soft carrots or broccoli or soft fruit. Anything else we'd just mash up with the back of a fork and spoon feed them little bits. I think my second had spaghetti Bolognese for his first meal because that was what the rest of the family were having. Just avoid salt, you can even get low sodium stock cubes.

Keep giving milk as per your standard schedule, it remains their main source of nutrition for quite some time and they will just have little tiny bits of food at first. It's really just for fun/experience. If they are feeding themselves don't worry about quantity, they will stop when done. If spoon feeding they make it pretty obvious when they are done, they kinda push it back out with their tongue.

From 6 months I let all of mine have a little bit of whatever I was eating and we ate together. I do eat very healthily. I reduced salt and sugar a lot til 1y.

This was because I'm too lazy for purees, don't see the point as they are not real food, and they look gross. Best just start them off as mean to go on.

They always fed themselves and we spoke about the food- but no encouraging to eat more.

They are all great eaters now. Have their own likes and dislikes. Cam always find something they'll enjoy on any menu.

My weaning 'strategy'- which was always to keep things simple for myself- may or not may not have anything to do with their eating habits now- I will never know.

How I understand it (not there yet), weaning at the beginning is not about nutrition, but about slowly getting ready for food. There isn't one clear guide and there are many theories, but some key points are shared.

If alergies/eczema are likely in your family, you might want to introduce new food one by one with a few days gaps and make notes for the potential elimination purposes.

During the 6 months now you want to introduce solid pieces (starting with very soft ones which can be chewed by gums), to stimulate mouth musles and so on.

Purrees, mashed, selected/cooked solids are all just means for the child to get to taste things, learn to use their mouth and teeth and have some fun discovering this aspect of the world.

Honestly the easiest thing to do is to sit baby in a high chair with you when you are eating and give baby something from your plate. Purees vs Baby led weaning is all much of a muchness. Just choose whichever works better for you.

They won't eat much, but it's more about the textures and flavours.

Watch some youtube videos on choking and learn the difference between choking and gagging. Gagging is fine, choking not so much but much rarer.

We have childrens centres that run weaning sessions where I am, might be worth having a look for one of those, or contacting your HV.

I used this book and found it very helpful https://amzn.eu/d/0du2hfrQ

It gives you a plan for the first 30 days of weaning, which you may find help to have a structured plan if you are feeling overwhelmed