General chat thread for puree lovers!

[Neenztwinz]

Before I started weaning my twins, I read about BLW and thought it looked like an amazing idea.

When I tried it I found my darling LOs didn't pick up a single thing never mind get it into the mouths.

So now I puree food and spoonfeed them and they are eating massive amounts and loving it - and sleeping all night!

So I thought I'd start a thread for others who are doing the same as me - we can swap ideas for meals and say what works for us (ie what makes them sleep ).

I gave my twins four plums plus ebm and baby rice for breakfast and they have had a big bowl of sweet potato, haricot beans and brocolli for lunch. More of the same for tea (plus maybe some swede and parsnip). They are 6.5mths old.

What did yours eat today?

How old are they Merly? I have just widened the types of food I am offering (8mo). They have porridge for breakfast and they like Oatibix too. DT1 can even feed himself with a spoon now (if it is pre-loaded) - I was so proud!

I read somewhere that protein for tea is not a good idea cos it is hard to digest so I have just been giving protein at lunch at veg/fruit/rice at tea and they have slept much better.

I've read that too before Neenz and try and stick to it but dont if I've been out and about for lunch and dd has just had some banana and toast/whatever I'm eating and so needs a proper tea.

she tried liver for the first time at lunch - there was a look of mild surprise but the tiny bits she tried got eaten...

am going to do penne for the first time tonight - have you tried it yet?

Liver is supposed to be excellent for vitamins etc. I haven't tried pasta as I am being careful with wheat but will prob give them some soon, maybe do a spag bol or chilli... see how they get on with something 'proper' (I do let them gum wholemeal bread already and had no reaction). Gave them wholegrain rice yesterday with lentils and sweet potato and they liked it (ended up in nappy by bathtime!).

Butternut squash, pear and sweet potato went down well yesterday too. They are sleeping all night again for first time in week[relieved]!

we gave dd some penne after her sweet potato and quinoa dinner (god that sounds arsey ) and she ate some and chucked some on the floor - shes 8 months now and like your dts has had no reaction to toast.

my dd sleeps all night but since being ill hasnt slept past 6am and most days its 5.15 and am not really sure what to do about it...

I think it is hard when the waking is 5-6ish cos it is nearly morning so tempting (but tiring) to start the day. Do you get her up or give her a feed to get her back to sleep? No real advice, I always use CC .

The DTs hate quinoa which is very annoying cos it is a Very Good Food

I think it is hard when the waking is 5-6ish cos it is nearly morning so tempting (but tiring) to start the day. Do you get her up or give her a feed to get her back to sleep? No real advice, I always use CC .

The DTs hate quinoa which is very annoying cos it is a Very Good Food

well if I feed her then she wont go back to sleep so thats out...so my dp normally goes in after leaving her to see if she will settle - we wont go in before 5.30 unless shes wailing - normally shes making settling cries or calling cries...

am thinking we may need to do pu/pd or some such instead - you're right its tricky cos dp can take her downstairs until I feed her around 6.30 (shes never really hungry til then) and then am not so tired but that doesnt help longterm...

Esther makes those chattering/calling sounds as well and they are easy to ignore! Wailing is not so easy to ignore . Maybe a thread on the sleep board will throw up some ideas.

slept til 6.30 today - woohoo [does little dance]

Good morning!

May I join you all? I am weaning 6 month old DD who has tried baby rice and carrot so far and seems to love them both.

I must confess am only 3/4 of the way through this thread but was wondering if anyone could advise on something I am confused about. I think I am supposed to heat up my defrosted carrot puree until it is piping hot to kill bacteria, or can I just warm it up? Is it just things like chicken that would need to be piping hot after defrosting? I only ask as defrosted expressed breastmilk can be given warmed through so why not veggies?

(And just in case I sound really confused I do know to let the food cool down before serving )

morning - tbh Jingle I microwave it until its hot enough to melt properly which is probably completely wrong but has been fine for my dd and my ds before that.

Am sure someone else can advise about warming up in hot water as you're supposed to

I try to warm everything to piping hot and then let it cool. I don't always do it tho if I am short of time, and would be more careful with chicken than carrot. Not sure of the official advice on this!

Thanks for the responses, was hoping someone was going to tell me it was ok just to warm through as I am meeting a friend for coffee and taking some defrosted carrot with me.

Jingle - if you're out and about in a shopping centre then some shops have microwaves in their cafes - debenhams is one - so you can whizz in, heat up the food and then nonchalently bugger off somewhere else for coffee ahem...

Fab idea!

If it is just veg then I blast it in the microwave before I go out and it stays warm for a couple of hours.

Have just pureed brocoli for the first time. I think it tastes nicer than normal.

Do I need to worry about the pace of weaning? I feel as though I am behind as only started when DD was 6 months. She is eating but only a little.

nope - dont worry about anything at all - you dont want it impacting on their milk which is the primary nutrition til one - just concentrate on different tastes and textures once you give them toast/banana etc.

Though saying that once we had 3 meals going on my dd has had dinner before her bf and has a huge appetite for that meal...

I think you just want to gradually up the solids and lessen the milk as you approach 1 so go slowly...

Hi Bones, if you start at six months then you can move quite fast if you want to but not if you don't. Personally, I'd go off your LO's sleep. If he is not sleeping, then move quick and start filling him up! Just fruit and veg is not very filling but you can give him stuff like fish/meat/lentils. Potatoes/sweet potatoes are quite filling as well and make a nice tea!

Ok, going to do a Very Bad Thing. I've not read the thread but asking a question. I promise I'll be back and read it properly - it's just bath time.

I've been trying to increase the amount of food Iestyn eats, particularly at tea time, to help with the sleeping. So tonight, he had some of my (frankly delicious) home made sweet potato and yellow pepper puree. He had about 10 spoonfuls, including about 5 spoonfuls of veggie sausage casserole. (!) Anyhow, I didn't feel that was very much since he hadn't eaten much at lunchtime.
So...
I cracked open a Hipp Organic Banana Custard jar. And lo, he ate the whole damn lot. 125g. Loved it, reaching out, shouting if I was too slow with the spoon!
Excellent, I thought. I wonder if it has carbs in? Indeed, it does - rice and rice flour.
HOWEVER... the third ingredient is sugar.

Have I done a terrible thing? He already prefers fruit to veg, but is it wrong to give this much sugar?

(I am reassuring myself with the fact that one of the BLWers on my postnatal thread claimed her baby had sticky toffee pudding, which is ALL sugar...)

Back later!

am not sure tbh - someone will be along with the recommended amount for one day I'm sure...

It would be my instinct that its fine as long as its not every day - whats wrong with him having a banana and natural yoghurt for example instead?

I would be more worried that he will get a taste for the sweet jarred food rather than the sugar itself...

can i ask why he only had 10 spoonfuls of the main meal and then a whole jar though - could he not just have had more of the casserole?

Oh, yeah, should have mentioned that he wasn't really eating much of the main meal - he was fussing, turning his head away etc. So because I wanted him to actually get some food in him, I thought I'd try a dessert just in case, and was amazed by the reaction - 'more, more'!

I'm trying to be rational - it was the first time for him to try the banana custard, he was quite tired (I always eat sweet stuff when I'm tired!) and I've now proved that he can eat an entire jar - he hasn't done that before - so I know how far to push it IYKWIM.

Not very organised really...

Hello everyone long post alert, including questions I hope some can answer...

this thread dropped of my list for some reason. So glad to see its still here and it hasn't died.

Essie I wouldn't worry too much and think its fine as long as you're not giving it to him all the time. S took forever to eat some watercress, leek and potato mush today, but he had some sweet potato for tea and gulped it down. I know sweet potato isn't obviously problematic, but he gulped it down because he really likes it IYSWIM.

Jinglebonesjun glad you asked the heating questions because I've been thinking about it too. TBH with veg/fruit purees I defrost overnight in the fridge and then just warm up in hot water (the way I would do with a bottle). However I know that with meat it would be more important to heat till piping hot.

How do people tend to heat food to piping hot and how long does it take to cool down to eating temperature? Neenz - how do you do it with meat purees?

I actually bought some ella's kitchen (is that what its called?) pouches today for a trip away in a few weeks, and I'm actually thinking that I might just try stuff like this if I'm out at lunchtime. (Incidentally, all baby food at saisnbury's 1/3 off today).

Questions about portions... How much would you say is normal for breakfast/lunch/tea at 6-7 months? Also, when did you introduce a second course at lunch/tea (e.g. some yoghurt after main course etc) and did you do it at lunch or tea.

Last question... what cereals did you/would you give to your LO between 6-7 months? Am sure I read in AK that normal cereals are fine after 6 months but not sure what would be suitable (as I only ever have cornflakes, and I dont think he's ready for those ).

Right, that's all my questions for now.

Essie, does it say on the jar how much one portion is? I think those jars are a portion per jar so I think he is meant to eat it all. I am not sure tho. It is not very bad but it is a pain if that is all he likes! Have you tried some of the savoury jars? I suppose the jars are designed to be very nice for babies so it is no surprise they like them. Just keep going with the food you make yourself - sweet potato mixed with milk and baby rice is always a big favourite (tastes sweet you see!). BTW the DTs really only have sweet-tasting things and it does worry me but I am only really bothered about getting food into the at the mo, I can worry about brocolli later! I mix the brocolli/spinach etc in with lots of sweet potato so they get it anyway. Sometimes it takes ages to get a bowl down them so just keep offering it.

BDQ, I haven't given them meat yet but I have fish and I just heat it in a saucepan and wait for it to cool - about 5/10mins. If you get a bit on the spoon and blow it, it cools down really quick. I tend to do that cos if you wait till it all cools then by the time you get to the end it is stone cold. When out and about if there is going to be no microwave I just take veg.

At 6/7 months I'd say 6-10 cubes of savoury and then maybe a bit of fruit and baby rice after. I find it better to offer two small dishes (main and pud) rather than one big main cos they get a bit bored of the same taste. For lunch they tend to have one course cos they are quite tired by end so I give a yogurt after their nap (at about 2.30pm).

Try Oatibix for cereal, or porridge. Or Shredded Wheat if you are giving wheat.

arrgh gave my dd some omelette this evening forgetting the egg white thing and she has woken up all screamy and windy and obv in pain. Has anyone else had this? Am unsure what to do now - I have given her calpol but am now reluctant to put her down again...theres no rash or anything...