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?

Aw, sending your DS lots of sleep vibes for tonight Maria. I am feeling very tired too after being up for more than two hours last night. So much for sleeping through (tho I have high hopes for tonight - I am told salmon can sometimes upset babies' tums and DD had salmon yesterday before crying for two hours at 3am). They slept through the two night before then so I am hoping it was just that.

God am really sorry for you all - that all sounds rubbish...

[whispers] we are all good here...no new food news to report though have started giving dd a beaker of milk midmorning to prepare her for next months Return to Work [ominous music] she took it well enough yesterday but then still wanted a bf afterwards - not sure thus was quite the plan...

lol at wanting a BF as well!

I am just organising my return to work too. Agreed on two days a week which is fine with me. Go back mid-July.

They slept through last night too!!

Sorry ladies, I haven't read the whole thread and I'm sure you cover this somewhere but would you have any advice on what to give my ds, 6.5 months for breakfast? He really likes yogurt and fruit but I think the yougurt might have been to blame for a recent rash, so I'm giving that a rest for a bit. And porridge wasn't a success this morning (I think maybe it was the texture?). Any tips would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!

yogurt - not you-gurt!

What sort of porridge was it averagemum - was it baby porridge or proper porridge - the beauty of porridge is that you can change the texture and so have it runny or gloopy.

Neenz will be along to advise you about all things oatibix soon as shes on commission - but those are the sorts of things other people try - you can soak them for ages so they are really soft - or mash up soem weetabix/shredded wheat in some warm milk...

It was proper porridge Katestacks - I live abroad and haven't seen any baby versions. Should I be cooking it for longer? Or perhaps I'll try soaking some wheatabix overnight!

I just used to give mine fruit (plums/pear/prunes etc) with milk and baby rice at about 6mo. I waited till 8m to give oats as they are gluten.

Yes I am on commission with Oatibix but I only give that as supper at bedtime and only after 8mo.

Can you get baby rice where you live averagemum?

you can neenz - maybe I'll just keep going with that as he has it with fruit for supper...

thanks !

hi all! knackered. another cold has hit and nights are miserable. and despite being up between midnight and 1:30, dd got up at 6:15. we're also settling into the nursery. today went well. she even had lunch there (ate everything and sussed out the strange new beaker of water -- i'm so proud of her). tomorrow i have to leave for an hour. have no idea if i can handle that!!!

kate - i love that your dd wanted bf as well. i'd better get started too.

Hi everyone!

Averagemum I usually alternate between porridge and oatibix. I use readybrek. Dont worry too much if the first taste didn't go down well today, it doesn't really mean they dont like it. I'd maybe leave it a few days and try again. You could try some mashed fruit (banana is good) in it? I didn't wait till after 8 months for these things - he was definitely on them by 7 months latest.

I know my good MN friend Neenz put off gluten till after 8 months but I think the official guidance on it is 6 months? Correct me if I'm wrong though!

At the weekends when we've got a bit more time he gets toast with mashed banana/jam/unsalted butter. French toast/eggy bread also goes down well (unless you're avoiding anything eggy).

Gave DS some tasty pasta for tea last night. Used some little baby size pasta shells with some green pesto and grated gruyere cheese stirred in. Now, the pesto was quite high in salt per 100g but as I only used a teeny wee bit I was quite happy to use it. It was really nice! Not a blender in sight and he ate it fine.

You are right the offical advice is 6m for gluten - I was just being careful (my book actually says 9m but I couldn't wait that long as all the food I was giving them got really boring! I didn't give meat till after 8m either)

Hello! I haven't read all this thread but I've been giving A food for breakfast and dinner for the last week, since he was 6 months.

He's loving it - I've been giving him various finger foods for a few weeks and now he's actually swallowing bits, but when I gave him mashed sweet potato on a spoon he got frustrated by not being able to get it in his mouth fast enough, so I feed him - although he does like grabbing the spoon just as it's outside his mouth...

Question - everyone talks about icecube portions and teaspoons, but A seems to be taking loads! His first meal was 2 tablespoons of baby rice made up with 8 of whole milk, and he wolfed the lot. Then in the evening I mashed 5 chunks of sweet potato, and he looked so upset when it was gone I gave him the same again - so that's over half a spud, plus a tablespoon of greek yoghurt. And then bf an hour later.

A week on he's still eating a whole LilTots bowl of food at each meal and demanding bf afterwards! The sane HV suggested only 2 meals a day until he eats enough to not want bf after and then I can introduce lunch, but at this rate he'll be eating as much as me!
He's right on the 50% percentile so not especially big...

as the OP asked 'what works for you', so far my answer is 'mashed leftovers'. I cook a few times a week and we eat meals derived from leftovers and freezer the rest of the time, so now I have a set of wee liddded bowls so I can swipe some leftovers for A before MrNC eats them all.

Baby rice went down well, even better today with 2 squashed blueberries in it. Sweet potato is a hit, and today chopped mild cheddar into it and 20 secs in the microwave - cheesy mash was great entertainment. Almost finger food! Chopped roast pork and carrot and mash was eaten with less enthusiasm. Mashed parsnip good. Banana good, and also given greek yoghurt with and without blueberries or banana mashed in it.
A liked gumming on raw carrots, but has now decided he likes cooked carrot sticks after all, and has also enjoyed a chip, strawberry, raspberry, mango, roasted parsnip, and sticks of cheese, and a bit of quiche filling.

Given this is a baby who only blinked a bit the first time he had ebm, drinks room temp formula, and loved Nystatin and Calpol, I suspect he'll eat almost anything (spat out his first cooked carrot). He'll probably get fussy when he;s two or something...

Oh yes, what bibs should I get? I've decided I hate the skankiness of cloth ones after a meal, and the only plastic ones locally are tiny and have bloody Disney Pooh on (hate hate hate...) It's nearly warm enough to just strip A off for meals at least at home.

Hi nocitrus, it sounds like you are doing great. WRT quantities, I would just keep offering until he refuses. IIRC the DTs went through a stage of eating a massive bowl of food each. They are still having a BF after lunch too (at 10mo). I wouldn't cut back on milk feeds yet - I found when I did that they started to wake in the night. Now I find that they eat about 3 heaped dessert spoons of main meal each plus 2 heaped dessert spoons of yogurt after.

I use coverall bibs with arms cos I find if they don't have arms their clothes get really mucky. They are £2 each in Matalan or Instore and I think Ethil Austen do them too. Tesco do them a bit more exensive though (£3.50). If you are only buying for one baby it is not so bad but I needed about 10 so the price was important!

averagemum that's interesting about the rash - what was it like? DS got a rash around the same time we introduced dairy. The doc thinks it's prob unrelated but we are avoiding it for two weeks then re-introducing to see what happens. I really really hope he's not intolerant...

Does anyone ever use tinned tuna? Saw a weaning recipe with it but it just sounds a bit...I dunno...odd?!

As the pp says, each child is so different, but for lunch we do roughly six icecubes plus some extra yoghurt...

does anyone have a child who doesn't really want breakfast?!! we can just about manage 4 oz of milk at a push and then nothing. won't eat porridge, cereal, even baby rice which randomly she loves!!! do i just have a 'a black coffee to go' kind of baby?!!!

i would love to know about people's experience of tuna!!!

and on a final note, I am pureeing a little less now, so am looking forward to some gagging later!! Chicken tomorrow for the first time..!!!!

Tinned tuna is fine, but pick one in spring water rather than brine as brine is salty.

How old is your LO Katherine? I think breakfast can be hit and miss at first. Is your LO still feeding in the night? Don't worry about it, just try again next week!

yep, i use tinned tuna in spring water.

katherine - we have a 1-hour gap between first bf and breakfast. fruity porridge is popular. i'm also pureeing less. in fact, at the nursery today, dd ate fried noodles! i'd been sent away so i didn't get a look at them.

Thanks for the tuna info.

Well DS has just had chicken, sweet potato and apple for the first time so I await nappy results [dons protective glasses, apron and fisherman's leggings...]

I have never had a problem with chicken at all! The apple might give you a problem tho . Actually the nappies have been much easier since solids, the poo is more, well, solid! But at the moment it is like a wrestling match with DS cos he just wants to flip over and crawl off . I am beginning to dread nappy changes. My sister showed me how to 'pin' him so he can't crawl off but it is hard to then change him - I might have to ask her to show me again.

yes we have that too neenz and if I pin dd she goes berserk - am just carrying on through the screaming because we're getting ti with the buggy as well - I remember my ds doing something similar and then it stopped all of a sudden and we didnt have much of it again...

I do try to sing though when I'm nappy changing - it calms me down as much as anything when shes going off on one...

same nappy change malarky here! it's almost funny sometimes when dd gets herself into an aerial half-twist. i dread poos more than ever!

Evening all!

Tinned tuna very popular here. He has tuna sandwiches which go down well. For tonight's dinner he had the same as us - pork ragout with rice. Whizzed the pork a bit with the chopper blade and then stirred in the rice. He seemed to like it.

Second neenz on the nappy stuff - DS's much better since he started weaning.

Notcitrus - I ditched the ice cubes quite early and make up portions of food in pots - I've got various different sizes but the tommee tippee ones were a good portion size for my DS. Sounds like you're doing a great job with different flavours, textures etc - if he's eating well I'd be tempted to ditch the baby rice altogether though.