Tell us your best weaning tips and recipes, please - for a chance to win £250 Kenwood products of your choice

[HelenMumsnet]

Hello. Kenwood have asked us to ask you for your best weaning tips and recipes.

We're looking for everything from great foods to start with to how to know when your baby's had enough and from what to look for in a highchair to how to splatterproof your kitchen (if that's even possible!)

We welcome tips from baby-led weaning veterans - and puree purists alike (and any mix-and-matchers, too!). And also tips about great foods/recipes your slightly older baby (7 months plus) might like moving onto once the early weaning days are over.

We'd also love you to post some simple weaning recipes. If you've got a great recipe that you've already loaded into the Weaning section of our Recipes pages, it's fine just to post the link to it on this thread.

Everyone who posts a tip or a recipe will be entered into a prize draw to win a selection of Kenwood products of their choice, worth up to £250.

Please note that Kenwood will be using a selection of your tips, comments, recipes and suggestions on a new Kenwood weaning microsite that is set to go live on Mumsnet at the start of June and in a booklet that is being published in conjunction with Emma's Diary in July and also in Newsgen, the NCT magazine. If you have any questions about this, please email [email protected]

Thank you - and good luck!

[twirlywhirly]

Do not rush a feed time with your baby enjoy feeding time.

[candish63]

Always put a plastic sheet under the high chair. Expect them to make a mess, don't get stressed when most of the food ends up on the floor. I usually give them a spoon and allow them to dip it into the food and slip in a spoonful myself whenever I can.

[kaelea]

I let mine get on with it, I guess I was lucky and I never had any mess to clean up, they had their own spoons as soon as they started trying to hold mine, non squidgey finger foods also helped

[PussinJimmyChoos]

If you are just starting weaning and making purees, put them into ice cube trays, wrap in carrier bag and freeze - makes very handy portion sizes that can be popped out when required and microwaved. You can also mix portions eg 1 cube of carrot and 1 of broccoli and potato

The frozen cubes are also handy when out and about as the cubes can melt slowly and then just need a bit of reheating by lunchtime

[jessica789]

I agree it's much easier to feed your baby what you eat yourself if suitable, and if not then modify it. My recent success was a thick haricot bean soup. It was a bit of a faff having to soak the beans overnight, then boil etc. but worth it. I added the beans (and the water they were simmered in) to fried onion, garlic and carrot, then added a tin of tomatoes, tomato puree, and some herbs. I cooked this down and pureeed a hefty portion for baby to be frozen (in ice cube trays of course). Then seasoned and added some chorizo sausage for the grown up portions. Served with crusty bread and a glass of red wine - it was yummy - and baby agreed!

[den246]

Get a blender but do not get the cheapest. Friend of ours blew up 3 cheapies whilst our slightly dearer one is still going strong.

Do the best you can but dont feel guilty on those days when you are tired and fed up and reach for a jar. And dont feel too gutted when baby loves the jar more than the lovely homemade food you slaved for hours over.

[brennannbooth]

Mix other ingredients such as salmon or ham or cucumber with cream cheese to spread on toast when they are starting out on finger food.

[msesassi]

i found that my children were ready for solids around 5 months - not 4 - and after having a little baby rice to start with to get use to swallowing, i introduced only ONE new food at a time- i did not do this with my first and it was difficult to see which food had upset her or did not agree with her. certain foods like pureed carrot always went right through her, i found mashed banana a great starter food for moving on to lumps because you can just mash it slightly less each time...you could also choose to do the same thing with other mashable foods.

[brennannbooth]

Experiment with adding fruit to pureed meat, DS loved pear and roast chicken and DD loves peach and roast pork.

[Chmaine]

buy fruit and veg in bulk, its much cheaper... then puree it all and store extra in containers in the freezer which can be used for another meal

[GuernseyFrench]

When starting weaning, give half the bottle or bf for a few minutes, stop, give some pureed food with a spoon, finish the bottle.

Like this, your LO will associate that there is food in the spoon but will not refuse it because he's hungry or full.

[louise540056]

Sweet potato mixed with other veggies is great! It is lovely and sweet and minimises the shock of the veg taste for a baby! :-)

[TiredTiredTired]

We're a really foodie family (we run a food blog) and our 1-year-old took to weaning so well it's untrue. I second what everyone is saying about butternut squash - it's perfect.
I've just put together a list of the things you need to get your baby into food instead of the boob - have a look here and good luck!

//www.foodforfriendsyeah.co.uk/2011/09/02/the-friday-wish-list-foodie-babies/

[titferbrains]

haven't read whole thread but I do feel very strongly that you should tell the baby/child what you are giving them, teaches them new words, what things taste of and helps them identify what they like/don't like. It's hard enough for LOs to get used to new textures etc. so I think that if you give them courgette, you tell them it's courgette and they might remember that they enjoyed it last time etc.

Had a lot of problems getting DD to eat after chemo in her first year, we found that always presenting a "rainbow" of foods, a small piece of different coloured foods was good for getting her to taste things and get used to them, eg a piece of peeled pepper, cucumber, tomato, chicken, peas, berries etc so she could choose what she wanted to pick up and taste. I still try to think about colour now when I prepare her meals so she doesn't endlessly have peas...

[islandbaby]

If doing baby-led weaning, don't hover over them like a hawk. I usually find that if I sit and stare, my LO does anything but eat, then when I turn my back for five minutes he's wolfed down the lot.

[TheArmadillo]

use an old towel/fleece under highchair as easier to bung in washing machine than to wipe down plastic

don't bother with plates/bowls - they only act as missiles, even ones with suckers on the bottom. Dump food directly on tray, let them eat even messy stuff with their hands if they want to.

Some babies quickly get bored of bland food and so stop eating - if yours is one of them allow them to try your spicy food. DD will eat pretty much anything if you put chilli sauce on (I did not expect this).

Which leads onto unless there is a real reason why they can't have something (e.g. far too much salt) then let them try everything - you'll be surprised at some things they do, as well as some they don't.

You don't need to do either blw or purees you can do both.

[TheArmadillo]

I did not realise this was a really old thread

[Risette]

My baby's favourite is chicken with sweet potato and apples.

It's simple to make too....just dice the chicken breast, cook in the saucepan with a knob of butter until the chicken is white, then add the chopped potato and apple with some low salt chicken stock for 15 to 20 mins. We eat it too before putting it in the blender. Add some herbs too if you can, parsley is great.

My biggest tip is to make food that the rest of the family will enjoy, it saves a lot of time in the kitchen!.......oh, and don't put off the washing up which also saves a lot of time in the kitchen!

[Risette]

Never mind that it's an old thread.....some useful tips here.

[cherub59]

Don't bother with pretty cotton bibs - you will be endlessly washing. Plastic plastic plastic.... It wipes clean!

Likewise you need a wipe clean high chair and if you don't have a wooden/tiled floor put an oil cloth under the high chair.

Always roll sleeves up - yours and your babies.... It's amazing where food gets...

Don't buy expensive little pots to freeze small cubes/portions of food/purée. Use an ice cube tray to freeze purees and when frozen turn out into a plastic freezer bag. Also use empty "plum baby" pots or similar to freeze single portions.

Purée portions of your own food rather than make separate. Just don't add salt. Purée/ mash roast dinner is yummy.

Handy finger foods for slightly older babies you can take out: strips of buttered crumpet, steamed mini corn, rice cakes, bread sticks....

Strange foods babies love.... Hummus; pesto