The Weaning Thread

Das Kitty

I thought there should be a thread here where we can ask questions and share tips on weaning. Whether it be spoon feeding, baby-led weaning, finger foods, recipes or just to share the mini triumphs of your baby starting on "people food"

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So I have a question.

James has been on solids for about a month and he's been really quick on the uptake. He's now on 3 meals and 3 bottles. A couple of weeks ago I tried him on toast and he loved it. He could dissolve it in his mouth and then swallow. In the past week any finger food I give him (Organix rusks, toast..) makes him gag and be sick. He seems to try to swallow too much at once.

My question is: Should I keep trying it with him or should I leave it for a while?

He's coming up on 7 months now but has no teeth yet.

January

Maybe leave him for a while and try maybe once a week with some dry finger food? He should get the hang of it!!

My problem is with Saoirse, I have been trying her on solids on and off for the past month and a half. Mostly savoury stuff (sweet potato or carrot puree) but some pureed apple or pear too... tried some baby rice at the start. She gags on EVERYTHING (now I know this in itself is not a problem, but even the tiniest bit of puree is being gagged on), sometimes I persevere and she gets a bit (maybe two or three teaspoons of the puree) and sometimes I have to give up as she gets so distressed and the next day she is literally in bits, crying all day and just in bad form, could be teething but it could also be linked to the food.

Now I'm not too worried about her at the moment, she's still on five bottles a day and sleeping through the night, she also seems to be gaining weight, I was just so used to Addison starting solids at four months that this is a bit new to me! Might do baby led weaning, she seemed to like the bit of rusk she had in my mams last week!!

Das Kitty

Is she sitting up yet Adrieanne?

I know some of the babies in my Mum and Baby group were gagging before they could sit up and got over it when they could.

I think I'll keep trying James in bits of finger food but maybe give it to him before a feed so he won't be losing a lot of dinner! His puke is starting to smell like the real thing now too, yeuck.

January

No she's not sitting up unaided yet so that may be it

ThePiedPiper

I think there's a trend towards kids moving onto solids sooner than recommended by the World Health Organisation's guidelines, although they do seem a little too conservative. Certainly the district nurse was constantly trying to hurry us along with it even though our little one clearly wasn't ready, gagging and throwing up.

Around 7 months, I think we were introducing Liga/Rusk mixed with a little of the formula to get our baby used to the taste. A few small bits of white bread or scone or toast is good too, I think it was around 8 months we started that. Brown bread is not as good for young babies as it doesn't digest as quickly. We were giving a little bit of mashed up banana around 7 months also, but some babies can get either loose bowels with this or constipation so keep an eye on it.

Every baby is different in this regard though so it will be individual to each of them. My nephew was eating all sorts of grown up food when he was six months whereas we were just starting to wean our little one at 6 months and only at a year is she properly happy with a lot of things.

mohawk

Das Kitty wrote: »

I thought there should be a thread here where we can ask questions and share tips on weaning. Whether it be spoon feeding, baby-led weaning, finger foods, recipes or just to share the mini triumphs of your baby starting on "people food"

---

So I have a question.

James has been on solids for about a month and he's been really quick on the uptake. He's now on 3 meals and 3 bottles. A couple of weeks ago I tried him on toast and he loved it. He could dissolve it in his mouth and then swallow. In the past week any finger food I give him (Organix rusks, toast..) makes him gag and be sick. He seems to try to swallow too much at once.

My question is: Should I keep trying it with him or should I leave it for a while?

He's coming up on 7 months now but has no teeth yet.

He doesn't have to be sitting up unaided. If he can sit up well in a highchair then he should be fine. I followed baby led weaning with my son. Sometimes they can manage a food fine and then they start gagging on it because they start putting too much in their mouths. Gagging can help them learn not to stuff their mouths. If they are continously gagging then they aren't ready but you said you already gave your son toast no problem so it sounds like he is ready.

Das Kitty

Yeah I think he needs to differentiate between purée and lumpier stuff. He was fine to begin with because he was tentative about all food and took it slow, he now just swallows purée like water and finds it hard to switch between that and lumpier stuff.

He has been sitting unaided since he was 5 months, a month before we started with solids.

ebmma

started baby led weaning he loooved gumming a piece of stake to death also had tast and beetroot

Cat Melodeon

I've been doing a mix of spoonfeeds and baby-led weaning with my lad and it's gone brilliantly. He was a week off 6 months old and I felt that it was the right time to start - he could sit (wobbly) unaided and was starting to pick things up between his index finger and thumb and put them in his mouth. His tongue thrust reflex had also completely gone, although he did still gag on new foods or lumpier spoon feeds from time to time.

I found the Anabel Karmel books great for ideas for first foods and I adapted lots of them to make finger foods. His favourites at the start were cubes of steamed apple and pear, grated cheese, the organix range of rice cakes etc, toast with melted cheese or jam, peas, diced ripe avocado, bits of banana, chopped up chicken curry (still goes crazy for it) and pasta of any kind. Sometimes I feel like we treat him like one of the dogs, giving him scraps off our plates, but that's when he's happiest, munching on broccoli from my plate or his dad's almost-finished chop bones.

r3nu4l

Great thread, we're thinking of starting into the weaning process soon enough. We'll start with baby rice and move on to purées. We have a book of purée 'recipes' and will be giving them a go.

So how did you all start out with purées? Did you start by giving one food type first to get the baby used to the different taste and texture?
What have people been using to store batches of purée? I've heard of some people freezing portions in ice cube trays and then defrosting them when needed. Good idea or not?

Das Kitty

I started on the rice the first day, then gave sweetpotato purée the next day. I waited till six months to start so I didn't see the point in giving 3 days per food (especially the non allergenic ones). The ice cube trays are a good freezing option to begin with but they start eating a lot more quite quickly. I used mini-muffin trays (silicone) and at the moment 3 of these is how much he eats now. That's about the same as a normal bun tray full.

Currently the freezer is full of frozen meals (from the Annabel Karmel book), puréed fruit and mash potato! He gets some jars too.

Cat Melodeon

I gave my lad rice once and never again. He hated it and to be honest I didn't blame him - it's like eating wallpaper paste and gave him awful constipation. We started straight off with pureed fruit, sweet potato and squash. He didn't like normal potato at the start but will eat it now. For breakfast, I don't buy the special baby cereals as they are atrociously expensive - I've found oatibix or readybrek to be the best in terms of digestibility and price. I usually mash up a bit of fruit in there too to meet the five-a-day target and take off a bit of the blandness. Whole milk is fine in cereal once they're past 6 months, but maybe use your normal milk (breast or formula) if they seem to struggle at the start (extra wind beyond what is normal, difficulty pooing or runny nappies).

mohawk

r3nu4l wrote: »

Great thread, we're thinking of starting into the weaning process soon enough. We'll start with baby rice and move on to purées. We have a book of purée 'recipes' and will be giving them a go.

So how did you all start out with purées? Did you start by giving one food type first to get the baby used to the different taste and texture?
What have people been using to store batches of purée? I've heard of some people freezing portions in ice cube trays and then defrosting them when needed. Good idea or not?

baby rice is nasty!! Babies can have very strong likes and dislikes. Babies have taste buds too!! If you are going down the puree route forget about baby rice and go for pureed fruit and veg its much tastier.

Das Kitty

God I think the baby rice is gorgeous, mixed with whole milk and some fruit purée warmed up. Mmmm

What's the adult version by the way? Is it Semolina?

crazy cat lady

We started Megan with baby rice mixed with breast milk, then moved on to purees. I did a sweet potato, carrot and broccoli puree and an apple and pear puree. I've since made fruity rice puddings and frozen them using baby rice and fruit puree.

Megan is now on lumpy foods and has been for about 5 weeks. We generally give her whatever we are having and just mash it down a bit. She also loves scrambled egg and cheese! She has ready brek with a little honey in the mornings and half a slice of toast. Other finger foods include sticks of cheese, bread crusts, carrots, organix rice cakes and organix finger biscuit things. She loves her food!

She also has petit filous (or whichever alternative is on offer!) or mashed banana as desserts, and occasionally a pot of some sort of baby custardy dessert.

Because I've given her homemade food from day one, she wont entertain anything from a jar!

I bought a bag of baby pasta stars in Tesco when I was moving on to lumpy food and added them to the purees which I think worked really well as she has never had any problems with lumps

Cat Melodeon

crazy cat lady wrote: »

We started She has ready brek with a little honey in the mornings and half a slice of toast.

Not pouncing on you or anything, just making sure people know it's not advised to give honey to the under-1s. In very rare cases it can cause infant botulism, a form of food poisoning caused by the bacteria Clostridium botulinum, commonly found in honey (even the pasteurised stuff).

crazy cat lady

I didn't know that! Thanks for letting me know

lolli

Great Thread.

I still have Saoirse on pureed dinners because she hates the lumps but she does like chomping on toast, rice cakes and slices of cucumber. She likes green beans and carrots but she just loves mushing them up

Das Kitty

Maple syrup is a good alternative to honey for the under 1s.

James has figured out how to drink from a sippy cup. I had such a swell of pride!

January

Cat Melodeon wrote: »

Not pouncing on you or anything, just making sure people know it's not advised to give honey to the under-1s. In very rare cases it can cause infant botulism, a form of food poisoning caused by the bacteria Clostridium botulinum, commonly found in honey (even the pasteurised stuff).

I have to admit to being a bold mammy and my first daughter used to love a dip of honey on her soother now and then... she was weaned from it at 5 months though because I wasn't sure how the child minder would react to it...

bulmersgal

silly question girls but when your give toast did you's put butter on it. Do you cut it into strips like soliders or in bite size pieces.

Gave Elisha a bit of melon yesterday to suck on, jesus she loved it. Weaning is going well she's nearly 5 months but will have 2 meals (usually give about 5-7 teaspoons in bowl)

Cat Melodeon

Yes, I put butter on the toast and sometimes a wee bit of jam or melted cheese too. He also loves it with beans or with mashed up egg yolk. I cut it into soldiers, he's been well able to manage them since he was able to bite (about 8 months when he got a tooth on the bottom to match the two on top!).

At five months you'd probably want to cut the toast up into smaller pieces and soften them first. I'd say she's still a wee bit young for the more solid/chewy finger foods.

ebmma

my little guy just gets plain toast cut into a long stripe. He picks it up and gums it (no teeth yet). He tries to chew as well but it requires a lot of concentration on his part

ebmma

wow, my spelling is awful in the 1st post...need more sleep

is anyone else doing baby-led weaning? Robin tried steamed potato and ham yesterday. He clearly preferred ham.


where are your babies sitting? I have a high chair but it is enormous..so I'm looking for alternatives.

r3nu4l

So anyone freezing purée? Are you freezing it in ice-cube trays or something else?

bulmersgal

I got this info off website

Freezing Homemade Baby Food - The Ice Cube Tray/Freezer Bag Method:

Using this method, you spoon or pour your baby food purees into regular ice cube trays and then cover with plastic wrap.

Prior to using your ice cube trays, you want to thoroughly cleanse them with warm soapy water and/or run them through the dishwasher on the sanitize setting. Some parents have even submerged their ice cube trays in boiling water for sanitizing (note: please make sure that the manufacturer of the trays indicates it is ok to boil the trays.)

The ice cube tray method offers you many advantages.

Each cube is approximately 1+ ounces, allowing you to have an idea of the amount of food your baby is consuming.
There is minimal waste as you use only 1 cube at a time and will not have to toss away much food; such as you toss away when using commercial foods.
Another advantage is that you probably have ice cube trays on hand and will not need to go out and buy them.

Once the purees have been frozen in the trays, you simply pop out the cubes and use as needed. Using this method also allows you to make several trays at a time so your time spent in the kitchen making baby food is decreased.

You may transfer the baby food cubes into freezer bags, freeing up your trays for the next batch of food as well as freeing up some freezer space.

If using the freezer bag method for your food cubes, be sure to label the bags with the type of food and also date the bags. This will help you to quickly grab a cube from a bag of veggie and a bag of fruit without having to guess what you have in the bags. It also allows you to keep track of the length of time the food cubes have been in the freezer.

Das Kitty

r3nu4l wrote: »

So anyone freezing purée? Are you freezing it in ice-cube trays or something else?

See my reply on the first page.

I find ice cube trays too small I use mini muffin trays and I got a beaba baby food freezing tray that freezes one proper portion (same amount as a jar)

One frozen I pop them out into a labelled freezer bag.

fi1979

ebmma wrote: »

where are your babies sitting? I have a high chair but it is enormous..so I'm looking for alternatives.

Clara hasn't started to be weaned yet, 4.5 mths, waiting till closer to 6 mths as PHN recommended as she is breastfed. (I'm reading for research!)

However we recently bought a summer infant 3 stage seat for her in Argos its from 4 months to 3 years. It encompasses a seat similar to the bumbo but with a revolving removeable play tray. Her back is supported, and she is sitting up so can be more involved in her surroundings. I think it will be great for feeding as a fore runner for a high seat.
The argos catalogue prices it at €60 but when we went in to buy it was €47!!

mohawk

ebmma wrote: »

wow, my spelling is awful in the 1st post...need more sleep

is anyone else doing baby-led weaning? Robin tried steamed potato and ham yesterday. He clearly preferred ham.


where are your babies sitting? I have a high chair but it is enormous..so I'm looking for alternatives.

My son looked lost in the highchair at first. They grow so fast that he will be fitting into it perfectly in no time.
I did baby led weaning with my son. He goes mad for meat so I give him his potatos or pasta with veg first before his meat or fish otherwise, the meat gets eaten and everything else gets rejected.
He is now 13 months and we were at a wedding over the weekend so we left him with family. When I came back they told me he didn't eat a thing. It turned out they tried to spoonfeed him even though I told them to let him feed himself.

mohawk

bulmersgal wrote: »

silly question girls but when your give toast did you's put butter on it. Do you cut it into strips like soliders or in bite size pieces.

Gave Elisha a bit of melon yesterday to suck on, jesus she loved it. Weaning is going well she's nearly 5 months but will have 2 meals (usually give about 5-7 teaspoons in bowl)

If she is ready for toast I would say strips are best so she has something to hold on to when she is eating it. It takes a while for them to master putting bite sized pieces in their mouths. A rule of thumb is if they are able to master picking it up then it should be safe for them to eat. (I got that from reading about baby led weaning) I put a scrap of butter on it.

hiltonhater

oh yay a weaning thread!
my son is 4 months and i have started weaning to pureed veg this week. i did hope to hold off for another month or so but the poor child was nearly in my mouth with every bite of food i have had in recent weeks so i gave in.
started with carrot for this week and he is loving it. sadly my nose isnt!

crazy cat lady

Gottla love stinky veggie poops... Not!

caprilicious

I'm so delighted we've a weaning thread now. How fast is the past few months after flying? doesn't seem so long since we were all moaning ( a bit!!) about our pregnancies yet now our little people are moving to solids :pac:

Well I've tried Rose a few times on solids but its just not happening as yet.

I did try her at 4 months old on the rice, then on organic porridge and seperately some mashed carrot.
Disaster! She was in agony with cramps, pulling her little knee's up to her chest, full of wind & nasty nappies. After 3 days I stopped as she was sleeping less and in terrible form.
I left it a month & tried again, same result (this time I tried banana and potato another day)
I tried her a third time a week later and when she was in nursery the next day her minder said she had terrible cramps all day.

The mad thing is she takes 6 fairly full bottles a day (5/6 ozs) & is nearly climbing into my mouth every time I eat! She grabs for food when I'm eating (then again everythings going into her mouth at the moment so nothing new there )

I know every baby develops at a different pace to others, but she seems to be ready for solids & when I do give her little bits of finger food she's in her element!
Shes 6 calender months tomorrow but 26 weeks olds so 6.5 months to me if that makes any sense?
I'll persevere with the odd few bits of finger food (if nothing it buys us some peace when we're having our dinner ;)) & will try more puree fruit/veg when she's 7 months old.

She's great at chewing/swallowing the food & very good head control, its just when it hits her tummy that the problem develops.
If she still isn't able for solids by 7 months I might just mention it to my GP for a bit of peace of mind.

In every other respect she's fine, sleeps all night, drinks plenty so can't complain

I know she's not on solids yet but I feel your pain about the smelly nappies.
I had her on Aptimil which gave her constant runny yellow nappies (sorry tmi!), but I changed her to SMA a few weeks ago & OMG the nappies! They're seriously noxious! :eek:

bulmersgal

caprilicious wrote: »

I'm so delighted we've a weaning thread now. How fast is the past few months after flying? doesn't seem so long since we were all moaning ( a bit!!) about our pregnancies yet now our little people are moving to solids :pac:

Well I've tried Rose a few times on solids but its just not happening as yet.

I did try her at 4 months old on the rice, then on organic porridge and seperately some mashed carrot.
Disaster! She was in agony with cramps, pulling her little knee's up to her chest, full of wind & nasty nappies. After 3 days I stopped as she was sleeping less and in terrible form.
I left it a month & tried again, same result (this time I tried banana and potato another day)
I tried her a third time a week later and when she was in nursery the next day her minder said she had terrible cramps all day.

The mad thing is she takes 6 fairly full bottles a day (5/6 ozs) & is nearly climbing into my mouth every time I eat! She grabs for food when I'm eating (then again everythings going into her mouth at the moment so nothing new there )

I know every baby develops at a different pace to others, but she seems to be ready for solids & when I do give her little bits of finger food she's in her element!
Shes 6 calender months tomorrow but 26 weeks olds so 6.5 months to me if that makes any sense?
I'll persevere with the odd few bits of finger food (if nothing it buys us some peace when we're having our dinner ;)) & will try more puree fruit/veg when she's 7 months old.

She's great at chewing/swallowing the food & very good head control, its just when it hits her tummy that the problem develops.
If she still isn't able for solids by 7 months I might just mention it to my GP for a bit of peace of mind.

In every other respect she's fine, sleeps all night, drinks plenty so can't complain

I know she's not on solids yet but I feel your pain about the smelly nappies.
I had her on Aptimil which gave her constant runny yellow nappies (sorry tmi!), but I changed her to SMA a few weeks ago & OMG the nappies! They're seriously noxious! :eek:

Would you not try baby lead weaning, as far as I no instead of giving the veg's puree you just chop the veg and give it as finger food.

ebmma

i agree with bulmersgal - looks like Rose will get on great with baby led weaning :-)
my little guy loves it.

caprilicious

Thanks bulmersgal I've been gingerly trying her on the baby led weaning. I'm not giving her solids every day as when I did that (even with nibbly finger foods) she still had an upset tummy.

We were out for a meal earlier in the week so gave her bits from our dinner (tomato/lettuce/bread roll) and she loved it!
She's a big fan of buttery toast too, so ebmma I think you're right, this seems to be the way to go

ebmma

to tell you the truth Robin isn't getting solids everyday either. we're frantically trying to paint he house and get packed to move to NI so I don't really have energy and space. But what he's getting he really likes...So hopefully when I start properly (in a week or so) it'll keep going well.
I highly recommend Baby led weaning book by Gill Rapley - great read to put your mind at ease.:D

January

I think I'll have to be the same with my Saoirse! I gave her cheese (she is six months) and a bit of gluten free rusk over the past few days and she gums the hell out of them, but with a spoon she takes a couple of spoonfuls and then puts her thumb firmly in her mouth as if to say "nah nah no morreeee"

bulmersgal

Elisha the opposite, she mills the puree anything you give her she eats and will eat a whole 125g of food in one sitting and show no sign of stopping. Tried give her strip of toast today to see and it was the only thing she didn't put in her mouth. I was showing her and she finally put it in and was just confused

Das Kitty

James is back on the finger food. I've started him on rice cakes and he's getting on great with them.

As well as that I gave him his first pasta the day before yesterday (the teeny pasta shells) and had no problem. So pleased!

cbyrd

Well Ben will be 8 months on tuesday (where's time gone??) we started to wean him at 4 and a half months on advice from the phn and the pediatrician because of his reflux and it did not go well..

We tried the baby rice and although he loved it, it was giving him pains in his tummy, so i left it til he was 6 and a half months.

So we tried again with baby rice and then moved on within a week to pureéd sweet potato, butternut squash and carrot, then added a bit of chicken and some peas. he was having mashed food about 3 weeks later.

He has jars too he loves the heinz ones and the lumps aren't a problem for him thank god.. and where would we be without the little stars jelly pots!!:) he sits with his mouth open til i show him the empty pot and then he laughs!!

He LOVES toast but i don't give it into his hand cos he just mushes it up. I butter it with the dairy free spread. He loves peas not mashed just off my plate and it's funny cos it's one of the things i craved when i was pregnant,

In the evenings he has the milupa semolina and honey or fruity rice pudding and i chop up some pear and peach or banana into it or stewed apple or pear and he loves it,
I tend not to give him too much of our dinners just yet, we like spicy and i don't think it would do him any good yet, but when we have potato and veg he'd have tis
He only has 2 7oz bottles now, but he will drink water from a glass but not from a bottle or sippy cup, and he loves juice from the cup but not milk... he's a real creature of habit...
and he's got 2 lovely SHARP teeth:eek:;)

Das Kitty

I've tried giving James well cooked eggs but he doesn't seem to like the texture. I've tried a boiled egg blended, I've tried scramble. Anyone have any ideas that might make him like them?

r3nu4l

Update:

Well we've been feeeding my daughter blended carrot, parsnip, butternut squash, apple and pear (according to Annabelle KArmell's plan) and she has wolfed down everything she's been given.

Until this morning.

Today was mashed banana. We gave her a mouthful and for the first time since she has been given something to eat, she put on a face and mulled over it for a few seconds before spitting it out. After a few attempts there was no joy so we mixed it with baby rice to see if that would help (she loves baby rice). No joy again, total refusal.

Now I know that humans are not naturally supposed to like bananas (evolutionarily it appeals to fruit bats, not humans or other primates) but I have seen babies tuck into banana.

Anyone else have any difficulty with getting your baby to eat bananas?

Das Kitty

Banana is super sweet.

Leave it a week or so and try again. They might hate something today and love it next week and vice versa.

bulmersgal

did you heat it slightly? Elisha will eat somethings cold but most food she likes warm. As Das Kitty said try next week. Elisha will eat everything but finds apples a bit sour so only give them every few days and after a mouthful or 2 she'll wolf it down

r3nu4l

Thanks

We didn't heat the banana, might try that

Nevyn

There are people who just are genetically pre disposed to not like bananna, it's like not liking cucumbers. My Dad and some of my siblings just dont' like it and one of my nieces is the same while her sister loves them. Could just be that to your daugher it tastes yucky!

ebmma

babies are people too:D they are allowed not to like/want some foods imo

caprilicious

r3nu4l wrote: »

Anyone else have any difficulty with getting your baby to eat bananas?

This is how we got on with bananas;

:D

My little lady is finally managing solids yay!
I decided after reading this thread that I'd try once more on the solids & we had success.

I mashed up half a farleys rusk with some boiling water and fresh peach, she loved it! For once she didn't end up with cramps in her tummy!
Amazing how the small things can make you so happy when they're this age!

She had the same again this evening & I'll try it a third time tomorrow evening before moving on to sweet potatoes.

Has anyone tried the Annabel Karmel recipes? I remember there was a few of them in the Tescoes baby & toddler magazine and they sounded tasty, I'm tempted to get the book for inspiration. I wouldn't be the most imaginative in the kitchen

Das Kitty

I got the book on Amazon, I've made about 6 different dinners for the freezer and they're actually gorgeous. I made the white fish in cheese sauce (my fave), as well as the salmon and tomatoes, liver, beef stew, chicken and sweet potato and chicken with apricots (his fave). Any he didn't like at first I put it with mash potato and some milk.

implausible

caprilicious wrote: »

This is how we got on with bananas;

Cap, that is the funniest thing I've seen in ages, I nearly woke the small fella laughing:D