As Taylor approached the six month mark I knew we needed to start preparing for the big W, WEANING! As a first time mum I really was clueless and unlike other mums I know, our HV hasn’t contacted us at all about weaning, thankfully the team at Vital Baby did and wanted to help guide us.
I read a lot about my two main choices, puree and baby-led, before Taylor was born our lovely friends gifted us with a food processor and the very popular Annabel Karmel book as a Christmas present, seriously the most thoughtful and useful baby gift!
I knew that I also wanted to try baby-led so decided I would do a combination of both, spoon feeding, whilst still giving Taylor the opportunity to get his hands dirty and try some soft but still solid foods on his own. It’s all about discovery!
We have tried a few foods and I will admit the soft foods and puree have my favourites so far, every time I try something more solid I am terrified he might choke! He’s been fine so far but I am most certainly a paranoid first time mum, although I’ve taken on board the advise we received and have become a little more adventurous.
We recently took part in live chat with Vital Baby’s in-house Weaning Expert and found that we could give T dairy!
I was under the impressions that dairy + cows milk were a no no until 1 year+, I didn’t realise this only applies as a replacement for their main feed/drink of breastmilk or formula. They can have dairy in food from 6 months, so that was it, hello yoghurt! (He loved it!)
Vital Baby’s in-house Weaning Expert Dr Rana Conway has also shared these other weaning top tips with us.
♥ Offer your baby a wide range of foods so she gets used to different flavours and textures. Babies naturally like sweet foods to start with, but offer slightly bitter foods too such as spinach, broccoli and green beans. Don’t be surprised ifthese are rejected at first. Every time you try, the chances of success increase.
♥ Let your baby set the pace. ‘Responsive feeding’ is key, so if your baby shows signs that he’s had enough don’t keep trying for one more spoonful. Teething and colds can put a baby off their food and pressure to eat will just cause food battles.
♥ Don’t give too much milk, as this is one of the main reasons for babies not taking to solids. Babies under 12 months need 3-4 breast feeds or 500-600ml of formula a day and giving more than this can make them too full for meals.
♥ Give your baby plenty of opportunities to handle food. Whether you’re starting with spoon-feeding or baby-led weaning, give some finger foods every day. Steamed vegetables such as carrot sticks or pieces of broccoli and soft fruit like bananas and pears are ideal.
♥ Make meal times enjoyable by sitting and eating together whenever possible. If you relax and take your time it will help your baby develop a healthy relationship with food.
I hope you might find the above tips as useful on your weaning journey as I have, check back soon to see how we’ve been getting on an see what foods we’ve been enjoying.
If you’re about to embark on your own weaning journey or have done it all before I’d love to hear about your experiences in the comments below!
