Weaning & Recipe Help Please

TechnoFreek

Hi guys,

Looking for some advice on weaning my six month old. We've actually been weaning since 19 weeks but just starting to introduce protein and am getting really confused as to what I can now be feeding.

Baby's current solid meals go a little like this (milk excluded from this list):

Breakfast - several spoons of baby porridge

Lunch - up to 5 ice cube sized portions of various pureed veg e.g. carrot, sweet potato, broccoli, peas, beans, courgette etc - in the last week I have introduced protein in the form of chicken - chicken meals such as chicken, sweet potato and apple

Evening - several spoons of baby rice and up to 3 cubes of pureed fruit e.g. pear, apple, mango, etc

So my questions are as follows:

Breakfast - Do i keep giving porridge but changing it to suit baby's age?

Lunch - What other proteins and foods can I give at this stage? -
Can i introduce several new tastes in the one meal? Until now I have done one new taste at a time
-Where can I get recipes or can someone poine in the direction of good online resources - I am really finding it difficult to get agreeing information regarding what can be fed at this age - some sources say such a food can be introduced at 6 months while others say 7 etc

Evening - Any alternatives. to baby rice?

All advice and direction here much appreciated

Lola92

You can introduce well cooked eggs, pork, beef, fish, mashed potato, pulses into the meals. I would start with small amounts and then increase gradually. I stopped buying the packets of baby cereals at 6 months and used ready brek or weetabix. You can make these up with babies milk, add in yoghurt, fruit purees, mashed banana etc also if you want to. For dinners I usually just used whatever we were having and blitzed it with a hand blender for her.

How Strange

I'd also say that at 6 months you should start mashing food rather than giving as a purée so he/she is getting used to a lumpier texture.

Also consider adding finger foods over the next few weeks. These can be slices of steamed carrot, steamed broccoli, pieces of cheese, toast.

You're free to introduce most foods at this stage. Make sure eggs are well cooked and honey isn't recommended until 1 year. Don't add salt to food and avoid stock cubes. You can get baby stock cubes in boots.

As Lola92 said, give your little one whatever food you're having. It's cheaper and tastier than prepared foods.

candyflossgirl

I weaned my (breastfed) baby solely on finger food at six months, I didn't give him any spoon feeds until he was about nine months old and I never pureed anything for him and he did really well on it and remains a decent eater now at almost three years old. I started with roasted veg and steamed fruit and gradually introduced boiled and scrambled eggs and soft white fish and roast chicken breast and rice and he just grabbed whatever he fancied in his hand and shoved in his mouth. By his first year he was eating what we ate and using the spoon himself to eat yoghurt and ready brek. I never bought baby food or baby rice at all. But it was all terribly messy!

Hannibal Smith

Annebel karmel's book is a god send. It gives recipe ideas, varied menu plans, sources of different nutrients such as protein etc(red lentils are a great source of protein) . And all menus are suited to different stages...eg 6-9 months....9-12 months. Try her website too

I have a 6 month old and I wouldn't brave finger food just yet, although he's sitting up etc my guy really isn't sturdy enough. If I handed him a piece of carrot he wouldn't have a clue what to do with it lol, so I'm certainly going to leave himuntil 9 months before I try it.

Have a look at the annebel karmel website and see if you can cog any different recipes from there, but in the meantime keep plugging away with what you're doing. Get as many different variety of veg and fish in there while you can, because once they hit 1 they're a totally different kettle of fish.

pwurple

I'd avoid the egg another while... just because we introduced it at 7 months and had a reaction. I don't know did we introduce too early, or she would have reacted anyway, hard to know.

We did about the same as you, porridge, veg and fruit. Didn't bother with the rice, but that was because I didn't want to buy something that we wouldn't eat the leftovers of! We started the proteins at about 7 months. Broken up fish, meat, cheese, pulses. We found she loved lentils at that age.

Yoghurts are good. Glenisk do a baby yoghurt with no added sugar.
I used to give her the yoghurt and fruit in the morning, lunch was protein, and veg with either mashed spud, rice or pasta, and then porridge in the evening with some fruit.

I second that Annabelle book. Nice ideas.

SarahC11

I usually boil carrots, potato, onion, celery, parsnip (they are the basic veg I always have in the house but if I happen to hav more veg I usually throw them aswell) and chicken or beef with those heinz baby stock cubes, its handy jus to throw everything in the one pot! Stopped buying baby cereal jus give ready brek mixed with her follow on milk, and I give all sorts of fruit purees and the usual snacks baby custards liga ect! While I'm speaking of food I have tried the heinz bolognise sauce pouches but she had an explosive nappy afterwards! So gonna steer clear of them but do wanna give her tomato pasta type has anyone any good recipies??

liliq

AS far as I know you can give them pretty much anything after 6 months except for honey?

How Strange

I think that's right liliq; honey and runny eggs were the two I was told about. Also if there was a good allergy in the immediate family to introduce that food slowly do you could see if the baby was allergic too although you shouldn't exclude it without trying it first.

I found the whole weaning stage a bit hit and miss. The advice is so conflicting. If you think the pre 6 months advice is bad wait for the weaning/lumpy/finger good advice!

We did baby led weaning so it was 90% finger food and a little spoon feeding of yoghurts etc. the two rules I followed was not to force foods so no airplanes etc as distraction and not give him food I wouldn't eat myself. Other than that we took it one day at a time.

Hannibal Smith

What stage can you give weetabix does anyone know?

How Strange

I gave my son weetabix from 6.5 months. The crèche used to give it too in the baby room. You can mix it with full milk which can be watered down if you prefer.

Hannibal Smith

Oh really, that early? I know by the time the eldest was in creche he was well on weetabix, that was 10 months, but I just can't remember when I started him on it. Thanks How Strange, will make extra room in the shopping trolley .