Annabel Karmel

painauchocolat

A few people have recommended Annabel Karmel in passing as a good guide to introducing solids. A quick amazon search revealed she has published lots of different books that all seem broadly similar. Can anyone recommend a specific title? Our baby is bottle fed, in case that makes a difference.

Many thanks

dori_dormer

Weused "new Complete baby and toddler meal planner"

Great Book for weaning. Liked the timetables etc. Although we moved to almost completely baby led weaning by 11 months. Way easier . Couldn't be spending my Saturdays cooking 3-4 different meals for the week!

painauchocolat

Thanks very much!

galah

Used the above mentioned as well, for recipe ideas. On our first child, anyway. On our second i just pureed whatever we were having (only concession was that i left out the salt and went very easy on the dairy)

Woshy

That was the one we used too - but only for a couple of months and then we just did baby led weaning and I cooked meals we could all eat. I have a strong-willed child who only wanted to feed himself. It was a good resource while we used it though

A friend of mine just lent me her toddler cookbook and there's some really nice recipes all the family would eat in it. Great for ideas if you find yourself making the same thing over and over

Carrie6OD

We used that one too and found it great for ideas. Got loads of her books from the library and settled on that one and bought it to keep. Still make some of her dishes now to keep in freezer.

bp

I have the 'complete first year planner' - it's a nice book.

Also download (for free) the 'first 1000 days' recipe book by nevin Maguire - great for entire family

painauchocolat

Thanks everyone!

mitresize5

myself and my wife spent hours on end cooking up the recipes and he went to his eye teeth in them.

18 months later all the little bollox will eat is sausages and waffles

oh well .... the best laid plans and all that

fro9etb8j5qsl2

I picked up her Quick & Easy Toddler Recipes book half price in Mothercare last week, it was around €6. I've always found her website brilliant for recipies but the book is handy to have for reference too. The First 1000 days campaign also have a great book of recipies that they will post out for free if you fill in the request form on their website

Woshy

mitresize5 wrote: »

myself and my wife spent hours on end cooking up the recipes and he went to his eye teeth in them.

18 months later all the little bollox will eat is sausages and waffles

oh well .... the best laid plans and all that

sausages are number one in our house too - he does eat other things but sausages will always be number one. I buy the best ones I can and try not to give them too often but he's mad for them! He used to be so good at eating vegetables and things when he was younger, now he will only eat peas. All other vegetables are ones I've sneakily hidden in his food

Funny how they can get fussier as they get older - he very firmly knows what he likes and what he doesn't

evolving_doors

mitresize5 wrote: »

myself and my wife spent hours on end cooking up the recipes and he went to his eye teeth in them.

18 months later all the little bollox will eat is sausages and waffles

oh well .... the best laid plans and all that

ha ha snap...

Make yer own sausage rolls and grate carrots/apples in.. burgers grate carrots/apples in ... cheese toast..grate carrots in under red chedder...

ketchup is a vegetable... potatoes tooo

Woshy

Armelodie wrote: »

Make yer own sausage rolls and grate carrots/apples in..

This is a great idea - definitely going to do this. Burgers made with grated vegetables are already popular so I can see this going down well too

My little boy is big into pasta so I puree vegetables into the sauces I make. It actually gives them a nice sweetness too.

Also, I saw a dietician recently for myself for pregnancy related reasons and got talking to her about feeding toddlers. She suggested trying raw vegetables and to keep giving them to him. He'll eat raw carrot and celery now which is great!

pwurple

Armelodie wrote: »

ketchup is a vegetable

:eek:

bp

pwurple wrote: »

:eek:

As is tomato sauce on pizza (in America)

pwurple

I think hiding vegetables in food can totally backfire. Children start to distrust what you give them, and you might end up limiting their diet even further.

My niece was staying with us for a week while her parents were away recently, her mum tells us how fussy she is with food. She does a lot of food coaching around dinner time... ah go on, try it, have a little bit, you can have chocolate if you try a vegetable.... and does hidden veg. Child basically only ate chicken nuggets and chips from specific packets by the age of 5.

She ate what we ate while she was with us, I didn't even address it or talk about it. One of those street angels maybe, but in my opinion, she doesn't trust anything her mother makes from scratch anymore.

evolving_doors

if youre rumbled with the food hiding then dont make a big deal and move on (a picky child is always picky about anything you give them anyway...) but if you can get away with it then grand.
I meant home made ketchup btw , that way you can control the amt of sugar and salt.
Also peas and strawberries from the garden work if you can make a big deal of finding the 'hidden treasure'.

In saying all that its an endless battle of wits...

... and just to get back on topic... I heard.. from a relative in the know in london, that alledgedly a certain childrens food author had a team of nannies who raised and fed her kids!

Her books are good though, maybe moreso for weaning, once they start eating regular then theyre having what everyone else is having. Except mr. fussyeater of course.

Probably worthy of new thread, the psychologists on the radio just say to starve em till next meal and no snacks in between.

CarpeDiem85

Armelodie wrote: »

Probably worthy of new thread, the psychologists on the radio just say to starve em till next meal and no snacks in between.

I'm extremely strict about what my daughter eats, everything is made from scratch and zero junk. We had family over from England for a week and they were feeding her chocolate and crisps. I was ripping about it. When they left, I handed her a bowl of pasta with tomato sauce and veg. She turned her nose up at it. I immediately lifted her out of the high hair, said nothing to her and let her go off and play. I might have given her a small rice cake until the next meal time. She hasn't refused food since. I think the worse thing to do is pander to children. I also never eat chocolate or junk around her, it's my treat when she's in bed

Ms2011

My son's not food motivated at all, I've tried the "they'll eat when they're hungry" method but gave up after 3 days as he just didn't care. He's almost 3 & weighs 30lbs, he can't really afford to lose any weight so I think that's why I caved.
He has 90 percent homemade food but is still really fussy so I do hide fruit, veg, fish & some meat in food he does like. He wouldn't eat a sausage or a chicken nugget but he has a shocking sweet tooth.
On our next baby I'm going to do alot more baby led weaning & eating off our plates than going by a book like Annabel Karmels which was what I used religiously to wean my son, I think that has alot to do with his fussiness. Hindsight is 20/20 though as they say

kandr10

I liked the anabel Karmel book for the meal planners and general advice on each new stage. I don't see how her recipes would cause a baby to be fussy. She does recommend to introduce lumps and texture early enough in the process. There's a really wide variety in the ingredients she uses.
I found weaning daunting because I thought it was either spoon feed or baby led with the finger foods but I've learned combining both is completely doable. In fact in the anabel Karmel books she gives recipes and suggestions for both.
I can see why baby led exclusively would work for some families but for us we eat a lot of stews and curries so for the baby to eat the same as the family it made sense to have some foods from a spoon.

Ms2011

It made him fussy because I used the planners too strictly & only cooked recipes from the book for too long so when I tried to give him the same food we were eating he only wanted the recipes he was familiar with which meant cooking our dinner & a seperate one for him.
Totally my fault, I approached the weaning process far too rigidly, I'd definately be alot more relaxed second time round & just go with the flow. More blw & eating what we're eating & less going by a book.

painauchocolat

Thanks so much folks, this has been really helpful!

kandr10

Ms2011 wrote: »

It made him fussy because I used the planners too strictly & only cooked recipes from the book for too long so when I tried to give him the same food we were eating he only wanted the recipes he was familiar with which meant cooking our dinner & a seperate one for him.
Totally my fault, I approached the weaning process far too rigidly, I'd definately be alot more relaxed second time round & just go with the flow. More blw & eating what we're eating & less going by a book.

Right that make sense! I can see how if those recipes are quite different to your normal family meal that transitioning from one to the other would be made more difficult. That said if your kid eats those meals at least that's something. Better than only wanting chicken dippers or nothing at all . Here's hoping weanings easier on the next kids!

Irish Gunner

Ok resurrecting this post looking for update

Public health nurse recommended book by anabelle karmel for receipes for baby going onto solids. Junior 4 months old so time to wean him onto solids

Any good books by anabelle karmel anyone can recommend as a few out there

farmchoice

they are all the same, basically you are going to end up with a house full of sweet potatoes!!
all joking aside they are good books, nice healthy food, we used they with each of our 3 and they all liked the food. i'd often have a sneaky spoon or two myself as i was doing the feeding if i was hungry and it is tasty!! i think its all the sweet potato.

waterfaerie

Irish Gunner wrote: »

Junior 4 months old so time to wean him onto solids

You don't need to wean at 4 months old. WHO recommend 6 months. The gut is properly developed by then.

Irish PHNs are giving outdated advice on this and most other issues.

fits

Agree with waterfaerie. It’s best to wait until six months.

jlm29

I’d wait til 6 months rather than 4 (My PHN recommended 6 also -or rather agreed with me when I told her it would be 6) and look at gill rapleys book rather than AK- AK is grand, I used it with my first, but having baby led weaned my second, I wouldn’t go back to purées.
There’s another baby led weaning by an Irish author out now. I can’t remember her name though? Maybe someone else knows

jlm29

I’d wait til 6 months rather than 4 (My PHN recommended 6 also -or rather agreed with me when I told her it would be 6) and look at gill rapleys book rather than AK- AK is grand, I used it with my first, but having baby led weaned my second, I wouldn’t go back to purées.
There’s another baby led weaning by an Irish author out now. I can’t remember her name though? Maybe someone else knows

smaoifs

Go with what baby is telling you. There was no way my baby was holding off until 6 months, she was showing great interest in food from 18 weeks.

appledrop

waterfaerie wrote: »

You don't need to wean at 4 months old. WHO recommend 6 months. The gut is properly developed by then.

Irish PHNs are giving outdated advice on this and most other issues.

All babies are different. Our little boy had severe reflux + PUN recommended weaning him earlier than 6mths to help it worked a treat. He was well ready for it.