How did you find weaning your baby? Was it really exciting? OH YES, was it lots of fun? OH YES, was it making you really proud of your baby? OH YES, was it confusing ? HELL YES!!!
What did I found confusing ?
-With what food should I start weaning ?
-How much food should I be giving and how much milk?
-How often should I introduce new food?
-When should I increase solid food from one meal to two?
-Should I give water to my baby?
Guess what? there is as many opinions as there is about sleeping,bringing up babies,ways of parenting ect ! I had no idea what is the right way to do it and it was affecting how excited I was about starting Chloe on her food.
WHAT SHOULD BE THE FIRST FOOD?
There is a lot of different opinions: Baby rice, baby porridge, fruits (for example:Apple,Bannana or Pear), Vegetable (for exapmple Carrot, Sweet potato).
I have reed lots about it and have found so many different opinions about it. I decided to go with NHS guidance (which by the way isn’t clear at all) which says that you can start on any of the above π. My plan was to start with baby rice then go in to porridge then a fruits and vegetables.
I found baby rice a total waste of money and time. The whole idea of weaning is to introduce new textures and flavours, baby rice is very watery and doesn’t have any flavour!
After trying baby rice once I moved in to strawberry porridge which Chloe enjoyed very much and then to very simple vegetable and fruit purΓ©e . I started on fruits and vegetables pretty much straight away.
HOW MUCH FOOD SHOULD I BE GIVING ?
When I reed about weaning it said that baby will eat a one spoonful of food on the beginning….. Not true! Chloe started with eating round 3 tbsp of food. I bought those cute cubes to store her food and haven’t used it because the portion was way to small. I let Chloe decide how much she wanted, I would feed her till she didn’t want it. Trust me your baby will let you know when it has had enough.
In my baby cook book next to each recipe it says how many portions will be made; this was very helpful, especially in the very beginning .
When it comes to milk I have kept all of Chloe’s milk feeds and introduced solid food in between her milk.
HOW OFFTEN SHULD I INTRODUCE NEW FOOD.
As with everything there is a lot of different informations. Some say that you should give baby one food for a week, some say you should do it for 3 days and some that you should be trying new things daily. I went with the last approach and started giving Chloe lots of different foods.
First week was very basic : Apple, Carrot, Porridge, Pear, Sweet Potatoe, Bannana. Second week I started doing a very simple mixes of fruits and vegetables :Apple & Pear, Bannana & Avocado , Apple & Parsnip, Sweet Potato & Carrot, Carrot & Buternat. On week 3 I started to give Chloe different vegetables (Broccoli, Corn, Peas, Spinach) and fruits (Strawberry, Mango, Blueberries). Week 4 which we just started I started introducing chicken and more complex meals, it’s now more of a grown up food π
WHEN I SHOULD INCREASE SOLID FOOD?
We have started on 3 tbsp per 1 time a day for a 2 weeks. Then we started on 2 meals a day for a week. In week 3 I started to give Chloe her meal fallowed by desert (4tbsp of vegetables, 3tbsp of the desert).
Again it’s pretty impossible to find any information about what you should do. I decided to fallow a meal plan from my baby cooking book (which I very much recommend) and monitor how much Chloe wanted to eat.
SHOULD I BE GIVING WATER TO MY BABY?
Again it’s not very clear. Some information says that you should start introducing free flow baby cup and give water. Other say that baby gets enough water from the breast milk. Ideal solution seems like giving milk in the cup π. Seems like a bit of water won’t do any harm. Just remember that water needs to boiled and cooled.
It is very confusing if you are a new parent to know what is the best way to wean baby but it is so so so much fun and I am enjoying it so much !
NEW YUMMY MUMMY 