My Weaning Tips.

Whether you decide to start with purées or try baby led weaning or even a mix of both there’s bound to be some things that overwhelm.

First time around I found the whole idea of weaning a massive overwhelm. Where do I start? How do I go about it? How long should it take? These were just some of the things going through my mind at the time.

Whether you decide to make your own food (which I have done each time) or you buy it already made for you. The choice is yours. Do what ever works for you.

So I thought I’d note down some of the things I’ve learnt along the way that have helped me. These are my own personal tips that I have picked over the years.

Ideally don’t start weaning until around 6 months old unless you are told to otherwise by a professional. If I started early with one of mine it was barely a couple of days before they turned 6 months.

Remember milk still forms the majority of their diet at 6 months.

* Whichever method you choose start with single flavour of fruit and veggies. So your baby can learn to love each individual flavour first. Try each one for a few days before moving on to a different one. Don’t forget to revisit some you have already tried to make sure they are familiar with them.

* Once you are happy that you have tried using enough single veggies and fruit you can start mixing a couple together, try broccoli and cauliflower, or carrot and parsnip. You can also try adding some meat to veggies too

* Whichever method you choose pick a time of day that suits both of you. Ideally in between feeds when they are not to hungry or full and when there are least distractions. For 2 of mine I started at lunch time, this time around I started with dinner first. So go with what works best for you and your routine. But try and stick to about the same time daily.

* If you make purée to start with, batch cooking and freezing will be your life saver. Start with ice cube size portions or portions you can split over 2 days. Then just remove and thoroughly defrost each time you need one.

* Weaning is messy whichever method you use. So the best coveralls I have found to use best were ones with full sleeves. Full sleeved bibs these are very similar to what I have used and they have saved many clothes from staining.

* Try to follow your babies lead, if you start with purées but they look like they want to do it themselves then perhaps switch to more baby led weaning.

* The most important thing to remember is to enjoy the experience. It will get messy, and there will be things that don’t work but as long as you are relaxed and enjoy the process (as it can be a process depending on how well your baby takes to it) it will be much more fun for everyone. The more fun it is for the baby the more likely they will be to enjoy it.

Be mindful there are some foods that it is advised not to give babies for health and safety reasons if you would like to see what these are see here.

If you need anymore advice you can go to the NHS website or Mother and Baby.

As I say these tips are the ones I found most useful throughout my weaning journeys, and although every baby is different, so every weaning journey is different. I can already see that weaning this time around is going to take longer with A than it did with M, and that is fine we will just take our time and see how things go day to day.

Do you have any tips you would pass on to someone doing this for the first time? What would they be?

Jemma x

Written by Jemma Jargom for her blog, All Things Jargom.

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