I
asked local NCT mums what experiences they’ve had with weaning. This is what
they said:
What age did you start weaning
your babies and why this age?
Laura: I started weaning my first at about five
months as most of my friends were starting and I didn't want to be left behind!
I knew the guidelines but started then anyway. I initially started with
purees but about a week into weaning I read 'Baby Led Weaning' by Gill Rapley
and became an instant convert. I stopped weaning until 6 months and gave
him only finger foods. With my second I didn't start until 6 months and was
keen to do baby-led weaning (BLW) again. Her manual dexterity was not as
good and she was not yet sleeping through the night so I wanted to get a few
more calories into her. I did not give her purees because I didn't want the
hassle and I don't believe that there is any place for purees in weaning but I
did spoon feed her some porridge/yoghurt/soup etc until she was able to manage
herself.
Megan: 6 months with all three children - it
was the advice from the World Health Organisation. By the time I had my second
it was also the advice from the UK government. I read quite widely (I always
like researching things before I do them) and came to the conclusion that this
was the best advice available.
Gillian: I held off with both of them for as
long as possible to the recommended 6 months as I wanted them to have as much
exclusive breastfeeding as possible, particularly due to the evidence about
allergies. Baby #1 was weaned from 5.5 months - he was sitting, grabbing food
and, frankly, desperate for solid food. Baby #2 was weaned from 6 months -
she sat earlier than baby #1 but didn't seem as bothered by solids. Also, she
turned 6 months in mid January and I wasn't going to start weaning over
Christmas as we were travelling a lot and I couldn't deal with the mental
effort of weaning, plus travel with two small people in tow!
Nadia: I let them both lead
the way. When they started to stare at us eating and opening their mouths
asking for food I started to give them solids. It was at about 5 months for
both.
Vicky: I weaned both my children at six
months, simply because it was the recommended age, and they hadn’t shown any
need to start earlier (markedly increased appetite, noticeable interest in
other people’s food) as can be the case for some babies. They were both mixed
fed, with breastfeeding ending around nine months. I’m vegetarian, whilst my
husband is not, and we agreed early on that we would give our children meat and
fish, and let them decide for themselves when they were older whether they
wanted a meat-free diet or not.
Sarah: I started weaning my first child onto
solids at 4 months as that was the advice when she was a baby, although she did
also seem ready (able to sit up, had teeth, was straining to try to reach
food). By the time I had my second child the advice had changed to wait until 6
months, I did decide to try her on baby rice at 19 weeks (in a desperate
attempt to get more sleep!) but she wasn’t interested and it didn’t make it
into her mouth. At about 24 weeks she grabbed my hand when I was eating and
steered the food into her mouth. For my third child I was happy to wait until 6
months before introducing anything other than breastmilk, but by 18 weeks he
was desperately trying to drink from my cups of tea and glasses of water, and
gnawing on apples, so I decided to push on the open door and introduced solids.
Nancy: I started at 5 months but
not in any significant way, just trying lots of different tastes of food.
Literally, I don't think she had more than a spoonful a day. I
started then as I had read they should be on 3 meals a day by 6 months and I
was worried that I would be rushing and worrying that she wasn't eating enough
by then. Juno could sit unsupported by 5 and a half months so I felt
she was physically able to have a go at eating.
How did you start
weaning?
Megan: With my first I did the puree stuff
and even used an occasional jar when cooking seemed like hard work. Because I
waited til 6 months I didn't have to avoid many foods, but for the first few
weeks I gave her single vegetables pureed, in order to spot any allergic
reactions. After that she was having the same dinner as us, but whizzed up in a
little hand-held processor. The second one probably got fewer jars but still
purees - when what we were having was unsuitable I'd mash a banana or avocado
with a fork. The thrid was baby-led weaned, which was much less hassle (I
hadn't heard of it when I had the first two). He didn't really ingest anything
until he was about 8 months (you can tell by what comes out the other
end).
Gillian: Baby #1 - 'traditional' spoon fed
purees but he had different ideas and within about a week was grabbing bits of
food (pitta, hummus, cucumber, banana). Baby #2 - more baby-led as I couldn't
be bothered with the purees. I do usually spoon feed yoghurt and her breakfast
(normally porridge) as she gets REALLY cross if she doesn't get it into her
mouth fast enough. And sometimes I can't be bothered cleaning yoghurt off the
ceiling.
Nadia: I started to vary their diets a
lot from the beginning trying all manners of vegetable and fruits. I
wanted to make sure they experienced lots of different tastes early on in
the hope they did not become fussy with food. It seems to have worked (so far
anyway, fingers crossed). I was bought an Annabel Karmel book by a friend
and that became my bible for weaning. I did read lots of leaflets and
stuff on the internet but I used the Annabel Karmel books for recipes
ideas. The key for me was to do big batches of everything and
freeze in small portions. Much easier and stress free than worry
about food every 5 minutes. I used ice cubes trays to start with and
later the Advent pots. I tried baby rice for their first meal as often
recommended but quickly moved on to veg and fruits. I did not see the
point in giving them something bland for too long! In actual fact they
only had it for one meal each.
Vicky:
With my first child, Sam, I gripped my Annabel Karmel bible, nervously
disinfected my kitchen from top to bottom, and read five times how to peel,
boil and puree a sweet potato. It was a scary new world and I felt incredibly
anxious about the whole business. How much? How often? Will he choke on his
apple mush? For that reason, the Annabel Karmel book was great – I followed it
step by step, gradually introducing different tastes and textures, building up
Sam’s diet over the weeks and ending up with a freezer full of a rainbow of
frozen puree cubes to defrost at will. He was a happy eater, and I quickly got
over my initial nerves and found that, whilst I felt utterly clueless to begin
with, it all just happened quite naturally.
Second
time round, whilst it would be untrue that my second child, Grace, was gnawing
on pork ribs by week 2, I think it’s safe to say I was more relaxed from the
start. I still went the puree route, but was more confident to introduce
elements of baby-led weaning (lots of large and varied chunks of finger food)
earlier on - and whilst still flicking through Ms Karmel’s book (slightly
sticky from round one) I was happy to simplify some of her recipes (Five pans
to make a fish pie? Seriously??).
Sarah:
My first and third children’s first foods were whole apple, my second’s was
margherita pizza, all three at their own insistence, and achieved by pulling my
hand holding the food towards their own mouths. Following this, for all three I
have also introduced purees plus finger foods from the very beginning. I don’t
really make the distinction between finger foods and purees that BLW seems to
do, after all if a baby chooses to lean forward, open their mouth and put it
round the spoon of food held in front of them, isn’t that baby-led? I do have a
couple of rules though, I keep an eye on the baby’s body language and don’t
persuade them to eat something they don’t want to (e.g. using a spoon to open
the mouth and shoe-horn some food in). As much as possible I try to give them
the same as everyone else at the table (although with something mushed up in
addition), and I never give them anything I wouldn’t eat myself.
Nancy: Bit of both. When I just started out it was BLW but
then as I wanted to make sure she was eating properly I gave more traditional
puréed food.
What was your experience
with weaning?
Laura: I really enjoyed weaning. It was very
satisfying to see them manage different types of food and enjoy new types of
food. It is also funny what they do and don't like. I once gave my daughter a
curry when she was about 7 months before tasting it myself. Her eyes were
watering but she seemed to enjoy it. It was only that evening when we had it
for dinner and my husband didn't particularly like it because it was too hot
that I realised chicken madras is quite spicy!
Gillian: Baby #1 - I just followed one of the
Annabel Karmel books which was easy enough, although a bit faffy with all the
extra work. Baby #2 - I just gave her what we were eating (albeit lower
salt options and minus honey, unpasteurised cheese and whole nuts). Much easier
and much more instinctive. And she and her brother just have the same
food.
Nadia: I just did a lot of
reading beforehand... There is so much info at hand now and lots of people
to ask!
Sarah: I love weaning! I love cooking, so its
extra fun making things for your baby and seeing what they enjoy, what faces
they pull, what they spit out even. My first child pulled a horrendous grimace
every time she tried a new food, but then would be straight back for more. My
third child is currently at the blowing raspberries stage, what larks at
mealtimes! With my first child I spent a lot of time reading about weaning and
what foods I should/shouldn’t give, meal planners etc. With my subsequent ones
they tend to get a subset of what everyone else is eating.
Nancy: I just made it up as I went along
and tried to have fun!
Did your babies have any allergies?
Megan: None of them have any allergies, they were all exclusively breastfed for the first 6 months and we avoided peanuts and peanut products for at least a year.
Gillian:
No allergies but both of them have had foods that initially caused some local
rashes or very mild eczema around their mouth - e.g. raw or tinned tomatoes and
strawberries. But they've both grown out of it.
Nadia: They did not have any allergies thank goodness so again I was
lucky on that score
Sarah:
(Fingers crossed) none of mine have had any food allergies, although my second
child has yet to have any shellfish, and my third is only 6 months old so I
don’t know how he will react to a lot of foods yet.
Nancy: The only reaction we had was to kiwi fruit where she came up in a
red rash. She hasn't had them since so I don't know whether she is
still allergic or not!
What were your babies'
favourite and least favourite foods?
Laura: I find that their favourite foods varied. In
the first few weeks of weaning my daughter there was one week where she would
only eat very sweet things to the extent that she would cry if she got the side
of the toast that didn't have the jam on it in her mouth! Initially I was
worried that she was going to be very fussy about food but I relaxed and sure
enough in a few days she was back to eating whatever was put in front of her.
Some weeks they eat virtually nothing when other weeks they eat everything they
can lay their hands on. For me the central message and main appeal of BLW is to
allow them to develop their own instincts about what and how much they eat.
Megan: When we first weaned they seemed to
like everything. Fussiness set in much later, not until they were at least three
years old (in fact my youngest, at nearly five will still try most things).
Gillian: Baby #1 - hummus, peach, toast,
marmite (yuck!), cucumber, rice pudding, yoghurt, scrambled eggs. Baby #2 -
banana (her first word!), yoghurt, cheese, bread, butter, red pepper, pesto,
fishcakes, chips, porridge. At weaning age, I don't really remember them not
liking anything. Sometimes they'd not be hungry or pull a funny face, but they
never really refused anything. Baby #1 is now 3 and it's much more annoying
now. 'I don't like fishcakes!' 'But you had fishcakes last week and loved
them.' [After moaning for 10 minutes, he tries a bit of fishcake] 'I love
fishcakes - they're my favourite!' Aaarrrghhh!
Nadia: I don't recall anything
they particularly disliked. My daughter seemed to have a sweeter tooth than my
son but other than that I don't remember having to avoid anything. Even if they
turned up their nose at something one day, I would try it again another day
until they ate it. I remember my daughter disliking banana for quite a long
time but I have persevered and she loves them now. Another thing she wasn't too
keen on at first is the texture of mince meat so I mixed it with more
vegetables until she got used to it.
Vicky: My children had similar early preferences.
Sweet potato, banana and carrot were very popular, whilst neither would
countenance avocado or pear. They are now 4 and 2, and have diverged in their
tastes: whilst Sam will eat rice and dhal till the cows come home, Grace is
never happier than when presented with a meal involving some sort of meat
product.
Sarah: My eldest was very keen on avocado,
and would happily eat very sour foods like natural yogurt with blackcurrant
puree mixed in (I resisted the temptation to sweeten it, she didn’t mind at
all). My second was less keen on food generally, but has maintained her love of
tomato puree from her very first food. My third is very fond of apple puree,
toast, strawberries, broccoli, mushed-up banana in Greek yogurt, sticks of
cheddar, pretty much anything he can get his hands on.
Nancy: Banana was favourite and
still is now! Tuna and mashed potato with cheese was also a big favourite. She
didn't like mango at all, which was good as it’s expensive!
If breastfeeding, what
age were your babies when you stopped?
Laura: I had huge
problems with breastfeeding with both my babies and would have liked to have
fed for a lot longer with both of them (long, long story!!) but I fed my first
for four weeks and my second was mixed fed to 21 weeks.
Megan: 3 years 11 months, 2
years 6 months and still going at 4 years 10 months.
Gillian: Baby #1 - 2 years 4 months - by
which point he was just having a feed at bedtime. He decided to stop one night
and that was it. Baby #2 is 9 months and still breastfed. I currently plan to
feed her until she weans herself.
Nadia: My first (my son)
naturally stopped at 10 months. he wasn't interested
anymore. My daughter stopped around 9 months. I initiated
that one because of going back to work (I did not fancy having to express
at work!). It happened quite naturally. She did not complain in moving
over to bottles. So that was easy with both, I was lucky!
Sarah: My first child was mixed
fed until 5 and a half months when she went onto formula only (and solids), my
second was 14 months old when I gave up breastfeeding, I’m still breastfeeding
my third child at 6 months, and will probably do so until after he has his
first MMR jab.
Nancy: 14 months. She was ready to stop at 12 months but we were
going skiing and I wanted the option to breastfeed her on the plane in case she
started getting upset.
Please note that this article is based on mothers' personal experiences and is not to be seen as NCT advice. For the NCT guide to weaning go to http://www.nct.org.uk/parenting/how-start-solid-foods-and-weaning
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