Baby foods and weaning (Baby Food Hints/Tips)

Member Name: jacqueline101

Product:	Baby Food Hints/Tips
Date:	03/06/08 (79 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Giving children a good start with a healthy diet

Disadvantages: Can be frustrating and messy

When I started to wean my daughter at around six months old, I was very keen to make as much homemade foods as possible, and only to use jars of ready made baby food occasionally, when we were out and about. I had been given a couple of Annabel Karmel books as presents - the First Year Planner and Top 100 Baby Purees - and found them to be really useful to get some ideas. This was especially useful, being a first time mother. I started off by trying a small amount of baby rice, mixed with breast or formula milk, and my daughter seemed to accept it. After a few days, we tried giving small amounts of carrot, sweet potato, apple and pear, that had been pureed in a blender, and mixed in with the rice. These foods have a sweet taste, and seem to be appealing to babies. I also bought a set of ten small plastic tubs with lids from Lakeland, to store the homemade food in the freezer. These tubs are still being used to put things like raisins in for a snack when we go out
As time went on, we increased the amount and variety of foods given, and the texture gradually became more lumpy. At around seven months, we started to give some finger foods cut into small pieces, such as, rice cakes, cheese, toast, fruit and lightly steamed vegetables. My daughter is very independent and wished to feed herself, so this went very well. It wasn't so easy trying to feed her more sloppy food from a spoon, though, as she would try to grab the spoon and throw the bowl on the floor, or refuse to be fed. Now that she is a toddler, she is getting much better at getting food on a spoon or fork and into her mouth. I have found that it is generally better to let her feed herself, if practical, and let her get all messy, as this way she will become more independent and develop social skills. It is also a good idea to offer your child as wide a range of foods as possible, as doing this is likely to result in a child that is less likely to be fussy, and will eat a healthy balanced diet.

Summary: Try as many foods as possible and persevere