Today's post is on the topic of baby nutrition, aka weaning, I'll admit, I was absolutely petrified of starting Abbie on solids, I worried she was going to choke or that she might have a bad reaction to something, as a baby, I was allergic to cow's milk so I didn't actually give Abbie anything that contained milk until she was about 12 months, I was so scared she was going to have the same allergy as me and it would make her ill, so I avoided it!
I saw a lot of my friends and other blogger mummy's who post beautiful photos of fresh food and yummy meals they've conjured up for their little ones and I always thought how nice it looked and couldn't wait to make everything from scratch myself..but Abbie had different ideas, she wasn't really up for solids at 6 months, we would try purees and slightly textured food as the books suggest but she would just spit it out and no amount of perseverance was changing her mind..I ended up making lots of batches of my own food for her but it was all going to waste as she didn't want to eat anything..
One of the best parts..the expressions when trying new food!
I was recommended some supermarket meals by a close friend but was slightly dubious as to the quality, but after some research I found a few brands that made organic baby food, which contained only the best ingredients and no nasties or junk! So bought a couple of Ella's kitchen purees and Abbie wolfed them down! Hooray! Her favorite was the strawberry & apple & also the banana and strawberry ones, I felt confident knowing I was giving her nutritious and healthy food instead of comparing myself to the other mummy's who were making extravagant batches of food for their little ones! I was just super happy Abbie was eating and getting her 5 a day too! As she got older, she became more and more interested in what we were eating so her food adventure began, we decided to go with baby led weaning rather than stressing about what she should and shouldn't be eating and how much etc, we just listened to what she wanted and watched how she tackled certain foods, plus she didn't get her first tooth until she was 13 months old but my goodness could her gums mash anything! Once she got a few teethies through we tried her with some other organic baby products such as chicken, pasta & soft veg, she absolutely loved it all and was eager to show us how she can chew her food with her new cutting materials :). She now eats 3 meals a day, all varied and healthy and pretty much eats whatever we eat now which is so much easier, she has little snacks too like carrot sticks, smoothie bites and her favorite thing of all, Annabel Karmels cheese and onion organic crisps! Yummy!Don't pressure yourselves too much to make all the food yourself, there are some fab products out there which are nutritious and healthy whilst free from anything nasty so you are still giving your baby the very best :)When did you start weaning?x