Benjamin is now five months old, and last week we started the process of weaning him onto food. We were hoping to wait until six months to do baby led weaning, which worked really well with Alex. Ben had other ideas, so we have started with soft foods.
One of the main reasons I liked baby led weaning was because there wasn’t that transition between textures. Getting Harrison to go from smooth purees to anything with lumps in was bloody hard work, and I did not want to go through that again! This time, I haven’t pureed anything. Instead, I’ve just mashed everything so he gets used to lumps and chunks straight away.
I know the guidance is to not give anything other than fruit and veg until six months. We’ve mostly stuck to that, but he has had the odd other bits.
His first taste of food was a plum. My mum held it and he sucked and chomped his way through it like something possessed. He ended up eating the whole thing, apart from the skin!
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Although I’m not a massive fan of commercial baby food, I was impressed by these Cow & Gate ‘Friends’ pouches that I was given at blog camp. They are literally steamed cooked vegetables – nothing else. Benjamin loved them!!
I will be making my own baby food, but these are really handy to keep in the cupboard in case we go out.
I bought some little tubs from Tesco so I could make up batches of food for him and freeze them. I’m not entirely sure they’re going to be useful for long as he demolishes a tub at a time! So far I’ve made:
Apple, Pear & Cinnamon Mash – I literally peeled and sliced apples and pears into chunks, cooked until they were soft, then added a sprinkle of cinnamon and mashed. This has been his favourite – he loves it!
Carrot and Sweet Potato Mash – again, peeled, chopped and cooked until soft and then mashed. He’s also tried Swede, Parsnip and Sweet Potato Mash – same thing, and looks the same!
His breakfasts so far have been mashed banana and cinnamon.
I’ve been adding things like cinnamon to the food because we use a lot of spice and strong flavours in our cooking, and I want him to get used to that from the beginning.He seems to like it!
He has had little tastes and small bits of other foods. He’s had a some piece of omlette (not mashed!) and enjoyed that. He also had a few baked beans mixed in with mashed potato – he loved the beans but spat the potato out. He’s had a few mouthfuls of fromage frais after his meals – he really likes it but I am mindful that dairy products aren’t advised until six months so kept that to a minimum. We’ve also been a very naughty mummy and daddy and let him have a little taste of chocolate – I know some people disagree with that but I’m a firm believer in everything in moderation. Of course he loved that – who wouldn’t?!
So far our weaning journey has been easy – much easier than with either Harrison or Alex. I’m actually enjoying it this time, and it’s lovely to see him enjoying new tastes and flavours.
Watch out for another weaning update soon!