Really need help with weaning!

[Shortstuff88]

LO has been having puréed food for a while now and has been eating very well so we want to start making his food more textured. But I have no idea what to do?!
Should I just add things like grated cheese, fruit and veg to make it more lumpy? I've been told scrambled egg is a good idea for some lunch too.
I feel so lost with all this weaning business.

 

[Equreuil]

weaning is confusing! I feel lost a lot of the time, too. Does he pick up small bits and feed himself at all?

My son pretty much went from purees straight to feeding himself chunks. He just decided one day that he wanted nothing to do with being spoon fed. First thing he got was banana in small pieces. Fruit and veg in general is a good start as long as it's soft enough for them to mash with their gums. Pasta cooked really soft and you can use puree as "sauce".

I think with eggs the current suggestion is to give just the yolk, but it might be changing, so you might want to check with your pediatrician. In the mornings, I'll separate a couple, scramble the yolks for him and then do the whites for myself. So sometimes I actually manage to eat before afternoon.

 

[LittleNikki]

Rather than pureeing his food you could try just mashing the same food with a fork so there is more texture to it maybe

 

[Shortstuff88]

Thanks ladies!
I'll go out and get some fruit and veg to mash up today.
What about with meat? Do you cook any of that for LOs?

 

[history_girls]

We cook lots of meat for LO - but we puree that and add it to her mashed veg as she can't deal with it any other way.

We also buy baby pasta stars which are tiny with little holes in so easy for baby to eat - although dd2 is 8 months so a bit further down the eating line.

 

[liz1985]

We used to just mash with a fork from 6m+. At the beginning a mashed really well, so it was more like a textured puree than lumpy, then from about 7+m just a quick mash so it was nice and lumpy, then from about 8 months I just choped it up well. From 6 months he just ate everything we had minus salt. I stuck to softer meat to begin like chicken or slow cooked beef, id chop it up then mash it into his dinner. Ds used to love scrambled eggs and beans for lunch.

 

[Shortstuff88]

Aw pasta shapes sound like a good idea.
Thanks so much ladies! I'd feel so much better if I had like a timetable to work by haha. I've made a list of veg and fruit to buy that can be mashed or grated. And I'll definitely get some chicken and pasta shapes to add into dinners too.

One more question: When did you start giving little one fruit juice or water with their meals?

 

[history_girls]

I've never given juice (personal choice) but offered water from 6 months out of a sippy cup or doidy cup. At 8 months dd2 is just starting to drink water with her meals.

 

[Shortstuff88]

Aw ok, well I'll start giving him some now then.
I tried him with some grated cheese mixed into his fruit today and it went down a treat. Just have to try a few different things I suppose.

 

[liz1985]

We gave juice as ds always suffered very badly with constipation so we advised to give pure juice with meals. We gave 100% fruit juice, usually orange, 1 part orange to 9 parts water. Then he had a sippy cup of water avaliable all day for drinks inbetween meals but he was closer to 8 months when he would really want a little drink between meals.

 

[Equreuil]

honestly check out the momtastic baby food site: https://wholesomebabyfood.momtastic.com/

It's got a lot of month by month info, as well as suggestions and recipes. I have found it to be soo helpful.

Malcolm occasionally gets small shreds of chicken with his meals, but he's also going on 11 months. So you might want to wait on that. As was suggested, you can take some cooked meat and puree it, then mix it with whatever lumpier fare you're giving.

 

[MindUtopia]

I'd say mash up whatever you're eating - sometimes easier said than done, depending on what it is. You might find you just need to eat foods yourself that are more 'mashable'. Mashed potato is great. Vegetable soup would be great as the veg would be nice and soft. Mashed banana or avocado. You could also start to incorporate some finger foods - mashed banana on a baby rice cake or piece of toast. Things like meat are probably harder to mash, but fish would flake up nicely. Again, you could also start to move in the direction of finger foods and offer a strip of meat and let him suck on it and see what he does. My friend's baby had strips of roasted chicken as her first ever meal at 6 months. She ate 4 big strips of it the first time. They really can manage it just fine.

 

[Shortstuff88]

Yeah I really want to try the finger food type stuff. Like toast and some meat. I did give him some pulled pork the other night which he loved! But my hubby is so worried about him choking that he just won't let me try anything like that.
So I've been adding mashed avocado, sweet potato and banana to meals. And he's also had tiny star shaped pasta to his purées as well as chicken.
Getting the hang of it now 😊 thanks so much ladies!