What foods are good for weaning babies?

Question

My son is nearly 4mths old but very big and well developed for his age. The health visitor has advised me to start weaning him early. I have started giving him a selection of baby rice/ creamed porrige etc once a day at lunchtime but do any other mums or dads have any recipes for pureed fruits, recipes etc that are pureeable suitable from first weaning or within the first few months??

Also, is there anything in particular that they are not supposed to have until a certain age. I know of some things but like fromage frais, can he have this straight away or do i need to wait a while??

Answer 1

You will have to check with your Health Visitor but some fish is bad and some cheeses should not be given. Your Health Visitor should have a list of foods you should give.

I used to wean my kids with simple foods. Mashed potato, carrot, turnip, broccoli, chicken. These would all be pureed until they can manage them a bit lumpier. Just go with your own instinct, you know what foods are good for you and will be good for him aswell. Try and give him as much variety as possible so that he does not become fussy.

Answer 2

Hi there,
My son has now been on solids for two months.
I prepare all his foods with fresh veg and fruit. Most things are from our meal, just make sure you don't add salt to any food while cooking. A favourite of his is sweet potato with a variety of vegetables & sometimes a small amount of garlic. For his lunch he normally has a selection of pureed fruit.
Citrus fruits need to be avoided due to a possible allergic reaction, they can try these at a later stage.
Do not give him fromage frais or any other dairy, he is still too young.

Answer 3

Just weaning my little one too and she loves mashed potato or sweet potato mixed with other veg like butternut squash, carrot, broccoli, spinach. Don't add any salt or butter though. Just use babies normal milk or the vegetable water to soften the food (but not from white potatoes as can be too starchy and makes the food like glue !!). Apples, mangoes, peaches, nectarines just softened down are good too, although I think bananas may cause consitpation if given too early on.
Cow's milk I think is ok to give after 6 months if you are using it to mix into a meal but not as a drink. Also, honey I belive should not be given before 12 months as it can carry some kind of bacteria.
which is harmful to young babies.

Answer 4

Look up books by Annabel Karmel. She's got good recipes and advice on weaning.

Besides that, our son's favourite was blueberry and apple. Peel and core some apples, say about 1 apple for 2 portions of feeds, chop them and pop them in a steamer. Steam till soft.

At the same time, put some blueberries in a non-stick pan with a little bit of water (just enough to cover the bottom of the pan). Cook till the blueberries break and the juices come out.

Pop the two in a blender and whizz away till smooth. You can freeze them in little pots, ready to be defrosted and served when needed. Delicious!

The big no-nos are eggs till 10 months (I think) and wheat. Also blue-veined cheese, even then keep off cheese till about 6 months (I think..). Get the Annabel Karmel books. She's good.

Answer 5

I weaned my son when he was 4 months. I started on pureed veggies such as potato and carrot, potato and swede, etc, always have potato added in the meal as it has calories and has substance. Also boil diced apple and pear and puree it. Babies love this. You can try petit flous, homemade soup. Crushed up rusk in milk was another one i tried. My son soon developed and started having spaghetti bolonnaise,etc. I found some of the baby food jars very good too.

You may find iweaning will disrupt your son's sleeping pattern for a while!

Answer 6

Basically just stew or boil different vegetables then puree. Don't combine flavours at first because you can then tell if your baby dislikes any of the tastes. You can offer them at a later date then. For such a young baby it is definately best to just try bland foods etc but try just typing weaning babies into your toolbar and there are plenty of sites to look at which give thorough lists of what is safe at what age (too many for me to mention here). Good luck thats all I did with my son. He's now almost 18 months and will eat most things.

Answer 7

I started weaning my daughter at 12 weeks altho she wasn't showing signs of being a hungry baby and she was particularly small but she took to it straight away. The concept was that because she wasn't overly bothered by milk we'd try getting something else into her!

Rusk crushed and mixed with their normal formula/breast milk is a good one, especially at bed time as it fills their little tums better than fruit or veg and makes for happier sleeping!

Carrots, sweet potato, butternut squash, brocolli, parsnips, mango, all make excellent foods altho just about anything that will whizz up nicely will do! I started my daughter on basic veggies and fruits, rusk, packet cereals (baby ones of course) and some premade jars because it give you an idea of what they like.

Its advisable to avoid giving a baby gluten, meat and dairy before they are six months old, my health visitor told me (altho i had to stretch the gluten out to a year because its a inherited problem we were hoping she'd avoid getting and did!) but you can get plenty of gluten and everything else free cereals, jars of food and rusks quite easily.

Oh but be warned that things like carrots, sweet potato etc will 'dye' your baby's face a little because of the carotene! My daughter had a slight orange tinge for a few months but my health visitor said not to worry because it meant that if she was eating solids in enuf quantities to affect her like that she must be enjoying it!

Also if you can start giving him water in a tippy cup so he gets use to the idea, just a little sip after a few bites but it will make it so much easier and make him less dependant on the bottle!

Answer 8

there are many things that a 4month old baby cannot eat that a 5month old can eat.

most veggies and rice cereal is fine for that age. my baby hated the rice cereal nomatter how many different brands i tried...but each baby is different.

try the sweet potato puree. any veg that you steam or boil...wizzz it up and put the mixture in an ice cube tray to freez. every day take out one block for you baby. let it defrost and heat it slightly and bon apetite!

the key is to try patiently every day but give up when baby stops protsting and starts getting upset. mealtimes should not be traumatic for baby.

good luck!
:)

Answer 9

Definitely get yourself acopy of Annabel Karmel's little square, white book called Baby & toddler meal planner.

You don't need to buy into the whole "my baby only eats home made food" fad but Annabel Karmel has some brilliant ideas for those early months/years of food. Especially for things like how long to cook the veg/fruit for etc.

Have fun!!

Answer 10

This is what I used to do. Cut an apple to half and use a tea spoon (sharp and thin ones are better) to scratch the surface till it become mesh.. and you can feed your baby with that.
A banana can be done the same way.
It can also develop their fondness for fruits and vegetable.