Weaning

Babies don’t have to eat at this age! Some are ready so much later. WHO recommends to start earliest at 6m, not the latest ;) Give it time and wait until he is ready…

They don’t need 3 meals a day until 9-12 months! With naps and milk etc I would literally be feeding my girl all the time 😂 I do blw so usually if I have something I will offer her some, she puts everything in her mouth but doesn’t actually swallow much. at dinner I usually give her either whatever I am having (unless it contains dairy because she can’t have it) or some steamed vegetables and then some puree afterwards. Until she starts actually swallowing it seems pointless giving her much more

I'm starting with offering my LO something to chew when I'm eating. It can be cucumber, carrot, pasta, etc. steam, boil or raw. Once he was done chewing, we stopped. I offer him by holding it in the air and let him grab it from my hand. BLW is usually messy and lots of waste at the beginning, cause they'll chew but not fully eat it and drop on the floor, on the chair, etc

@Lauryn yeah that's what I remember from my first but I wonder if she's worried about his weight? My first got so chunky on BM and barely ate before 1 but that wasn't a problem.

@Gloria yes that's what I thought, I guess she must be worried about his weight gain to tell me to feed him this much.

Weight concerns are not a reason to start weaning - breast milk/ formula has way more calories and goodness in than the small amounts of solid food your baby will be eating at this stage. In fact, filling their tummies with low calorie foods like carrots, broccoli etc can actually make the problem worse because they don't have as much space for milk. As long as your baby is developmentally ready there's little harm in offering them small amounts of solid foods but their main source of nutrition is breast milk/ formula for a lot longer. It sounds very stressful for you if you're offering food 3x a day - once a day is plenty! And it's more about letting them explore food right now not about eating lots and putting on weight. It's so frustrating when information like this is given out as it makes it so confusing for us and only adds stress to our lives. Hope this helps, keep doing an amazing job for your little boy 💪🏻

@Rachel we have weight concerns with my girl too but if they aren’t swallowing hardly any of it then it isn’t going to help 😂 Food before 1 is just for fun

We did blw with our son and will be doing same with this one. I did start straight away with 3 meals but mostly he was just having little bits of mine, he didn't eat much initially but it kept him busy whilst I was eating. I did make "special" food but it was always something I was happy to have and he just had little bits. I don't see a problem with 3 meals because you are really just sitting baby down with you and getting them used to meal times, and trying new foods. It was definitely a while before he was eating properly but I just kept offering

I’m doing blw and only offer one meal a day. It took about a week for him to actually swallow his mouthfuls, just takes practice🫶🏼same with holding things and bringing it to their mouth. Eat with your lo so they can see/copy what they’re supposed to do x

I was told one meal from 6 months (but don’t be surprised if they only had one or two spoonfuls as they’re getting used to the taste and textures really) and then 2 meals from 7 months with a gradual move to 3 meals a day when they’re ready somewhere towards 9 months + for this. I’m surprised that she said 3 meals at 6 months. That seems a lot when they’re still having their bottles, I would be constantly cooking and wasting lots of food 🫣 x

My son turned 6 months yesterday. We are offering him something once a day, usually lunchtime or early evening. It's a mixture of purees and BLW at the moment. He is enjoying it but I'm not going crazy with it. They say food is for fun before 1, so it's just about introducing them to new textures and tastes but not pressuring them to eat.

Hi! That seems like odd advice! If there was a weight concern, they should have referred you to a dietician to give proper advice on high calorie weaning if needed. There’s not much chance of a 6 month old eating 3 full meals a day! I would strip it back and do what works for you. My son also dropped 2 centiles and is tracking since and I’m going to start weaning him in the next couple of weeks but I will just be following what I did with my eldest when I weaned her.