Some thoughts about weaning your baby
After the physical act of birthing a baby and the initial days of discovering your baby and getting into some sort of a rhythm, to me weaning a baby is the next major event in the first year. After the first hectic months have passed, when finally there's a bit of a routine with the baby and (breast)feeding goes smoothly, then the next moment of insecurity comes... Weaning! Solids!
Out come the baby guide books again (all of them!), and there you are -- back in the land of the unknown. When to start? What foods to introduce first? How to cook it? Or steam? The insecurity hits again.
When I had my fist baby, I did a lot (a lot!) of research, like I'm sure most, if not all first time mums do. Still not entirely sure what to do, I decided to follow the advice most doctors were giving at that time: I started solids after exclusively breastfeeding for 6 months. Ignoring the fact that Sara was already litterally grabbing the spoon out of my hands if I was trying to eat (which I did all day long because I was so hungry because of all of that breastfeeding).
I started with baby rice because the guide books said so (and none of my babies liked it). Then I introduced vegetables first (I read somewhere that otherwise the baby would develop a sweet tooth), repeated this for three days before introducing the next 'ingredient', so allergies could be discovered immediately. And then after that (although it wasn't completely clear exactly when as to avoid the dreaded sweet tooth), I introduced fruits. All of this was exclusively home cooked and organic, and carefully frozen in mini batches, meticulously labeled.
I remember my mum raising an eyebrow but cleverly not interfering (she had simply mashed up a banana for my first bites when I was around four months old).
Thankfully Sara was a good eater and the whole process went well. So for the second child, I repeated the process. So far, so good. My third baby however, refused to eat. After her first taste of baby rice, she decided that food was not her thing, and she refused to open her mouth again.
It's funny how things change. How I have changed! Even though I try to cook meals for Casper whenever possible, I do end up squeezing shop bought baby food in his mouth an awful lot of times. (Hey -- it's organic!) My old me would be appalled. Also, the general advise has changed -- I understand that nowadays, doctors say to start earlier (at 4 months, 3 even!) and to introduce all sorts of food at the same time, peanut butter and all.
So what is wise? To me, it seems sensible to wait until your baby shows an interest in food. When he follows your spoon with his eyes when you're eating, and is grabbing for objects and bringing them to his mouth, it might be a good time to start. Possibly with a mashed banana!
And also: cooking for your baby is fun, and surely very healthy, but there are plenty of great, ready-made baby food products on the market that are yummy and can bring stress factors down dramatically. Finally, mashing half an avocado with half a banana and mixing it with a spoon of full yoghurt is the easiest home-cooked baby meal I have in my repertoire.
I'm very curious about your thoughts and experiences about weaning in general. And if you'd like to share your fool proof baby food recipe -- yes please!
xxx Esther