First tastes

We started weaning a few days ago after being unable to delay the inevitable any longer. For the last few weeks, my daughter has been transfixed by the sight of anybody eating. When we were on the ferry last week, she stuck her fist in my son's mash and beans and got livid when she wasn't allowed it. Also, I feel like Im constantly at the kettle boiling water ready for new bottles of formula so I decided not to wait until the recommended 6 months to start weaning.

So far, she has had baby rice, pear and sweet potato. Well, I say she's had these foods but she can only have consumed the most miniscule amount. When I gave her the first ever mouthful she gave me a look as if to say 'what on earth are you doing to me'. The rice was then pushed out with her tongue in the disgust. I tried a few more spoonfuls and gave up. She's had a little bit more very time I've fed her though. Pear wasn't hugely successful yesterday so I went out and bought another pear. I gave her the pear unpureed with the skin on so she could hold it herself. She loved it - so much so then when I dared to take it off her, she howled like she does when her brother takes her favourite toy. I plan to introduce a new food every 2 days so let's see how it goes.

About us!

I am a mother of 2 very small children - 1 baby and 1 toddler. Having already gone through the trials and tribulations of weaning only a year ago, I am now faced with this complex issue once again.

When I began to research weaning last year, I started with a book by Gina Ford and then Annabel Karmel. Both books were really informative. I then went to a coffee shop and saw a mum trying to prise open the lips of their young baby with a spoon loaded with what looked like congealed snot. The baby started wailing and the mother looked embarrassed and harrassed. Eventually, the baby managed to bat away the mother's arm and the snot-like substance ended up the wall. I began to dread the prospect of weaning.

I later stumbled upon a book about baby-led weaning, I really liked the idea of enabling a child to eat the same food as me. It also provides the opportunity to feed themselves and choose what they want to eat. When my son was 5 1/2 months old, I started weaning using this method. However, I soon realised that I didn't like the fact that my son wasn't really experiencing a variety of tastes or nutrients so I decided to combine puree feeding with baby-led weaning. This combined approach really worked for us. My son loved feeding himself and took to new foods really well. It also made my life easier as I didn't have to spend hours in the kitchen cooking batches of purees. Over the forthcoming blogs, I aim to share my experiences of combination weaning.