You've probably heard of the various problems of weaning. Hard stools, no stools, fussy eaters, milk refusal, etc. Once again, I advise mothers to give Gina Ford's book of weaning a read. I've been a avid follower of the Gina Ford method and once again, the LMM and I have benefited from her advice.
Firstly, start solids only when baby is ready. The world health authorities apparently now promote the introduction of solids only from 6 months onwards. A few signs to look out for:
1. Baby waking up in the middle of the night (if he previously slept thru)
2. Baby asking for a milk feed sooner than the regular times
3. Baby is able to sit up without assistance
Once you decided to start solid foods, you have to be prepared to introduce very swiftly, a huge variety of fruits and vegetables. This method helps prevent constipation and trains the baby to experience a large variety of foods without getting used to a particular food.
I started weaning the LMM the moment he hit the 6 month mark. It was very tempting to start him off at 5months plus..especially when I already bot the cute spoons and plates, etc :) Anyway, this is a quick and easy guide to how we weaned him in the first 4 weeks. Its a modified Gina Ford schedule which worked for us:
Week 1 Day 1
Intro Heinz organic baby rice cereal at 11am feed. Milk feed of 180ml continues.
All other milk feeds continue (7am, 2pm, 6.30pm, 10.30pm)
Week 1 Day 2
Heinz organic baby rice cereal at 11am feed.Milk feed of 180ml continues.
Heinz organic baby rice cereal at 5.30pm feed.Milk feed of 180ml continues.
All other milk feeds continue (7am, 2pm, 6.30pm, 10.30pm)
Week 1 Day 3
Heinz organic baby rice cereal at 11am feed. Grate some apples and add it to the cereal.
Milk feed of 180ml continues.
Heinz organic baby rice cereal at 5.30pm feed.Milk feed of 180ml continues.
All other milk feeds continue (7am, 2pm, 6.30pm, 10.30pm)
Week 1 Day 4
Heinz organic baby rice cereal at 11am feed. Grate some bananas and add it to the cereal.
Milk feed of 180ml continues.
Heinz organic baby rice cereal at 5.30pm feed.Grate some apples and add it to the cereal.
Milk feed of 180ml continues.
All other milk feeds continue (7am, 2pm, 6.30pm, 10.30pm)
Think you get the idea. Introduce a new fruit at lunch time, if there are no reactions, let him have it at dinner time the following day. Continue this for the first week and my LMM started to drop the 10.30pm feed. i.e. he goes to sleep after dinner.
Week 2 Day 1
Heinz organic baby rice cereal at 11am feed. Add pureed carrots (yes! we move on to vegetables). Milk feed of 180ml continues.
Heinz organic baby rice cereal at 5.30pm feed.Add pureed/grated fruit. Milk feed of 180ml continues.
All other milk feeds continue (7am, 2pm, 6.30pm, 10.30pm)
Week 2 Day 2
Heinz organic baby rice cereal at 11am feed. Add pureed sweet potato. Milk feed of 180ml continues.
Heinz organic baby rice cereal at 5.30pm feed.Add pureed/grated fruit. Milk feed of 180ml continues.
All other milk feeds continue (7am, 2pm, 6.30pm, 10.30pm)
and so on for Week 2. Basically, the lunch feed is cereal with various vegetables such as carrots, sweet potato, spinach, pumpkin, broccoli, cauliflower, potato, etc and the dinner feed is cereal with various fruits including apples, pear, banana and papaya.
Week 3 Day 1
Heinz organic baby rice cereal at 7am feed (add pureed/grated fruits to make it interesting)
It's Vegetable Week for baby! (11am) Take out the good ole blender and blend steamed vegetables such as pumpkin with potato and broccoli. Its really up to you what combination. Just use lots of colored vegetables and have at least one root vegetable for carbo. Milk feed reduces to 90ml.
Heinz organic baby rice cereal at 5.30pm feed.Add pureed/grated fruit. Milk feed of 180ml continues at 6.30pm.
All other milk feeds continue (7am, 2pm, 6.30pm)
Week 3 Day 2
Heinz organic baby rice cereal at 7am feed (add pureed/grated fruits to make it interesting)
11am Puree steamed Sweet potato and spinach. Milk feed of 60-90ml continues.
Heinz organic baby rice cereal at 5.30pm feed.Add pureed/grated fruit. Milk feed of 180ml continues at 6.30pm.
All other milk feeds continue (7am, 2pm, 6.30pm)
And you get the idea..For breakfast, I interchange between the baby rice cereal and Heinz' multigrain.
Week 4 Day 1-7
Heinz organic baby rice cereal at 7am feed (add pureed/grated fruits to make it interesting)
Finally, some protein for lunch. I call this the Chicken Pie! Puree steamed Chicken Breast, Potato , Pumpkin and Broccoli. Its really yummy. Remember not to put in salt or sugar. Baby does not need these seasonings. Milk feed of 60-90ml continues. You find that baby needs lesser and lesser milk at this meal.
Puree steamed Sweet potato and spinach at 5.30pm. Milk feed of 180ml continues at 6.30pm.
All other milk feeds continue (7am, 2pm, 6.30pm, 10.30pm)
and this continues for the rest of the week. Substitute between chicken puree and vege puree to keep the meals interesting for baby. Make sure that the foods are well blended into a consistency similar to a smoothie.
Week 5
This week, baby can be introduced to white fish. Porridge and pasta can be used in place of the usual rice cereal. There is a difference though.. dont mix the foods from this week onwards. Keep the different food types separate so that Baby can taste the vegetables, the fish, the cereal. So we have by now established the LMM on breakfast, lunch and dinner. His last feed is at 6.30pm and as I am typing now, he is fast asleep. I know that he will wake at 7am tomorrow for his breakfast. A yummy baby yogurt is waiting for him in the refrigerator (available at Carrefour).
It has been really fun so far feeding the LMM. I love the way he looks when he waits eagerly for each spoonful. And to hear his whimper when he finished the chicken pie he really liked...music to my ears...
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