When to Introduce Baby Food- The Mummy Life
So today I'll be sharing my experience on weaning my baby into solid foods. As first time mums, we're always trying to feed our babies the best food whatsoever possible. And I've found weaning my baby into solid foods a very hard chore.
According to the Food Standard Agency, babies should ideally start eating solids by 6 months even though some babies start as early as 16 weeks (4 months).
When to wean a baby into solid food is entirely up to the mum, and whatever works for A might not work for B.
My daughter was exclusively on breast-milk for about 5 to 6 months even though I tried to introduce some baby rice/cereal at 4 months. She just wasn't having it; she'll rather breast-milk than anything else.
If you are a first time mum, mum to be or mum of a baby under 6 months and are torn as to when is best to feed your baby solids, please go with your instincts. With babies its always trial & error, if you do not try, you'll never know. It is a bit expensive but trust me if you want the best for your children, then its best to always give it a shot.
My baby is now 11 months old and still breastfed even though she eats solids really well.
The challenges I faced when I was weaning her into solids were-
She hated cereal and anything you had to mix with milk, so it was difficult for me to make her baby rice, cerelac etc.
- I didn't invest in a baby blender- If I had known, I would have invested in a baby blender so I can make her solids fresh for example her fruits & veggies. I ended up always buying the ones in a jar which she hated
- I wasted so much money- This is more of a lesson as opposed to a challenge. I bought alot of baby porridge in different flavours. One thing with babies is to always try and buy one at a time rather than in bulk. I ended up throwing them all away after opening each one to try :-( So make sure you buy one flavour and try if he/she likes it; if they do then you can go and stock up.
Asides the above, weaning in general is a very difficult chore at the same time very therapeutic for me.
I'm also going to be writing a post on Breastfeeding and its challenges and success stories etc. It is a very touchy subject particularly to mums who didn't have the opportunity to Breastfeed their little ones.
Stay tuned to that post and thanks for reading :-)
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