New Blog and Update

I've not posted anything here for awhile because I feel like The Babe has weaned. She is getting 100% of her energy and nutrients from food and a small cup of milk now and eats everything we eat.  I still make her own snacks and the odd special meal and those are posted on MY PERSONAL BLOG. If you follow my board on Pinterest I've already posted some links to recipes and ideas from my other blog.  Follow me on Pinterest or click the blog link above for other snack and meal ideas and recipes. 

Ta xo 

AND WE'RE BACK! A Catch up and some meal ideas

I've been struggling with a Babe who all of a sudden decided that the fantastic nap routine she FINALLY got on was NO GOOD and that she much rather nap on the go, which has meant that between that and 2 trips to Canada in the last couple of months I haven't had much time to sit down and post anything here. 

Over the past couple of months (from 10-12 months) I can't say that I have noticed any big changes in  MiniMe's approach to eating, her likes and dislikes, or her appetite.  She is still excited by food more often than not and even on the days when she isn't feeling well she will still eat most of what we are offering her.  

At 10.5 months her bottom 2 teeth FINALLY came through and we have noticed that she is trying to rip stuff like bread into smaller bites using them, but without the top guys it is still pretty difficult.  She definitely prefers her food in smaller bite-sized pieces. Every day I will offer her something in a bigger piece but she leaves it until I cut it up smaller (strips of chicken, toast, banana...anything).  The bite sized pieces I offer her are still large enough that she needs to gum them though. 

While we were away visiting family in Canada we ate out a lot and most places were very accommodating making us veggies without salt, sweet potato fries without salt, bringing a side of toast and peanut butter, or an extra scrambled egg.  She helped things, of course, with her big smiles and goo goo eyes.  I often ordered something that we could share and then a side of something else to share because the KIDS menus just weren't appealing. 

We are back home now, trying to get over the 2nd lot of jet lag and resume normal service.  Here are a few things we have had over the past couple of weeks to offer some inspiration. 

Breakfast: Corn Flakes softened in milk, banana and peanut butter and jam bread roll ups

Breakfast: Scrambled Egg with cheese, blueberry porridge bar and yogurt

Brunch: French Toast, scrambled egg, beans and yogurt

Snack: Peanut Butter with mashed banana (slices of banana and a coffee for mum) 

Dinner: Spaghetti Bolognese and broccoli 

I cut the spaghetti strands in thirds so they were easier to schlurp up 

Dinner: Beans, avocado and cheese

Dinner:  Pizza with cheese,ham and mushrooms (I make my own dough so there is no salt) 

Lunch: Minestrone Soup with Alphabet pasta and hummus bread roll ups 

A Progress Report, A Confession and A Revelation

7 weeks into our weaning adventure and we are continually amazed at MiniMe's eating.  Sure, some days I feel like we are doing something wrong and I am going to end up giving her some sort of food complex but for the most part those days are few and far between.  It is hard not to second guess our choices and to compare MiniMe to other babies her age, or all those just starting out and stuffing whole sweet potatoes in their mouths on day 1.  I have to stop myself from constantly saying " why is she still not doing that?" And remind myself that in 7 weeks she has made so much progress.

We (read I) have come to accept that combination feeding is the best route for us and that MiniMe is more than happy to self feed chunks of fruit and toast and some veggies.  Sure she is still avoiding broccoli like the plague, but actually picked up and devoured most of half of a banana the other afternoon as a "snack".  She happily accepts spoons of yogurt, soup, porridge and mashed sweet potatoes and clearly shows us when she has had enough by turning her face away and keeping that little mouth clamped tighter than Fort Knox.  This morning she ate a good portion of scrambled eggs with a little help from dad holding chunks for her to gum bits off of, that is huge progress.  

Little events like this morning's scrambled egg adventure restores my faith in us as parents, it makes me proud of all of us, it helps me remember that MiniMe is her own little person, she is new to all this and is really coming along at her own pace.  Watching her gum down a frightenly huge chunk of melon reminds me of how incredible this journey we are on really is.  

Sure I still dream of the day she'll eat her way through a slice of lasagne, but I am happy with where we are.  This learning process is an experiement and we are doing just fine.  

On the Road Weaning: Week 5

I haven't bothered writing anything separate for our 4th week of weaning.  MiniMe had a horrible cold, and then a fever and then a rash.  She wasn't interested in eating or nursing or much of anything, really.  I did continue to offer her things like toast and yogurt over the week, but only once a day if she was in good spirits.  Poor thing, it really knocked her for six...and totally screwed up all the progress we had made with weaning.  And to top it all off, we had a visit from the health visitor where we found out the MiniMe had dropped down another percentile on the weight chart...ugh.

She's never been a great feeder, and although she is very active she doesn't seem to want to eat for any longer than is entirely necessary...so she already had that against her, and then when I mentioned that we had only started weaning at 6 months and were trying mostly Baby Led Weaning, the Health Visitor told us that because MiniMe's weight gain wasn't steady and because she isn't a great feeder it was important to be more aware of how much solid food she was actually ingesting.  She said that she liked Baby Led Weaning and she didn't want to discourage me, but that if I was already trying some combination feeding that I really should try to spoon feed MiniMe yogurt or soup once a day...that way we could guarantee she was taking on at least those calories. And to offer her 3 meals, instead of the 2 I was already doing. All fine with me, really.

Week 5

The day following that visit we flew down to Norfolk to spend some time with the Grandparents.  They were really onboard with the whole finger food thing and totally prepared for the mess, which was really nice for me...made meal times less stressful.  Sticking with the advice we had been given I spent some time making a batch of carrot soup to freeze in an ice cube tray so that we were prepared for MiniMe's meals, and stocked up on some yogurt, cottage cheese and some fruits.  

When we visit The Grandparents we tend to go on lots of day trips so most of the meals at home consist of nibbles for the adults.  It wasn't ideal really in terms of wanting MiniMe to eat what we were eating, but she did manage some good salad plates of veggies, hummus and cheese.  Eating out was another experience, and despite having problems with most high chairs, she managed to nibble on little bits of my meals.  I only found it difficult once to find something appropriate to share on the menu, and when I mentioned to the waitress that I had found it hard she offered to bring MiniMe some toast...which was really nice of her.  In the end, though, MiniMe ended up sucking and gnawing on the pickled cucumber that sat atop my burger! 

This week plums and kiwi fruit were a big hit.  Totally messy, but a big hit. She can easily hold a quarter of a plum or kiwi and use her gums to scrape out the flesh from the inside.  Apples and cucumber were great to gnaw on and massage her gums, and she loved sucking hummus off the ends of bread sticks. 

We introduced meat this week as well, roasted chicken thigh shredded and some lovely lemon chicken breasts shredded too.  MiniMe couldn't get the meat into her mouth so I popped pieces in for her.  I know that I have read about not putting food in a baby's mouth for fear of chocking, but she was very good at gumming the bits I helped her get into her mouth.  She also loved the bolognaise sauce in her piece of lasagne.  

I fed her yogurt or soup everyday, sometimes both in one day...MiniMe is very happy for me to spoon feed her now, and has actually become less interested in picking up the finger foods we offer her.  She is very happy to pick up plums, kiwi, bread sticks, and toast but is less interested in anything that is too wet, or gooey or sticky.  She certainly isn't interested in licking anything off her hands if they get mucky.  

I think it is safe to say we are combination feeding, and happy about that.  

Eating Out During the Early Days

MiniMe and I have been visiting The Grandparents over the past few days.  I was slightly apprehensive about coping with her meals while we were visiting, mostly because we had quite a few restaurant meals on the itinerary.  I wasn't that worried about feeding her while we were in the house, I was a little bit worried about Grandad's kitchen floor and his reaction to the food being tossed overboard all over it, but I needn't of worried about that.  We put a large towel down under the highchair and just let MiniMe do her thing.  Grandad was surprisingly cool with the mess.  I was worried about feeding her while we were out.

Two weeks ago I would have just let MiniMe play with some toys while the adults ate, but after a visit from our Health Visitor I have been advised to make sure she is getting 3 meals a day.  While I'm sure skipping lunch on the odd day wouldn't really make a difference (she's still only experimenting with food) I have noticed that she is starting to EXPECT food if everyone else is eating. 

The things that worried me about offering MiniMe good while we were out were firstly, the mess and secondly having to choose my meal based on what I could share with her. Ok, maybe the second one is a little bit selfish of me, but it is actually really difficult some times, for example one meal I ordered a roast lunch thinking she would be able to have some of huge veg only for it all to be cut super small and cooked very al dente.  She did, however, manage to eat her way through a very soft roast potato on that occasion.  On anotther visit she gnawed away on some courgette rounds, basically sucking the juice out of hone, and when we stopped at a coffee shop for a break she had some of my teacake with  butter. 

The mess, actually, wasn't too much of an issue.  I did pick up all the bits off the floor when she was done, to help the poor servers.  I only offered her one bit of food at a time and handed it to her so that it wasn't sitting on the tray.  And I made sure to wipe the tray before and after eating with some wet wipes. Don't know if any of that really made a difference to anyone else, but it did to me.  

What was most difficult, and what I didn't expect, was how awful some of the highchairs are in some restaurants.  I know they can't all have the highchair we are used to, but some of them are just awful and I've had to bring a tea towel with me in our diaper bag to help prop MiniMe up!!!! 

1 step forward, 2 steps back: Week 3

Weaning is such an experiment, isn't it? We are experimenting, as parents, trying to figure out what would foods are "right" for MiniMe and she is experimenting with tastes, textures, and that thing called gravity.  All this trail and error has left us continuing to bumble through week 3. 

At the end of last week I thought that we had really made a break through.  MiniMe was happily putting everything in her mouth (or near her mouth) at least once before discarding it on the floor and I'm pretty sure a little bit of toast, peach and pizza crust was actually swallowed.  The pre-loaded spoon was also getting into her mouth before being banged around...PROGRESS!! 

And then MiniMe was floored by a horrible snotty nose and teething as well! Week 3 really has been a week of "Look Look, she's actually chomping on it" and complete avoidance of anything put on her tray. Ups and Downs.  

week 3

We had a lot of soup and yogurt this week.  Surprisingly, one of the big steps forward was on the spoon front.  MiniMe is now letting us feed her a couple of spoonfuls of soup or yogurt.  We show her how we use the spoon to scoop out some soup, then we offer it to her and this week she has been putting her hand on the spoon and helping us guide it into her mouth.  We usually get 3 or 4 spoonfuls in before she starts keeping that little mouth clamped shut.  

I introduced a few new foods this week and stuck with toast, pita, peaches, pizza crust, peppers and broccoli.  Scrambled egg was one of the new ones.  We had tried some omelette before so I wasn't too concerned about any allergic reaction, but I made sure not to offer any new foods that day...just incase.  In the end I don't think any egg actually made it into MiniMe's mouth...it was too bitty for her.  But she had a good time squishing it around her tray.  

Mango was another new food, but it wasn't very well received.  I kept the skin on (washed) to help her hold onto the pieces, but they were quickly tossed overboard.  Dad and I enjoyed eating what was left though, so that's a plus.  

Because MiniMe has been happy to have yogurt already I decided to buy fruit yogurt this week to see if she liked any of the flavours.  I bought tubs of Yeo Valley Organic Blueberry and Peach & Apricot. I love Yeo Valley yogurt anyway, it is thick and not sweet at all.  MiniMe wasn't too keen on the Peach & Apricot, which I thought was surprising since she has been happily sucking on peach slices, but she couldn't get enough of the Blueberry one! 

Finally, we eat a lot of pasta in this house.  It is a really easy, quick weekday meal for me to make and I tend to make sauces with loads of veggies.  We tried MiniMe with some plain penne pasta (easy for her to pick up) and she happily munched away on it.  Next week I am going to try some with sauce on it, but I suspect it will be too slippery for her to pick up.  

I noticed this week that at breakfast time MiniMe is still pretty dopey. She's not quite with it until after her morning nap so I stopped offering her breakfast from Tuesday and gave her what we think of as breakfast foods at lunch time instead...yogurt, toast, fruit and porridge bites.  Since she's still just exploring (and I think she will be for a while) it is ok for her to only be offered food 1 or 2 times a day, anyway.  

The snotty nose turned into a full blown cold by Thursday...putting a temporary halt to the weaning. 

Slowly Slowly: Week 2

Week 2 saw MiniMe showing much more interest in the food we offered her.  Almost everything made its way into her mouth...very little was gnawed on, but it was all given a try.  

The big hits this week were grilled pepper strips (we were having fajitas).  Dad thinks it is because I rubbed a little bit of olive oil on them before I grilled them so when placed before MiniMe they were nice and shiny...like plastic.

Tinned peach slices have also been a big hit. They are the perfect size for hands and oh so juicy! I figure, even if she isn't CHOMPING on them she's getting loads of the juice.  I have no problems with tinned fruit, especially at this time of the year. I'd love to have fresh peaches for MiniMe to try NOW but they are so expensive and...rock hard.  We've tried tinned pears, apricots and peaches and the peaches have been the firm favourite so far (as in she's actually picked it up and put it in her mouth).  It is a bit tricky finding fruit in JUICE rather than SYRUP but there is enough choice out there.  PLUS for £1 I can offer MiniMe peaches for a week.  Oh...yes, the peaches are a little bit slimy, but I just pat them dry with kitchen roll.

Finally, I didn't bother taking a photo of our FrIday night dinner...PIZZA.  Every Friday we have homemade pizza in front of the TV in our pyjamas.  Since we started weaning, however, we've been a bit more civilized and have been eating up at the table in our regular clothes but I can't wait until we can get back to our Friday Night Pizza Party.  This week when I made the dough I omitted the salt and then once baked cut off one of my crusts for MiniMe.  She LOVED it.  She happily sat there gumming away at her dough stick.

I am amazed on a daily basis when MiniMe puts the food from her tray into her mouth.  She has definitely become more curious about it.  She is in love with her spoon, but after 2 or 3 accidental tastings it becomes something to bang on the tray rather than put in her mouth.  She is trying MOST things and her shocked face is more and more precious.

Slowly slowly is our motto.  We are still reminding each other that it is OK if nothing reaches her mouth, that she is happy and chatty and enjoying sitting up at the table.  She IS making progress and this is all new and weird to her.  

The Pre-Loaded SPOON

We weren't sure how we were going to tackle food that needs to be eaten with a spoon.  I had been keen to try to spoon feed SOME things to MiniMe in the hopes that when we are out and about (or on a 13 hour plane journey) she will happily let me feed her.  Most of my friends who have  gone down the Baby Led Weaning route have combined it with spoon feeding, in fact it seems to be pretty common in parents who aren't hard core BLW-ers. 

How do those BLW babies eat soup you ask? off toast...and yogurt? off apple slices...or off a pre-loaded spoon.  A SPOON THAT YOU "LOAD" with whatever the spoonable food is and hand over to your baby.  

Combination feeding was the route I was sure we were going to go down. I wasn't too keen on the idea of handing MiniMe a spoon "pre-loaded" with anything...it sounded like I was handing her some automatic weapon.  A messy soup flinging weapon. 

MiniMe had other ideas.  During our first week weaning we offered her some soup with toast fingers, but tried spoon feeding her the soup first.  That little mouth stayed clamped shut...no amount of silly faces pulled by Dad could make it open.  So we dipped her toasts and those made their way to her mouth...like immediately. 

Week 2 we introduced yogurt and tried spoon feeding her again...again that little mouth was cemented closed.  I couldn't stomach the idea of dipping her toast in the yogurt (gag gag gag) so I decided to give the pre-loaded spoon a try.  

All I did was smear a bit of yoghurt on the back and front of the spoon and hand it to her.  She started banging it around on the tray and then tried to get it into her mouth.  She was holding it far too far down the handle, so the yogurt ended up all over her face...her expression was priceless WHO PUT THIS MUCK ON MY PLASTIC TOY??? But, after loading it again and helping her to hold it closer up the handle the yogurt made its way into her mouth.

We tried a few spoonfuls and she obligingly tasted it every time.  It was messy, more was smeared across the tray and up and down her arms...but it worked. And the best bit, she was happily trying it, unlike when we tried to do it for her.

I'd still like her to let me feed her, just so that I know I can if I feel the need to, and maybe that will come in time when she begins to understand what the MUCK on the end of the spoon is.  For now, though, I'm a convert to the pre-loaded spoon.

Getting Ready...

Last week I attended a weaning talk at the local baby clinic.  I only knew about it because the baby nurse had mentioned it when we were in getting MiniMe weighed before Christmas.  Actually, when we were there before Christmas she asked if we were staying for the weaning talk she was doing that day (which I didn't know about).  I wasn't really prepared to, at that point, so she said to come along to the one in the new year.  

Along we bumbled.  A few mums from my antenatal group were there getting their babies (born before MiniMe) weighed and when I asked if they were staying for the weaning talk they told me they had (all) already been to a talk and, besides, they were (all) already weaning.  That didn't really phase me. MiniMe is the youngest baby in the group anyway.  What I wasn't prepared for was for her to be the OLDEST at the weaning talk.  The baby nurse was actually surprised that we were there, and what she told us wasn't really relevant to us anyway...because it was all about weaning from 17 weeks.  

I guess I felt a bit the fool, really.  I hadn't been notified of any talks when MiniMe was 4 months old and since weaning wasn't even on my radar at the time I didn't think to ask about it.  Needless to say I didn't really learn anything new from the talk.  And it was only after the fact that I thought of some questions to ask (about offering whole wheats and grains, dairy, brown rice).  We see the Health Visitor in a week so I'll TRY to remember to ask her then. 

In the meantime we've decided to start MiniMe on solids TOMORROW! We had been intent on waiting until she is 26 weeks but social engagements mean that Dad won't be around next weekend and it wouldn't be fair on him to miss out on such a BIG EVENT.  

I've also been reading some weaning books, namely Baby Led Weaning by Gill Rapley and Weaning Made Easy by Rana Conway.  Rapley's book is all about Baby Led Weaning (obviously) and it outlines how to go about it through the different stages MiniMe will go through over the next few months.  It explains about gagging reflexes and, what I found interesting, the LANGUAGE, of weaning.  She says to OFFER food, rather than GIVE or FEED.  Offering implies that MiniMe is in charge of feeding and regulating her food herself, where as giving or feeding implies that we are making the decision for her.  Typing that out makes it all seem a bit hippy dippy actually, but in reality it makes a lot of sense.  MiniMe is exclusively breast fed, she already decides when she wants to eat and for how long...this is something that she will be able to carry on at the table.  

I'm happy to have read the Baby Led Weaning book to have a better understanding of the physical side of eating...what is actually going to be going on in MiniMe's mouth and the ethos behind letting her be in control.  I like that, but we have decided that we would like to do a combination of spoon fed and baby led weaning.  Conway's book talks about combining both methods but because she gives advice for weaning from 4 months the beginning of the book is pretty spoon fed/puree heavy and in her meal plans still recommends baby rice/porridge for 6 month olds.  I'm not interested in that, one bit.  

So we have decided that TOMORROW we are going to give finger foods a go.  Banana at breakfast, steamed carrots and lunch and steamed broccoli at dinner.  We have no history of allergies on either side of our family so we are just going to go for it.  For the meantime MiniMe will get to explore what we offer her for breakfast, lunch and dinner on the weekends when we can all sit down together, and for breakfast and lunch during the week (unless Dad comes home early).  Once she is settled and actually eating I'll start eating my dinner early during the week with her...but that's a while away.  

Stay Tuned...

Weaning Gear: Plates and Bowls and Spoons! Oh MY!

We still haven't decided how we are going to approach introducing solids into MiniMe's diet.  We've read the Baby Led Weaning Book and the current advice on the NHS Start4LIfe website, which suggests purees and mashed foods are the best way to start.  I suppose the most important thing we've gleaned from it all is that we will wait until MiniMe is ready to start, even if that means waiting another few weeks, or a month.  I'm not frightened by the study I talked about in my last post that warned  about how introducing solid foods too late would raise MiniMe's chance of getting diabetes, and so we will wait.  

In the meantime, though, we've been thinking about weaning gear.  All that stuff that clutters up the cupboards and comes flying out when doors are opened clattering to the floor...the plastic stuff.  I know strictly speaking for Baby Led Weaning we wouldn't need any gear, just pull MiniMe right up to the table and let her go for it.  I'm just not that relaxed.  We purposely bought a highchair with a tray so that MiniMe could eat off of that if she goes straight onto finger foods, but if we choose to introduce purees or mashed foods first then she will need something else. 

Although I love the idea of MiniMe using plates and bowls and spoons that aren't plastic we (I) really need to be realistic. She won't be able to lift up a GLASS sippy cup let alone DRINK from it for months, and I totally don't fancy the idea of my china dishes being knocked onto the floor...so, really, it has to be plastic.

I didn't fancy spending much money on weaning gear right now, since we don't know what we are going to be doing and when we are going to be starting, so we picked up some plates, bowls and cutlery from IKEA when we were there before Christmas buying MiniMe's highchair.

Ikea bowls 

The IKEA stuff is great and cheap! 6 bowls and plates and 6 sets of cutlery for £3...they make cups too but I'm not anticipating using a cup for a while.  The bowls and plates are a nice size, the colours are great, and they dishwasher safe (not that we have one of those) the cutlery looks a bit chunky to me for little hands, but I'm sure that the spoons will be just fine.  I don't imagine MiniMe will be skilfully cutting up her dinner with a knife and fork just yet.  

Vital Travel Weaning Set 

I was given an ORANGE version of this travel weaning set by a mum2be I know here in Edinburgh.  I think it will soon become part of our essential going out kit.  I know that I could pack up a puree or some finger foods for MiniMe for when we are on the go in any old tupperware container, but part of me likes the idea of her having her own "lunchbox".  I assume that she will quickly recognise it as her own, and (hopefully) get excited about the prospect of whatever is inside.  

We are definitely equipped with enough bowls, plates and spoons to see us through purees and mashed foods if we choose to go that route and if we don't I still imagine we will use them for Baby Led Weaning.

Born Free Training Cup 

Our Health Visitor gave us a FREE FLOW training cup when she came to see us at 6 weeks.  No, it wasn't that fab Born Free cup, it is a bog standard plastic cup with a sippy lid.  The catch is that there is no leak-proof/spill-proof valve in the lid so it shouldn't affect the way that MiniMe nurses.  I don't know if the cup I was given is BPA free so I have been looking into other options and these Born Free training cups seem like a great one.  I know MiniMe isn't going to be drinking loads of water in the first instance, but I do think it is important for her cup to be BPA-free.

The next thing to decide on is some massive bib to catch all the mess! 

When should we start to Wean?

I've been thinking a lot about weaning MiniMe over the past month or so.  Mostly I've been day dreaming about the amazing meals I'll make her and how much fun we will have in the kitchen together, but more practically I have been worrying more and more about when to actually start weaning her onto solid foods. 

A pal of Dad's gave us a box of baby cereal a month ago, it was unopened and had a short date and he thought that we might be able to use it since, at that point, MiniMe was nearing 4 months.  Dad was all ready to give it ago when I kiboshed his plans.  

In my mind 4 months was way too young to start MiniMe on baby cereal (even if the box said it was fine for babies from 4 months).  At that point, while she could hold her head up pretty much without looking like a BobbleHead, she was still slumping over while sitting in the Bumbo or on my lap.  She wasn't ready, and on closer inspection I had to tell Dad that I wasn't prepared to express milk just to mix with the baby cereal (especially considering I haven't really been able to express to feed MiniMe). 

We hadn't had a discussion about her weaning as her parents yet, there was no way we were just going to jump into it.  We agreed to wait until after Christmas to broach the subject again, or sooner if our Health Visitor thought it might help with MiniMe's weight gain.  

Now that MiniMe is 5 months old we can realistically think about this huge step.  Her weight has levelled out just with a few tweaks to how we breastfeed so there is no need to worry about filling up her tummy just yet, giving us a little bit more time to think about our plan of action. 

The NHS Start4Life site suggests that MiniMe will be ready for solids when she can stay in a sitting position and can hold her head steady, Co-ordinate her hands, eyes and mouth, pick up food and put it in her mouth, and swallow her food.  Basically she needs to be able to sit up unaided with a steady head, be able to pick up food and get it pretty close to her mouth, and be able to swallow (not just push her food back out).  

Realistically, the only way to know if she will be able to do most of those things is to try.  

I am glad we decided to get MiniMe a highchair as one of her Christmas presents (we went with the IKEA Antilop).  For the past week she has been sitting up at the table with us during meal times.  She needs a little bit of support for her back since she is a bit dinky, but for the most part she sits up very nicely and plays and chats away to us while we eat.  I think that by introducing the highchair before starting solids MiniMe will get used to sitting up, be familiar what happens up at the table and will (hopefully) be more confident.  

While speed reading some weaning sites on the internet over the past couple of weeks I came across this article that kind of threw some doubt into the plan of action Dad and I have started to work on.  The article calls into question the advice that we wait until 6 months to introduce our children to solids. It suggests that by waiting too long we are placing them at risk of developing diabetes in childhood.  

Shoot me through the heart! 

I feel guilty enough about everything I choose to do as it is, and now I need to feel guilty about waiting to wean MiniMe? Sure enough the article also warns about the dangers of weaning too early...so I'm left with the dilemma of when is the right time? 

I suspect MiniMe will be ready in a few weeks time, close to the 6 month mark.

I'm off to a weaning talk at the Doctor's Surgery next week.  I'm hoping to have some questions answered, but by then MiniMe will be 5 1/2 months so early weaning won't be an option really anyway (not that I'm keen to start early).  

Too nosey to nurse

MiniMe is too nosey to nurse unless she's sleepy or has just woken up from a (rare) nap.  Granted, at these times she is much more efficient at feeding (something we are trying to encourage) but this curiosity is making it increasingly more difficult to nurse during the day, let alone when we are out and about.  

Breastfeeding has been a challenge from about 2 months anyway.  The curiosity partnered with a determination not to eat too long (surprisingly not a greedy baby) has caused MiniMe to suffer from a foremilk/hindmilk imbalance...which sucks.  It means she is feeding little and often, like VERY often. And it isn't doing her tummy any favours.  

We are working on feeding for longer, using block feeding (feeding from one side for a length of time before switching to the other breast) and breast compressions.  We are trying to lengthen the time between feeds by waiting until she is really hungry and demanding to be fed, making feeding in public a fiasco.  It all weighs on my mind.  

If MiniMe doesn't up her weight gain over this next week we will seriously have to consider introducing a formula feed in the evening to help bulk her up.  

I'm not sure how I feel about that.  Of course I am going to do whatever is best for MiniMe, I wouldn't refuse her formula just to be able to say she was exclusively breastfed.  I mean, it doesn't matter that much to me.  BUT there is a little part of me that knows that introducing the one formula feed will quickly lead to more.  I'm not convinced that she is always latching on properly, and I'm pretty sure she's lazy...the bottle is just going to be too easy.  

I was voicing all my concerns with Dad this weekend and he said, "Well in 6 weeks we'll be weaning anyway, you aren't going to breastfeed after 6 months are you?" 

Oh, I hadn't actually considered stopping breastfeeding at 6 months.  The thought of introducing both solids and formula fills me with dread.  The BBC broadcast a report a month or so ago about a pilot scheme paying mums to breastfeed and they reported that something like only 1% of exclusively breastfed babies continued to be breastfed after 6 months.  Does that mean that MOST babies go onto formula when they start weaning? 

I'm not sure what I'll do.  

4 months old and starting to think about weaning

It is hard, as a parent, to step back sometimes and just enjoy the moment you are in.  I try to stop myself from thinking about my baby's next stage, what she's going to be like when she starts crawling, when she starts laughing, when she starts (heaven help us) WALKING! 

We've recently celebrated our 4th month of being a family and I can't help but start worrying about what I think of as a really BIG milestone...weaning...eek! In a couple of months time she will be ready to start eating food...real food, not just baby mush...FOOD.  

I have loads of worries; breast feeding has been tricky up to this point so the thought of introducing solids while still struggling with breast feeding worries me BUT I'm not sure that MiniMe will be ready for solids and the thought of continuing solely on breast feeding also worries me, choosing the right weaning process for her worries me, knowing when to start worries me...sheesh, writing all this down makes me worry FOR ME.  

I've started doing some research on-line.  Looking at the differences between the bog standard weaning process of purees and mashes and mushes and blobs on a spoon where MiniMe and I play "here comes the aeroplane open wiiiide" on a loop for months and the on-trend Baby Led Weaning where MiniMe would feed herself and explore her food...the same food Mum and Dad have on their plates.  

I don't know what we are going to do yet.  We have to see how MiniMe develops over the next couple of months.  We have to wait until she is ready, and while I day dream of the two of us making pizzas together in the kitchen I really need to step back into reality and just wait.  

The few websites that I have had the time to briefly skim over during a rare moment of peace have really given me confidence for once weaning has been established, but what I can't really get my head around is the beginning few weeks and months of weaning...when MiniMe will still be getting most of her calories from breast feeding.  That is why I thought I'd start this blog, although at this point I don't know which path we are going to go down, it might be helpful for someone, somewhere, who is as clueless as me.