Food: when, how and what
This one all depends on your child. Like with everything, every child is different and for this trust me every child will definitely let you know when they need more food, our son definitely did.
Things you need to consider are:
Does you child have a medical condition such as a hyperactive thyroid? If so you are going to need to move your child onto solids a lot sooner than most. Like my son, he had a hyperactive thyroid and he had to move into food at 10 weeks old.
Is your child showing interest in food?
Are they chewing the bottles?
Is the gap between bottles getting shorter and shorter?
All these are pretty good signs of them wanting to move on. Now I can hear you saying to the screen, "but the midwife told me not to move them onto food until 6 months or they will get fat" ... trust me they really won't, medical advice keeps changing and they never can seem to make their minds up on when they want children to start food...and how do they know every child in the world? They really don't, you know your child better than anyone and you will know when they need food, they have their ways of telling you even though they can't use their words yet. Babies just seem to be able to get their messages across when they want to.
Now, that answers when and how you will know, so shall we talk about what to move them onto and how?
Best thing to try first is baby rice, you can put it into bottles which thickens up their milk making it more filling, but honestly, I found that a lot of children struggle to drink their bottles if you put it in. Normally children react so well to being spoon fed, and the sooner you start spoon feeding, my son would lap up the food, eating every last bit of it.
You can also move the to all kinds of soft foods like bananas, porridge (made with baby milk obviously hehe) and vegetable purees. I swear by smashed up bananas, it looks horrible but our son loved the stuff, it was like it never hit the sides when he was eating it, I could guarantee he would finish the whole lot.
Then move them onto all sorts, try blending up your meals and freezing them to save for them for their meals, then all you have to do is heat it up a little bit and add some water... this not only gets them onto proper food and ensures that you know what is in the food that your giving them but it also gets them used to your cooking at an early stage to do they won't have as much of a problem as they grow up.
If I can also give you another word of advice, and you will have probably heard this a million times, I know I did, but keep the sweets, treats and chocolate to a minimum and make them a real treat.. we even gave our son, later on when he was properly chewing, raisins or carrot sticks and things like that as a treat... and honestly now he absolutely loves his fruit and veg, if we are out and about I hear so many children crying for sweets and chocolate but my son will walk past the fruit and veg stalks and say "apples" or "strawberries" or "carrots" and proceeds to tell me how much he apparently loves them... so definitely treat them as though they are sweet or treats and your child will hopefully love them as much as ours.
But remember, your child is your child, you know them best and you know what is best for them.... don't ever let someone tell you otherwise!!
Hope you have enjoyed the read and it has been helpful.
Next post will be on the moving crisis- when they start to move.
If you need any advice don't hesitate to comment, I'm happy to help where I can.
Things you need to consider are:
Does you child have a medical condition such as a hyperactive thyroid? If so you are going to need to move your child onto solids a lot sooner than most. Like my son, he had a hyperactive thyroid and he had to move into food at 10 weeks old.
Is your child showing interest in food?
Are they chewing the bottles?
Is the gap between bottles getting shorter and shorter?
All these are pretty good signs of them wanting to move on. Now I can hear you saying to the screen, "but the midwife told me not to move them onto food until 6 months or they will get fat" ... trust me they really won't, medical advice keeps changing and they never can seem to make their minds up on when they want children to start food...and how do they know every child in the world? They really don't, you know your child better than anyone and you will know when they need food, they have their ways of telling you even though they can't use their words yet. Babies just seem to be able to get their messages across when they want to.
Now, that answers when and how you will know, so shall we talk about what to move them onto and how?
Best thing to try first is baby rice, you can put it into bottles which thickens up their milk making it more filling, but honestly, I found that a lot of children struggle to drink their bottles if you put it in. Normally children react so well to being spoon fed, and the sooner you start spoon feeding, my son would lap up the food, eating every last bit of it.
You can also move the to all kinds of soft foods like bananas, porridge (made with baby milk obviously hehe) and vegetable purees. I swear by smashed up bananas, it looks horrible but our son loved the stuff, it was like it never hit the sides when he was eating it, I could guarantee he would finish the whole lot.
Then move them onto all sorts, try blending up your meals and freezing them to save for them for their meals, then all you have to do is heat it up a little bit and add some water... this not only gets them onto proper food and ensures that you know what is in the food that your giving them but it also gets them used to your cooking at an early stage to do they won't have as much of a problem as they grow up.
If I can also give you another word of advice, and you will have probably heard this a million times, I know I did, but keep the sweets, treats and chocolate to a minimum and make them a real treat.. we even gave our son, later on when he was properly chewing, raisins or carrot sticks and things like that as a treat... and honestly now he absolutely loves his fruit and veg, if we are out and about I hear so many children crying for sweets and chocolate but my son will walk past the fruit and veg stalks and say "apples" or "strawberries" or "carrots" and proceeds to tell me how much he apparently loves them... so definitely treat them as though they are sweet or treats and your child will hopefully love them as much as ours.
But remember, your child is your child, you know them best and you know what is best for them.... don't ever let someone tell you otherwise!!
Hope you have enjoyed the read and it has been helpful.
Next post will be on the moving crisis- when they start to move.
If you need any advice don't hesitate to comment, I'm happy to help where I can.
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