When it came to weaning Bob was a dream! I followed Annabel Karmel’s baby weaning plan and made all of my own purees. I had never heard of baby led weaning 5 years ago.

I weaned Bob at 5 months. The guidelines back then suggested weaning between 4 and 6 months whereas now they recommend weaning from 6 months. Bob ate everything that I made for her and she really enjoy all of the different flavours. She moved on to thinker purees and finger foods easily and she was soon eating family meals with us.

Bow was a different story. As baby weaning had gone so well with Bob I decided to follow the same process. Baby led weaning was now all the rage but, as the home made purée method had worked so well with Bob I decided to wean Bow the same way.

I bought a new steamer/blender and Bob helped me to fill our freezer with baby food. When Bow was 5 1/2 months I decided to try him with a bit of baby rice. He was not impressed! I persevered for a couple of days and then decided to move on to the tastier purees. I started with carrot as it’s advised that you start with savoury. If you start with sweet purees your baby may reject savoury ones when they are offered.

Again, Bow was not impressed. He pulled such a disgusted face and anybody would think that I was poisoning him. I gradually introduced new purees and they were all met with the same reaction. The only thing that he liked was pureed pear.

I was disappointed that baby weaning wasn’t going as well as last time. I decided to try baby led weaning. Bow was now 6 months and ready for finger foods.

This wasn’t very successful either. Bow would play with his food, smush it into the tray of his high chair and feed it to Sally but he wouldn’t eat any of it. I started to worry that Bow would never eat anything other than pureed pear! My husband told me not to panic and casually asked me if I knew any 18 years olds who would only drink bottles of milk. He had a point.

As homemade purees and baby led weaning hadn’t gone well I decided to try pouches of baby food. Bow ate the stage one pouches and I was really happy. As he ate spoonfuls of Broccoli, Pear and Peas I finally thought we were getting somewhere but I then realised that this was a small victory. When I looked at the quantities of the ingredients I realised that this purée was 79% pear! No wonder Bow enjoyed it!

At least he would now eat a small variety. I would feed him the ‘mostly fruit’ pouches and offer a selection of finger foods. Most of which were eaten by Sally.

Then came problem number 2! When the time came for Bow to move on to Stage 2 purees he refused everything. The Stage 2 purees were savoury and as Bow was used to his FRUIT and veg purees he wouldn’t eat them. He pulled his disgusted face and he even cried when I tried to feed him chicken casserole.

struggling to wean my baby

I started to worry that Bow would turn into a pear! I couldn’t see how he would ever be able to eat properly.

Eventually, when Bow was about 10 months old, our baby weaning turned a corner. Bow finally started to eat finger food! I was so relieved! Everyone was delighted, apart from Sally.

He stopped smushing and started to eat properly! He even enjoyed savoury food! He would eat family meals and could eat spaghetti better than I could! I twirl mine around a fork but Bow could spaghetti suck like a pro!

Finally our weaning was a success! I was surprised at how different Bob and Bow’s weaning journeys were. I had expected them to be similar. All babies are different but Bow is proof that they will get there in the end.

baby led weaning finger food

If you are starting your baby weaning journey and it doesn’t go to plan, try not to worry and remember my husband’s wise words. ‘How many 18 year olds do you know who will only drink bottles?’

Disclaimer: This is a collaborative post.

 Posted by Charlotte on February 23, 2017 Being a Mother  Add comments

  26 Responses to “Problems With Baby Weaning”

  1.  

    It really is true that all babies are different and will progress at their own rates and do things in their own ways. I’m sure that is was a bit distressing for you through those months though as you imagined him only ever eating pears! Thankfully he came through it on his own time and all is well x

  2.  

    Ahhh the weaning – i remember it SO well – and not very fondly ha!! The mess, the frustration, the prep time!!! I love the first photo her, the facial expression is everything – such a cutie xx

  3.  

    It’s just important to remember everyone is different so each journey is going to be different x

  4.  

    First of all, i have to say i was drawn by the picture – so adorable and so funny! Anyway…It shows what works for one doesn’t for another, unfortunately! x

  5.  

    I find weening just fascinating, I loved watching the faces of my nephews when trying new food x

  6.  

    Every child is different that is for sure, weaning is defiantly a journey

  7.  

    I’m sure everyone is different, my nephew has just started weening – he’s taken to it quite well! xo

  8.  

    They do all have their preferred ways don’t they? Irrelevant of what we’ve read or tried to do!

  9.  

    My daughter just had a baby .. so your post really hits home. Every family and child is so very different .. it seems best to let it happen however it will. Whatever we try to force never ends up working anyway!

    •  

      You’re so right! With my first I worried about what I should be doing much more and I used to get so stressed about it. With my second I know that he won’t be little forever and try to go with the flow when I can.

  10.  

    Haha I was the exact same I would only eat one thing although in my case it was chocolate instead of pear but then I grew less fussier when I got older x

  11.  

    This is a great post for anyone who is about to start the weaning process or is struggling with it, you’ve lived through the good and hard times of it. I was fine when I started weaning, it’s only as I got older I got more and more fussy with food

  12.  

    A lot of pressure gets put on everything to do with parenting. Please don’t worry. Take your time.

  13.  

    We had a few issues with my second too but I tried not to even stress about it and it all worked out in the end like you say. x x

  14.  

    Its so hard not to panic when they don’t seem to like anything! No.1 of mine ate anything and everything until 18 months old and then became very fussy (now 9), and twin 1 has always hoovered his and everyone elses, and twin 2 (now 5) discovered the joy of food 6 months ago! All three were weaned the same, and fed the same!!

    •  

      It is surprising how different they can be! My daughter has just started saying she doesn’t like things. Hoping it’s just a phase and not the start of something. x

  15.  

    Weaning can be so tricky with Blake we started doing purees at 5 months but he was more interested in finger foods so ended up doing blw .

  16.  

    Ha love those wise words from your hubby, very true. Both my girls were different when they were weaned x

  17.  

    Weaning was so hard. On my first I tried to help cook but soon figured it was a waste of time. He was weaned with jars. Fast forward he eats pretty much everything and loves fruit and veg. Herself was weaned with Ella’s kitchen

  18.  

    Kids are so different aren’t they, I love baby led weaning but how messy it was!!

  19.  

    I am having this issue with our second baby. I used baby led weaning with Little Miss H. She barely ate anything until she was 11 months old when I eventually moved on to pouches. With Little Mister H we have started with purees. But he finds them boring and yet he gags on more solid food. It is so frustrating. This has given me hope that he’ll get there in the end. Hugs Lucy xxxx

  20.  

    You’re so right, all babies are different! It’s really interesting to hear your experience, especially because we’ll be weaning baby number two in the next month or so – can’t believe it!x

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