The Woes of Weaning

Following a deeply unsuccessful transition to solid foods with my now 3-yr-old son Owen (his staple foods are yoghurt, peanut butter, bananas and applesauce), I have decided to be much more strict with the Lady Rose’s food development. So, in order to keep a closer eye on things, I’ll be keeping a diary of her first eating experiences. We’re starting out by following the very strict weaning plan of Britain’s Gina Ford, whose controversial methods basically involve a very rigid structure. Structure is definitely something I lacked when weaning Owen, so we’ll get to see which was works best.

I’ve decided to follow Gina Ford’s The Contented Little Baby Book of Weaning, mainly because it contains a detailed, hour-by-hour plan from 4 months of age onward, telling you what to feed your baby and when. I know this may sound a little silly, especially as I’ve already been through this once, but I have been so spectacularly unsuccessful with the “go-with-the-flow” form of weaning I tried with Owen that I’ve decided to not only start earlier with Rose but to be much, much stricter. It helps that she’s already far heftier and healthier than he was at this age, and introducing solids earlier than 6 months fits in with her hearty appetite. So, here goes…

Food Time!

Day 1 – May 29, Age 4 and a half months. We’re trying a small feed at 11am after she’s had her full breast milk feed, we’ll introduce food at 6pm too if she seems to be doing ok with it. Today she tried her first rice cereal mixed with breast milk at 11am. She seemed to enjoy the process but I’m not sure she swallowed any.
Day 2 – May 30, rice cereal and water, thicker. Took to it well. Seemed to enjoy it even more than yesterday. Still didn’t seem to swallow it. Moved it around in her mouth more. Tried evening rice, mixed with formulae. This time she actually swallowed and opened her mouth for more. But it was a little too cold, which I think she found a little surprising.
Day 3 – May 31, rice cereal and formula at 11am. Seemed excited to eat. Opened her mouth wide for each spoonful, but did spit most of it out, not out of disgust, just more that she’s not to sure what to do with it, she’s still working on how to move it to the back of her throat. About one spoonful made it down. Tried putting it further back but she wasn’t pleased with that and spat it out more forcefully. But overall definitely a success.
Day 4 – June 1, time for some pear! We mixed baby rice and pear puree with some breast milk today. She was excited for food again and as soon as the bib went on tolerated sitting in her bumbo for far longer than normal while I prepared her food – a good sign. We were slightly hampered today by extreme teething, which meant every time she opened her mouth her fist went in it, so it was a race to get the spoon in there first. But she was opening her mouth again eagerly for the food, and seemed to enjoy the new flavor, still not much going all the way down though….
Day 5 – June 2, pear and baby rice at breakfast followed by just pear at lunch, less enthusiastic today, mainly I think due to various distractions, such as her big brother! Not sure we actually got any down her at all. A visit to the doctors today revealed she’s a healthy 17lbs 5oz, but she’s not gaining as much as she was, understandable at this age they say, as they’re more active. They suggested we skip baby rice and go straight to veggies. This is not what Gina Ford recommends (I’ve so far been following her book pretty closely), but I think I’m going to go with carrots next.
Day 7 – June 4 (skipped a day due to me in London all day). Carrot time! Tried offering this with trepidation as I assumed she’d find it very odd, but she took to it like duck to water, and actually ate it, really the first time she has actually swallowed anything. I actually had to hold back on the food as I didn’t want her to eat too much for this first time.

"What am I supposed to do with this, mum?"

Day 9 – June 6 (another skipped day due to country fetes and Rose reaction) decided to hold off for one day as Rose was very fussy all day yesterday, not sure if it was the carrots, food in general, or teething, but just in case I gave it a rest. She seemed very happy all day and then in the evening at 6, just when she was getting fussy again, I offered her pears and rice cereal. She positively gobbled it up! Kept opening her mouth for more and we quite definitely swallowing it all, I had to cut her off after 6 spoons. Yea! An eater! Let’s see how she does tonight…..
Day 10 – June 7, some carrot puree in the evening was not as eagerly received, not that she didn’t like it just that she wasn’t so into eating, maybe it was the time of day that she wasn’t used to.
Day 11 – June 8, we did pear puree with baby rice for breakfast and lunch and she gobbled it up! Owen helped feed her again and that was pretty successful. She is definitely enjoying it now, she is more than happy to sit in her bumbo if it looks like food is being prepared (she is not happy to otherwise!). She is also actively grabbing at the food/spoon, which is a somewhat messy, but predictably happy turn of events!
Day 12&13 – June 9&10, baby rice for breakfast two days running, a nasty cold coming on has started to diminish her interest in eating, so not much progress really.

"Um. No, I don't think so."

Day 14&15 – June 11&12, I have decided to slightly abandon Gina Ford’s plan, at least in terms of which foods to introduce when, we’re skipping apples and going straight for courgette/zucchini, I’m also abandoning pears and doing carrots only, as I want to steer clear of the fruits now, in an effort to not end up with another sweet tooth! Courgettes today for the 11am and 6pm feed, which she is taking to a little more slowly than the pear but is eating. God it’s messy though!

Thoughts
So far I’m very happy with my modified Gina Ford routine, mainly because I’ve discovered the only way to get a handle on the chaos of having two children is to schedule, schedule, schedule. I’ve also adopted a modified version of one of her Contented Little Baby With Toddler routines, which has been working a charm with Rose (the toddler portion is still a little iffy though.) Here’s an outline of how we try and survive!

Schedule
MORNING
6-630 Get ready before kids wake
7-730 Breakfast (Rose full feed – 30mins)
730-8 Dressed (Owen brush his teeth and dress himself)
8-12 Owen Outing or Activity (snack and drink at 10)
8-9 Mat time for Rose
9-945 Rose Nap
930 Pump if needed
10 Playtime for Rose
11 Rose Full Feed and Solids – 1 hour
1145 Nappy Change / prepare lunch
AFTERNOON
12 Owen Lunch
1215-215 nap/quiet time
215 nappy change
230 Rose full feed (no later than 315)
3-430 Rose&Owen outing/playtime
315 Owen snack
445-5 Rose nap
445 prepare dinner
EVENING
5 Owen dinner / Rose split feed
530 Bath/Bed prep
- Rose on changing mat in bathroom (no nappy)
- Owen Milk&Movie
545 Bath Rose
6 Rose split feed (solids)
630 Rose crib with book
630 Bath Owen
645-715 Bed Owen
715 Bed Rose
NIGHTTIME
1030pm Rose full feed
3am Rose split feed
5/6am Rose split feed