Wednesday 4 September 2013

Weaning the Second Time Around

At five and a half months, we made the decision to start weaning Archie.  For several reasons this felt like the right time, and we decided to go for a similar approach as we had with Dylan - a mixture of traditional and baby led weaning.

I was apprehensive about starting the weaning process. My little baby would suddenly be eating real food and it marked the beginning of his independance from me.  For 9 months I grew this little baby in my tummy and then for the next 5, I fed him.  For fourteen months, I was his only source of sustenance and nutrition, and suddenly I would be sharing this role.  Suddenly I am not the only one who can feed him and it is rather strange to let go of this.  

Archie's weaning began whilst we were in hospital and as there are very limited facilities there, it mean for the first few days he had baby rice and later on some puree.  Unlike his brother, he wasn't so sure about the new tastes and seemed to still prefer his milk, but he has slowly come round to the new routine and seems to be enjoying his meals more and more.  

Breadsticks are a big hit as is banana.  He likes the apple or strawberry and apple purees, although he isn't so sure about the spoon yet! We were sent some tommee tippee spoons which have a super flexible end and he seemed to prefer these as he could have a little chew on them too.  They also sent us some lovely little pots which are just the right size for storing mini breadsticks in the nappy bag! They are also perfect for storing and heating homemade purees in.

Tommee Tippee, weaning pots and spoons, weaning second time, baby led weaning

We are taking our cues from Archie, and have been moving more towards baby led weaning over the last couple of weeks as he seems much happier with this and is proving quite adept at feeding himself.  He prefers savoury food and devoured a chilli con carne with rice as fast as his brother could!


As his appetite for solids has increased, I am starting to see the number of milk feeds decreasing and as much as I miss the dependance, it is much easier to go out, knowing that I don't need to stop and feed him quite so often.  His hunger can be appeased with a snack until I find somewhere to sit down and I can have a bit of a lie in at the weekend as the bloke doesn't need to bring him up for milk quite so much.

Archie is putting weight on again now and mealtimes are adding more of a routine into his day.  Although I miss the easy days of a purely milk diet, it is lovely to watch the boys sharing a sandwich at lunch time.




Disclaimer:  We were sent some Tommee Tippee Weaning bits free of charge 
but all thoughts and opinions are completely my own.


3 comments:

  1. Out little ones must be quite similar in age - we also started weaning at 5.5 months and are now a month in.

    To be honest i had been dreading all the extra work and mess (had just been BF too) but we are in the swing of things now and my son has suddenly started eating loads and cut down a lot on the breastfeeding. Like you i am a bit :-\ about it but onwards and upwards!

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  2. Jobey is 5.5 months and I have just started giving him a few tastes of food. He doesn't really seem interested much and has only been eating a few mouthfuls, I think I will also do a mix of BLW and normal as I can't be dealing with the mess of full BLW! I'm looking forward to him not relying on me quite so much for milk as at the moment he pretty much wants my boob in his mouth all day! I know what you mean though about it being bittersweet and accepting that you are no longer the only one who can feed them. Iyla is desperate to start shovelling food in his mouth!! x

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  3. I have just started weaning my second child (he is 6 months). Its amazing how much I have forgotten since the first time. I have been making him lots of yummy purees which he seems to like, thank goodnesss :) Whilst I do kind of miss BF, it is nice to have some independence back too.xx

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