Although I had plans to wait until Athena turned 6 months old before we started I actually started a couple of weeks ago around 5.5 months. She’s a chunky little thing and has grown a lot in the last month, and was actively attempting to take food out of our hands and off our plates, and she had stopped sleeping through the night and was waking up hungry 2 or 3 times. My health visitor had advised to start with a week of baby rice or purees and then just ‘give her what you eat but in smaller chunks with no nuts or honey’. So that’s what I’ve been doing. We were given an Annabel Karmel book but I must admit I’ve not read it yet, as ideally I want her to just eat what we eat (this is because I am lazy rather than a huge Baby Led Weaning activist or anything like that.)

The first week there was just one sitting a day at Casa Belle du Brighton around lunch time, and on day 8 we moved to having two sittings, a lunch and a dinner sitting (can you tell i’m a hospitality manager?)  If Sam is working he feeds her lunch around One pm before he leaves for work around Two pm, and then she and I sit down for dinner in the evening.

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First spoonful

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Sippy cups (cooled boiled water) and bread

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Risotto & steamed veg

So far avocado is a no-no, but I think it was too cold (and therefore too hard) but apart from dull old baby rice (which I made up so it was thick) and fruit purees we’ve tried and liked:

  • risotto
  • steamed sweet potato
  • steamed carrot
  • steamed spinach
  • cream cheese
  • brown bread
  • mashed potato (messy)
  • cheese
  • chips (At Ikea, Lingonberry sauce resulted in a sour face, amazing)

We have a lovely wooden highchair (similar to this one) so it is really easy to clean and disinfect and looks nice at our wooden table. A pile of bibs, muslins and washcloths (ikea are cheap and cheerful) and a pack of baby wipes are near by. I spread an old blanket under the high chair to catch the inevitable dropped food, bought some spoons and a bowl that attaches to the highchair with a suction pad from ebay and few tippy cups and we were good to go! I’m lucky in that she’s taken to it well and seems to be enjoying new tastes and textures. We’re still breastfeeding on demand so she’s getting all the nutrients she needs from that, and as the Health Visitor gleefully told me ‘food is fun until she’s one!!’ Just don’t ask about the nappies…

In another week I’ll add in a breakfast serving too and will do another post at a later date. I’m looking forward to Christmas Dinner now I know she’ll join in!

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