2 random things I know, but when do I need to start offering water or juice at meal times? And when can I introduce meat and fish?

We've been weaning for a couple of weeks and now Joe has breakfast and lunch. He has fruit puree or baby cereal at breakfast and then a veggie puree or veggie jar for lunch, taking 5 spoons at each meal.

Thanks ladies!!

You should offer water at meal times - preferably after as young babies can not distinguish between hunger and thirst so would fill up on water if given first!

I do give Izzy some during her meal - but I make sure only small bit, as she still likes to take too much!

Meat is fine now that your LO is 6 months :-)

Hey Vicks! We offer Izzy water at every meal and with her snacks. We have tried turkey and chicken so far, and will try salmon next week. I think as joe is 6 months u can try meat and fish. Glad its all going well x

Thanks ladies. Do you offer it in a sippy cup (if thats what they're called!)?

We give joe his meals before his bottle, is this not right then?

x

Yeah we offer it in a sippy cup- the basic tommee tippee one, that just comes out without her having to suck it. We do bottles at different times to the meals, so a typical day is wake (6.30)- 7oz bottle, 8.00- porridge, 12- rice/pasta, 3- bottle 7oz, 5.30- dinner, 7.00- 8oz bottle. Not sure if this is right or not but it suits her.

The thinking behind offering milk before food is that a very hungry baby who is just starting out in the world of food may get too agitated to eat food properly - and therefore ruin the experience of trying new food. So by them having some milk first they are not starving and they can enjoy a small amount of food!

That is what I did with Izzy when she was starting out, although to be fair back then she was taking so much milk it probably worked that she had it before and after lol

Once she was taking food well I was better at judging when she would be hungry - so I could offer her food before she got too hungry iykwim. Although there were mnay occasions I just got it totally wrong or just couldn't get home on time etc and she was too tired or hungry for food, and would push the spoon or start to cry - in which case I always gave her a bottle instead.

So for quite some time she had milk when she woke, 2 hrs later breakfast, bottle at 1pm, lunch at 3pm , then 2 bottles after that like 5.30 and 8pm.

Now she is one she has 3 meals in the day plus milk morning and night.

OK, I think I get it now. I thought meals had to be at the same time as milk feeds lol!!

Joe's feeding routine is generally bottles at 7:30am, 11am, 3pm, 6pm & 8:30pm, but he has a nap after each feed so not sure when to try and fit the meals in??? Maybe breakfast about 20 minutes after his first bottle and then lunch when he wakes from his nap at around 2-ish??

Yes I think that is a good idea for brekkie - maybe a little longer though - an hour/90 mins, but you will soon know what suits him? and 2ish sounds good for lunch.

The recommended amount of milk for a baby when weaning is 18-21oz, obviously would need to be at the higher end at least if he is just starting out on food, and then gradually as his food increases you will find he naturally takes less milk - for example if he eats a fair amount of brekkie he might not take his milk til about 12/1ish, which would be ideal for having lunch at 2/3

Izzy carried on having about 3-4 bottles a day til she was 1 - which was between 21-28oz - for me I just felt she wasn't ready for the 3 meals, but some babies take to having 3 meals very well.

One last question!! Is it cooled boiled water or just tap water I can give him at mealtimes? Also how much, maybe start with 1oz??

U give him cooled boiled water- when i boil the kettle for my morning tea i then put some in her cup and she has that for the day. Lunch at 2/3 sounds good, i only give Izzy hers at 12 as she usually goes to sleep at 1, plus i have now dropped her 11am bottle. I put in about 3oz, just so the cup doesnt have to be tipped loads for it to come out, but she never drinks all that. I have actually done some in a bottle today as she is really constipated and i need to get more water in her!