Solid Advice

Today

We have now reached the exciting stage of offering Carmen solid food. It seems that there are fads and fancies in when and how to wean as there are in most things. The current fashion is for infant-led weaning in which, it seems to me, you plonk food in front of baby and see what happens next. Those in the know say that you have to be prepared to food-proof your entire kitchen during this phase. Thankfully, Carmen is being offered the more normal range of puréed fruit and veg and shows a preference for sweet potato and pears.

In My day

When Becky was a baby, breast-feeding and I parted company at about five weeks old and she transferred happily to SMA. She might have been an ill baby for much of the time, but this didn't dull her appetite! By the time she was three months she'd down a full twelve floz of milk and reach out for more. When I told the midwife how much milk she was taking she was horrified. "You can't give her more than twelve oz at a feed," she insisted. "But Becky's hungry; should I put her on solids?" I asked. That, it appeared, was an even worse crime against my baby's health and medical orthodoxy. It seemed that I was damned either way.

I took stock. Becky was hungry and needed more nourishment than SMA could give her. So I took the matter into my own hands and started preparing puréed carrots, parsnips, swede and fruit. She gobbled up just about all I could give her (except banana which she was unable to swallow and which she dislikes to this day). I filled ice-cube trays with the purée and froze them, fishing out the appropriate number daily.

Despite all the dire warnings, Becky thrived on this diet, moved quite effortlessly to more adult food as she grew older and learnt to feed herself without the need for protective clothing other than a bib.

There is a lot more science behind the advice that we are given today, but we mustn't forget that our children are differing individuals and that for millions of years babies have been successfully weaned in a variety of ways and at a  variety of times.

What is new is the much larger range of foods in the shops that can be offered to Carmen which makes it very exciting.