Is your little one ready for solid foods? This is one of the big questions, many new parents ask themselves, when baby is around 5-6 months old! There are MANY myths about when babies are ready to wean – some of them are: chewing fists, reaching for other people’s food, waking in the night and wanting more milk! These are however all normal behaviours for babies  – and not necessarily a sign that they are hungry or ready to start solid food.

I would like start this blog post by saying, that I am not an expert! What you will read here is based on own experiences – and advice given from midwives, doctors, other mums, weaning experts etc

Most little ones are ready to wean around 6 months old, but every baby is different

Some of the signs, that your baby is probably ready to wean are, when they can: Hold their head straight up on their own, show good hand-eye coordination and getting all their favourite toys into their mouth. How much your baby eats is less important to begin with than getting them used to the idea of eating. They will still be getting most of their nutrients from breast milk or first infant formula

There are a few essentials, that you can’t do without, when you start weaning your baby. Obviously there are many alternatives to mine, but I would recommend that you get a good quality high chair…

This is the MiChair from iCandy! I love this timeless piece of furniture, which is suitable from birth with the iCandy Pod (see photo).  Simply dock the Pod on to the highchair to bring baby up and away from the ground, to parent height when feeding. Like this, you are able to experience all important eye-to-eye contact, which is so critical in the first formative months

Don’t forget to buy baby feeding supplies…

 – and do yourself a favour and get a “little helper” to steam, blend, defrost and reheat vegetables, fish, meat, starchy food and much more to prepare homemade food for your baby

I used a lot of time looking into “how to start weaning your baby”, as I was really nervous about not doing it right. But it is actually not so difficult introducing your little one to food. According to experts, it is best to start with pure veggies in the first few weeks of weaning to get tiny tastebuds used to savoury flavours

Frenchie and I went out and bought lots of organic veggies – and then we were ready to try out our new Babycook from Béaba

Carrots and parsnips were our first choice – and when they were washed and peeled, it was time to get started: Cut the food into 1cm x 1cm cubes and place them in the basket. (To ensure even cooking, it is advised to not overload the basket)

We started with a very small portion just to make sure, that we did everything right. This product is really easy to use, so even if you are not a skilled chef (like me), I promise you will be able to work it like a pro! 

The jug has graduations from 1-3. These graduations allow you to measure out the amount of water to pour into the heating reservoir and determine the cooking time. (When you buy the Babycook, you will get a recipe book with a lot of great ideas on how to cook tasty meals for baby)

Place the basket in the jug, taking care to position the tongue of the basket in the lip of the jug

Lock the jug onto the appliance, check that the steam outlet joint is not blocked, close the lid and press the green button to start the cooking cycle. The appliance beeps once and the steam symbol lights up

Take a break and let the Babycook do its thing… When the cooking cycle is done, the Beaba logo goes out and the appliance beeps three times

Introducing Clara to vegetables…

“Look Clara… This is a tasty broccoli!” (Clara is clearly thinking, “can I have a bit of sugar on top of that?)

Now it is time to blend the cooked vegetables! Empty the food into the jug and add some cooking juice. (I add all of the juice, as I want Clara’s food to be a very smooth consistency. ) Turn the button to the right using pulses of maximum of 10 seconds until you have obtained the desired consistency 

Et voila! Here is the beautiful result! Clara’s first homemade carrot puree! (Once your little one is happy eating thinner purees, you can thicken them up to a more mashed texture)

Time to eat… This time, we tried to put Clara in her iCandy highchair without the Pod! It went pretty well, but she is still not completely stable, so I needed to hold her steady

Clara is clearly a big fan of carrots… (Tip: To start with, it does not matter how much your little one eats. A spoonful or two is enough, as she is still getting most of her nutrition from her usual milk.  Remember, babies tummies are still teeny tiny (about the size of a baby’s clenched fist)

 – One day Clara likes a certain type of veggie – another day she doesn’t! Things change quickly in the weaning game, but don’t despair! It is completely normal!

It can take up to eight tiny tastes before your little one accepts a new food, so keep on trying!

This is the beautiful result of my pea and cauliflower puree, which was quite a success. (Baby feeding gear from Beaba!)

Clara with a grabbable bit of carrot! She likes it because it is cold, which is nice, when you have sore gums. Also it is not a bad thing to let your little one feed herself and using her fingers! (Important: Always stay with your baby when she is eating in case she starts to choke)

A Nibbler is great for soothing babys sore gums. Fill it with ice and it becomes the perfect teether – or do as I do, and put little pieces of fruit in it, which allows baby to eat whole foods without the risk of choking

Happy baby!

After a good meal, it is hard not to feel a bit tired. Clara has a habit of falling asleep in her highchair, as the Pod is so soft and comfortable! 

Bonus-info: As baby gets older and no longer needs the iCandy MiChair it is simply transformed into a stylish child’s chair OR rocking chair that is suitable for up to the age of six!

I hope you enjoyed reading about our weaning journey! So far things are going really well. Some days Clara eats a lot and some days she mostly prefers formula! It can be slow and messy but I love that Clara is now joining in at family meals – also this can help her as she watches us and copy the way, we eat!

This blog post was made in collaboration with Beaba and iCandy! All opinions are as always my own

Louise x