Disclaimer: I'm not a expert on baby nutrition, just sharing my experiences. Feel free to give comments and correct me if I'm not right.

I started weaning Damien on solids since he was 5.5 months old, though the recommended age was really 6 months (according to all the baby health guides in the world). Firstly, his constipation problem was awful so I wanted him to try out The Prune Treatment (which worked yayyy). Secondly, I'm just an overly-zealous first-time mum who was anxious about feeding the baby real food for the first time lol.


There are a zillion weaning guides on Pinterest but here's my version for first foods at 6 months.

  • Apples 
  • Avocadoes*
  • Pears
  • Prunes
  • Bananas*
  • Carrots
  • Sweet Potatoes
  • Pumpkin
  • Butternut Squash
*Okay to eat raw. All other listed foods should be cooked.

Some guides recommended mangoes too, but it sounds that it might be too sweet/heaty? That's for me, but that's really up to your comfort level.

Consistency should look something like this. Not TOO watery like soup ok.



How to cook:
The best way to retain nutrients is to steam and blend, but baking and blending is fine too. You can choose to blend with a little hot water or milk. I used his usual formula milk to blend with the foods so that he can get more used to the taste.

Several mummies swear by the Avent Steamer and Blender so I would say that it's a good product. I use my regular blender though - more washing I suppose, but my kitchen had no more space for any additional gadgets. :(


To freeze, or not to freeze?
Some people don't like the idea of freezing... I'm personally okay with that, but I didn't do much of it because I felt that it's easier to whip up smaller portions to feed within the day. Less cleaning. Less storage. Less hassle.

But if you DO happen to make too much extra, make sure that:

  1. Puree foods are stored in cube trays or storage cubes with covers. Hygiene reasons.
  2. Consume frozen cubes within 1 month. Google says 3 months, but I feel 1 month is optimal.
  3. Consume refrigerated cubes within 24 hours. Google says 48 hours.
  4. Do not use thawed breast milk to blend with fruit/veggie before freezing. Thawed and re-frozen breast milk = Fishiness to the max. Either use fresh breast milk or formula.
OXO Trays, available on Amazon.com! :)

I fed Damien with rice cereal too, and here's what I went for.

From iHerb - a mummy's haven. :P
I actually tested Damien on a few brands like Heinz, Nestle, etc. and this is BY FAR his favourite. Occasionally I mix in some fruit/vegetable puree but he's fine eating it without anything too. He's eating the multi-grain version now, since he's older and all. :)

Key points:

  1. Feed one food for three days to test for any allergies.
  2. Don't be too ambitious. Milk feeding is as per normal for the time being - start with 2 - 3 spoonfuls (teaspoon size of course) to let baby taste. Not every baby is accepting to solids at the start.
  3. If baby is accepting, slowly increase portion of solids and reduce milk, until you feel that baby is ready to replace whole feeds. Damien started taking solids-only for lunch and dinner since 7.5 months.
  4. Milk should still be baby's main diet till 1 year old.
  5. Certain foods which are common allergens include eggs, honey, nuts which should only be tested/fed when they're older. I've recently started Damien on egg yolks at 8 months old.
Will do a write-up on the next stage of weaning soon! Will be including some simple recipes as well. :)
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the missus

serynn g. / missus chew / damien's mummy / 1985 / libra / b+ / live laugh love! / @ email me

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