Weaning from 6MO

The list of foods you can consider giving your 6MO baby is as follow:

Cereals - barley, oats, rice

Fruits - apple, apricot, avocado, banana, mango, nectarine, peach, pear, plum, prune & pumpkin

Vegetables- acorn / butternut squash, carrot, green beans, parsnip, peas, sweet potato & yellow squash / zucchini 

Dairy - plain whole milk yogurt

There's a new school of thought when it comes to weaning known as Baby Led Weaning or in short, BLW. I first saw it in practice when a girlfriend of mine gave her then 6MO gal a slice of apple to gnaw on. As the date drew nearer to the recommended weaning of 6MO for BB, I started doing more research online & I stumbled upon it again. Upon reading more about it, I decided to give it a try but decided to adopt a two-pronged approach. I would let BB explore & 'play' with his food but would feed him some purees if he still wanted more subsequently.

2 weeks before he turned 6MO, I started spoon-feeding him some breastmilk to test if he had lost his tongue-thrust reflex as well as to let him get used to drinking from a spoon. He showed more & more signs of readiness & with advices from some experienced mummies, I decided to start him off a few days short of him reaching 6MO.

His first encounter with solid food was actually avocado mixed with breastmilk. Avocado is one of the best food for babies as it has a high nutrient content & good fats too. I'm actually blessed as my boy turned out to be a food lover just like his parents & he accepted it readily. 

Ingredients:

1/2 of a ripe (brown & slightly soft when pressed) avocado, mashed

Breastmilk (or formula milk)

Directions:

1. Mix some milk bit by bit into the avocado till you get the desired consistency (mine was quite watery for the first try & I gradually thicken it for the next 3 days).

I also followed the 4 days rule when introducing every new food to check for any allergies & it always seemed like an eternity >.< For his first month on solids, I only managed to introduce 5 foods, namely avocado, butternut pumpkin, sweet potato, peas & oats, to him (partly he was unwell during the CNY period so I stopped his food intake temporarily & instead directly latched him throughout).

Ingredient & Direction:

A small piece of organic butternut pumpkin, diced & steamed by my Avent Combined Steamer & Blender.

(Note: easily squashed)

Ingredient & Direction:

A small Japanese sweet potato, cut into long strips, steamed & half blended by my Avent.

(Note: may be a bit dry so get ready some water to feed in between)

Ingredient & Direction:

A small handful of Watties frozen peas steamed & half blended by my Avent.

(Note: add a bit of room temperature water for it to be blended more smoothly)

Ingredients:

1 tbsp of blended organic rolled oats

1/4 cup of breast / formula milk or water

1/2 avocado, 1/4 sliced & 1/4 mashed

Directions:

1. Oats cooked as per normal. 

2. Add in mashed avocado, mix & serve warm.