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LIVE baby feeding webchat

Welcome to our LIVE baby feeding webchat. Whether you're breast or bottle feeding, or weaning already, midwife and mum-of-three Alison Brown is here to answer your questions from 12-1pm. Alison is the resident infant feeding advisor on Tommee Tippee's website. Start posting your questions NOW and Alison will do her best to answer as many as possible.
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Replies

  • Hi Alison,
    Cameron is 8 months and doing great with weaning, he's now on lumps and finger foods too. But i cant get him to eat fruit unless its pureed completelty smooth.
    iv tried, blending it to a lumpy consistency, putting small lumps on a spoon and cutting pears and peaches into sticks (which he wont pick up)
    i dont want to have to puree his apples when he goes to school, lol! any tips?
  • Hi, my son is 6 mths old this week, which means i can start waning him properly. So far i have just been letting him try different tastes, for the last few weeks. Should i now be giving him breakfeast, lunch and dinner? Also I'm breastfeeding and he refuses to drink milk from a bottle or a cup, any suggestions on how how i can get him to do that? thank you for your time.
  • Hi thanks for your question.
    He should eventually get use to raw fruit/ vegetables,it is a question of perseverance.
    Bananas tend to be a good starting point and tinned fruit in natural juice tend to be softer and easier to chew on.
    Hang in there you are doing well!
  • Hi,

    My daughter is 6 months old ( she was born 1 mnth prem) and i started weaning her this weekend.

    She is breastfed on demand.

    How much should i be giving her to start with , how many spoonfuls? Should i just give her something once a day. or 3 times a day?

    I have only given her baby rice yet but in a very runny consistancy, How long should i make it this runny for her ? And when should i start introducing other foods. ? When can i give her banana.

    I want to give her home made purees as much as possible so do you have nay suggestions for breakfast foods.

    Sorry for loads of questions but it can be abit daunting.

    Thanks
    Jas
  • hi alison

    my first baby is due in just under 2 weeks and i'm planning to combination feed. i know they say its best to exclusively breastfeed at first until milk supply is fully established, but i'm not sure when and how to do it. i have the tommee tippee closer to nature range as its supposed to make combining easier but i'm not sure when i can start introducing bottle feeds, ideally i wld like to do this from day one so that OH can be involved but i understand that that probably wont work lol. any advice wld be greatly appreciated

    xx
    38+1
  • Hi Alison,
    My lo is 7 and half months old and is happy eating 3 meals a day of home cooked and jar type food and is well on the way with lumpier stuff and confident with finger food (not sure how much actually goes in at the minute though!).
    So I was wondering have you any tips on getting meat to a nice consitency for a 7 and a half month old please as he eats what we have for tea and we're struggling?
    Thanks in advance
  • Hi caze,
    Weaning at 6mths tends to go at a fast pace but you should be led by your baby.
    Once they are use to taking the solid food into their mouth you can then start to increase amount and frequency.
    By 7 mths most babies are having breakfast/ dinner/ tea.
    Cup drinking is one of the most frequent questions i get asked. As you are breast feeding you should get your baby to move on to a cup not a bottle for any additional drinks.
    A free flowing cup will have been recommended to you by your health visitor and although your baby will struggle to drink from this at first over time they will get use to it.
  • Hi,

    I was wondering what harm could cows milk do if given once a week as a drink?

    My lo is 7 1/2 months and still breastfed. She refuses formula and expressed milk from a bottle or beaker. When I return to work in just under 2 months for 1 day a week i'm totally lost for ideas of what she will do for milk while she cant have me all day. How many breastfeeds will she need at 9 months? Is cows milk just once a week an option?

    thanks

    lisa
  • just to add - she will take water from a free-flowing beaker and ones that take a bit more effort (when I'm out and dont want her tipping it everywhere!

    also - being cheeky by asking a 2nd q.

    Louise loves finger foods but is not keen on spoon foods, if she does have spoon foods it has to be smooth. Am I right to presume that it's ok just to stick to finger foods and smooth purees and not worry about the 'lumpy' stage as long as the goal is for her to be eating normal foods anyway?
  • Hi Dark Chocolate,
    When weaning starts it can go at quite a fast pace but you should remember to be led by your baby.
    I would suggest that during that first week just allow your baby to get use to solid food that is very similar to their milk, so baby rice is brilliant. May be give that just once a day during this time
    Then you can start to try differnet foods pureed apples carrots that sort of things.
    By about 7 mths old you will be then increasing the frequency and quantity of food that your baby has and they may well be up to 3 meals a day.
    Between 7-8 mths you shoukd be looking to move them on to more lumpier food / finger foods.
    Bananas are fantastic first foods but i would give it a week or so before trying.
    Home made foods are preferable to jars and packets as weaning foods there is lots of infomation out there. I tend to recommend Annalbel Karmel and i have recently come accross a book called 'First Foods by Catlin Finch' it is very simple and easy to use.
  • Hi siany
    This is a very common question.
    Ideally you should establish your breastfeeding first and wait at least 4-6 weeks. I do have some tips on combining breast and bottle feeding on the Tommee Tippee Website http://www.tommeetippee.co.uk/content/combing_breast_and_bottle_feeding/
    You can also email me at any time on the sight once you have had your baby.
  • Hi Alison, My baby is 6 months old and I have been weaning him for 3 weeks and it seems to be going well, apart from him dropping his milk quickly (37 oz per day to approx 28!), he has breakfast and lunch and I try to incorporate milk into his food. Can I start putting grated cheddar in his veg purees?
  • Thank you so much Alison,

    Jas
  • Hi talkkatie2,
    I would wait.
    When you start weaning early it is really advisable to go slowly.
    Look at introducing more meals 5-6mths and keep food stuffs fairly bland til then.
    Her digestive system is still maturing and should not be challenged to much.
  • Hi Mum to 1
    I use to blend it until they were really confident at chewing.
    Fish / mince tends to be a good meat to start with as they have a much softer texture.
  • Hi Loopy loo
    This issues with cows milk is the fact that as a milk it does not contain all the nutrients a baby needs and therefore if their solid diet is not varied they run the risk of missing out on vital nutrients as they are growing so fast.
    If they are taking a varied diet and breastfeeding i do not see any reason why cows milk should pose a problem and could be used daily on cereals etc.
    If you are happy and your baby is happy then breast feeding should continue as long as possible at 9-12mths they are usually having about 3- 4 sessions a day.
    As the art of chewing will be achieved with the finger foods she will eventually take more lumpier food, so hang in there you are doing just fine.
  • Hi Jen1978
    It is completely natural for him to be dropping his milk. As a rule of thumb a baby should have at least 500-600mls of milk a day.
    Cheese is an excellent food for babies 6mths plus and will make a complete meal of his vegetables
  • thank you!

    it is such a pain that she wont take milk from a cup/bottle. If i'm not around she doesn't miss having the milk. Offering her something just upsets her. But I would feel awful denying her any milk all day once a week. Any other suggestions to get her to take it?

    My mum thinks I should just make her move to formula but I really dont want to and a happy to keep breastfeeding. I return mid april and she'll be 1 mid july so it will be a few months of this but only once a week.

    She is having a very varied finger food diet with a few purees/yogurts.
  • It's now 1pm so this webchat is CLOSED - no new questions, please. Many thanks to Alison for her expert advice and thanks too for all your questions.
  • Hi Lara n Chloe
    At a year old Sandwiches are handy as part of a toddlers diet. They should be offered with something else carrot sticks / cherry tomatoes / cucumber sticks/ fruit etc
    She should then be allowed to feed herself with as much or as little as she wants.
    As with all weaning you should be lead by your baby it is very rare that they will over feed. Just make sure that what you give them is healthy and well balanced.
    Sandwiches carrot sticks polished off with a yoghurt was a common lunch time meal with all of my children.
    On the baby expert website there is a topic on sleeping, giving some very useful info about how much sleep babies need. If she is sleeping for more than that i would speak with your health visitor? GP.
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