4 months on

We're nearly 4 months in and I'm starting to think and read about weaning. I'm not intending to start until Z reaches the magic 6 months, although I know from speaking to other mums that sometimes babies aren't that accommodating!

We've already realised that if we want to give Zachary drinks other than my milk or expressed milk we may need to try using a cup - L has tried twice recently to give Z a bottle of my milk. Not sure whether it's the smell of the teat or Z isn't really hungry or what but he seems really reluctant to take the bottle and either just plays with the teat in his mouth, or takes a bit of milk and just spits it out again! We're persevering though and will keep trying.

The current NHS guidance is that babies should be fed exclusively on breast or formula milk for the first 6 months, but apparently this has only recently been changed from 4-6 months. It may well be that Z is ready for solids before 6 months (in that milk feeds no longer seem to be satisfying him and he needs more, or he becomes more interested in our food etc) but I don't see any reason to start before then if we don't need to. He can't sit up on his own either yet and I'd rather wait until he can if possible.

But I'm trying to get read up on it so I have some idea what to expect! The NHS Birth to Five book has a helpful section on weaning and my friend recommended me to Annabel Karmel - the website is here.

So I've bought AK's New Complete Baby and Toddler Meal Planner to have a look at and it seems really good and backs up the information in the NHS guidelines. Lots of background and introductory information as well as lots of recipes to try - okay it's mostly pureed things (!) but it does give good advice on what sort of foods to start with, how and when to introduce new foods and a list of foods which could cause allergies and when best to introduce them. Must go check out what pureeing equipment we have ...