Building Family

If there was one thing I was terrified of, after getting over the initial shock of dealing with a new baby, it was weaning. It just seemed such a scary thing. But very few kids get to 4 years old  without being able to eat a McDonalds Happy meal (some will only eat these which is a whole different issue!) so it can’t be that difficult!

Babies are individuals and develop at different rates and so won’t all be ready for weaning at the same age. Experts agree that babies should not be weaned before 4 months of age. Somewhere between 4 and 6 months, babies may start to show an interest in your food. They may be less satisfied with milk, demanding more feeds or waking up hungry instead of sleeping through. These signs may mean they are ready for weaning. It may take a few weeks to get your baby used to having food regularly, so it’s best not to delay starting weaning beyond 6 months of age. Otherwise it doesn’t give your baby time to get used to the new sensation of eating, before they really need the food to provide extra nourishment.   

As with most things I started by buying a good book. I would recommend any by Annabel Karmel They all seem good but pick one that has information on how to make the first purees and examples of weaning charts in them. The other place I found helpful was the heinz website www.heinzbaby.co.uk. It has some great information and I particularly found the plans on how to gradually increase the amounts and introduce extra meals really helpful. Even though they promote their own products they do have great recipes for home made.

I found a braun hand processor invaluable for making purees  and later for chopping vegetables finally. You need something that washes up easily. I also saved any jars or plastic containers from any shop baby food I used to freeze my own homemade food in. I used to sterilize them in my steam sterilizer.

Weaning can also bring challenging behaviour too! Once my kids were big enough I moved from an infant seat to a highchair and always used the straps. That way they got used to it from the beginning and I never had to deal with a toddler climbing out half way through the meal. Get them used to a bib from the start too and they are less likely to rip them off later leading to stained clothes. Any grabbing at bowls or spoons was met with me holding their hands firmly and adding a firm no.  I wish it was that simple now they are 5 and 8………..

If any of you have kids aged 5 -16 or know anyone who does,check out www.kidsweek.co.uk  where you can currently book for a selection of shows and activities where the kids go free with an accompanying paying adult. During Kids Week (14-28 August) a child aged 5-16 years old can go free to any participating show when accompanied by an adult paying full price. You can also purchase up to two extra children’s tickets at half price. Shows include High School musical stage show, Stomp and The Lion King. There is a limited allocation per show and the offer is subject to availability and not applicable to tickets previously purchased. Booking is now open so check it out!

  Having just had to return my children’s school uniform because when I got it home it was too short, I actually have measured my little giants up against the M&S  height chart. Andrew is now going into aged 11 trousers when he only turns 8 in October. Anyway that led me to thinking about car seats and whether he now needs one. A quick google came up with a fantastic site www.childcarseats.org.uk. which contains a wealth of information to make sure you are not found breaking the law. I recommend a visit. Needless to say my eldest can now travel without the booster. He’ll be driving before we know it!

Another good read is the link on the junior magazine website for carseats. Health professionals now recommend that babies should not be left in a car seat for longer than two hours, and ideally less than one hour. This is because research suggests that sitting small babies in semi-upright positions may have serious health risks. Babies ‘tummy breathe’ – so squashing them into unnatural positions, as in car seats, restricts their breathing and maybe their digestion. Restricting a baby’s breathing can lead to oxygen desaturation – i.e, when blood oxygen levels fall so low that not enough oxygen reaches the vital organs, especially the brain. Experts believe, variously, that this can affect a baby’s development; or cause bradycardia (slowing of the heart) and apnoea (temporary suspension of breathing), both linked to cot death. Newborns, low birthweight and premature babies are most at risk. So if you are driving to your holiday destination plan in a number of breaks.