Wow. Erin has been eating mush for two whole weeks now. I cannot believe just how quickly that has gone. Although I was extremely over-prepared (as I am for most things) I was terrified that Erin would maybe not like food yet, would maybe choke and have a bad experience or maybe just spit it at me. I knew at 17 weeks Erin was younger than what HV’s recommend but I desperately wanted her reflux to get better!
Anyway, I needn’t have worried at all. Erin absolutely loves food. It doesn’t seem to matter what kind of food at the minute, she seems to want to eat anything now she’s realised she can. The first food was baby rice, something nice and simple and while she was unsure for a couple of mouthfuls, she quickly realised what she was supposed to do and ate the whole portion I made her.
Since that first day she has eaten every little bit of whatever I have made. I think if I had made more she would have eaten that too. She’s turned into a right little guzzler!!
On Monday I was sat eating some snacks (Cheeselets) on the sofa with Erin on my lap. Her eyes were fixated on what I was eating and she kept reaching for it. So, I handed her one to see what she would do. She went to put it straight in her mouth the clever girl. Obviously I didn’t let her eat it or even taste it but I was so proud that she understood what I was doing. So, instead of wanting my food I broke up a Rusk to see what she’d do with that. I wasn’t actually expecting her to be able to eat this seeing as it is a lot harder and more rough than what she has been used to. Once again my little girl proved me wrong. She rolled it around in her mouth, making it moist enough to break up and then she swallowed without gagging or choking at all! I couldn’t believe it.
Since preparing and freezing a hell of a lot of Erin’s food I’ve changed how I do things because it was taking up so much space! I now freeze in ice cube trays with lids and then transfer into zip lock bags. I can store so much more this way and I can also have everything labelled which I like so much more. I hated having to guess what frozen pot was what seeing as a lot of things look the same. It was only after cooking up this huge batch that I really thought about it. Oops!
I’m now in a bit of a dilemma. I wasn’t prepared for Erin liking food so much or this whole weaning thing being so easy. Erin gets excited as soon as she sees her bowl and spoon and opens up her little mouth all ready. I know she would quite happily eat two meals a day now but is it too early?! We don’t see our HV any more so I am going to have to wait for weight clinic to speak to someone about it.
If you have any advice or can just let me know how weaning went with your children, I’d really appreciate it!