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I poured my heart out over the internet a while ago to describe my journey to breastfeed my premature son. I was greeted with kindness by people I had never met and I felt I needed to carry on the story with what happened next. Despite his difficult start to life he was so confident with weaning – way more confident than we were! His first meal of baby rice was watched over by his parents, my parents, my aunt and uncle and his uncle and my brother early in 2015, when he was just 7 months old. He loved it and wolfed down the lot, grinning at us all. We
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all breathed a sigh of relief.
We kept our weaning plan very simple, breast milk mixed with baby rice twice a day. As a precautionary measure we were asked to see a speech and language therapist to check he had a ”safe” swallow, which luckily, he did. We discovered inadvertantly that he also had a milk allergy after we tried him with some formula milk and got rushed into A&E. The staff at our local children’s ward were amazing and sorted out a prescription for milk free formula for him. The trouble was that he didn’t want a bottle. We didn’t
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push it with him and kept the formula just for mixing with baby rice.
We got a braver as spring approached and my stick blender became my best friend. I also got a microwave steamer, which would steam my vegetables so I could blend them into a pulp. We had been advised to stick to purees only for a good few months and we did just that. I got braver still and tried him with very well cooked vegetable sticks which were refused immediately. We were told that if it crumbled, melted or squashed we were allowed to give it to him. I purchased literally all
SelfishMother.com
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of the baby snacks I could find, giant Wotsit type things covered in carrot powder, corn sticks with red pepper, sweetcorn rings, all of them! He ate them all and demanded more! We needed to get braver though, and move to more solid foods. We didn’t want to.
We tried him with well cooked vegetables again and this time he ate them! We tried him with slices of avocado and he wolfed them down. Bananas were rejected at the first try but then became a huge hit. He was christened and had a huge birthday party in June where he had his first taste of
SelfishMother.com
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cake, which made him shudder with disgust. We gave him dairy free chocolate at Easter, but he didn’t really like that either. We moved onto biscuits and cake, which he took too with a passion and still cannot walk past the biscuit tin without smiling and looking hopefully.
I was due to return to work in July and needed to make sure he was confident with bottle feeding by then. He refused his bottle so I tried him with a different kind of bottle and teat. That was refused too. He would refuse and get more and more worked up until I caved and
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breastfed him. One of my close friends literally saved the day. She gave me a spare Dr. Brown’s bottle. Her little girl had awful reflux and this bottle was the only one she would take. I made up some formula milk and put it into the bottle. It was incredible. he drank the whole thing. He didn’t even insist on being breastfed afterwards. He just fell asleep!
I let my mum look after him for an afternoon while I went into work and he happily had a bottle and a play in the park. He was so happy with mum, she had been a strong presence in his
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life since he was been born and they had an incredible bond. My return to work was very uneventful. I settled back into the routine there and mum took over the childcare two days a week – and the bottle feeding which he didn’t object to. She made him home cooked blended meals and followed our very gradual weaning plan. I stopped breastfeeding in November, a year after I started with huge mixed feelings. He was ready to give up and I told myself I needed to follow his lead, but I do still miss that bond, even now.
Our weaning journey continued and
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he had his first roast dinner for Christmas, then his first sandwich for my birthday the following year. He was and still is curious about all foods, never afraid and always determined to shove way more into his mouth than it is capable of holding. We went very gradually, letting him lead the way and always encouraging him to steal from our plates. He loves chips, prawn crackers, Ritz biscuits and any other kind of biscuit (especially chocolate ones!). He will eat any vegetable we give him and goes nuts for an avocado, although we do still struggle with
SelfishMother.com
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getting him to eat an actual plate of dinner. Tinned orange products (spaghetti, ravioli etc) are always a win, as are potato based products and anything in breadcrumbs. He is no different to any other toddler!
We have worked with the dietician to introduce milk products and we’re still plodding along with that. He loves chocolate so much. He likes ice cream but he doesn’t like it being cold, it makes him so cross!! He once tried to steal an entire pie from my husband’s dinner plate. I have no idea what he thought he was going to do with it! It was
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about the size of his head! It has been a really really amazing journey with him that has literally given me plenty of food for thought. I cannot wait to see what the next years bring and I’m hugely grateful to have him by my side (stealing my food)
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Laura Duncan - 15 Apr 18
I poured my heart out over the internet a while ago to describe my journey to breastfeed my premature son. I was greeted with kindness by people I had never met and I felt I needed to carry on the story with what happened next. Despite his difficult start to life he was so confident with weaning – way more confident than we were! His first meal of baby rice was watched over by his parents, my parents, my aunt and uncle and his uncle and my brother early in 2015, when he was just 7 months old. He loved it and wolfed down the lot, grinning at us all. We all breathed a sigh of relief.
We kept our weaning plan very simple, breast milk mixed with baby rice twice a day. As a precautionary measure we were asked to see a speech and language therapist to check he had a “safe” swallow, which luckily, he did. We discovered inadvertantly that he also had a milk allergy after we tried him with some formula milk and got rushed into A&E. The staff at our local children’s ward were amazing and sorted out a prescription for milk free formula for him. The trouble was that he didn’t want a bottle. We didn’t push it with him and kept the formula just for mixing with baby rice.
We got a braver as spring approached and my stick blender became my best friend. I also got a microwave steamer, which would steam my vegetables so I could blend them into a pulp. We had been advised to stick to purees only for a good few months and we did just that. I got braver still and tried him with very well cooked vegetable sticks which were refused immediately. We were told that if it crumbled, melted or squashed we were allowed to give it to him. I purchased literally all of the baby snacks I could find, giant Wotsit type things covered in carrot powder, corn sticks with red pepper, sweetcorn rings, all of them! He ate them all and demanded more! We needed to get braver though, and move to more solid foods. We didn’t want to.
We tried him with well cooked vegetables again and this time he ate them! We tried him with slices of avocado and he wolfed them down. Bananas were rejected at the first try but then became a huge hit. He was christened and had a huge birthday party in June where he had his first taste of cake, which made him shudder with disgust. We gave him dairy free chocolate at Easter, but he didn’t really like that either. We moved onto biscuits and cake, which he took too with a passion and still cannot walk past the biscuit tin without smiling and looking hopefully.
I was due to return to work in July and needed to make sure he was confident with bottle feeding by then. He refused his bottle so I tried him with a different kind of bottle and teat. That was refused too. He would refuse and get more and more worked up until I caved and breastfed him. One of my close friends literally saved the day. She gave me a spare Dr. Brown’s bottle. Her little girl had awful reflux and this bottle was the only one she would take. I made up some formula milk and put it into the bottle. It was incredible. he drank the whole thing. He didn’t even insist on being breastfed afterwards. He just fell asleep!
I let my mum look after him for an afternoon while I went into work and he happily had a bottle and a play in the park. He was so happy with mum, she had been a strong presence in his life since he was been born and they had an incredible bond. My return to work was very uneventful. I settled back into the routine there and mum took over the childcare two days a week – and the bottle feeding which he didn’t object to. She made him home cooked blended meals and followed our very gradual weaning plan. I stopped breastfeeding in November, a year after I started with huge mixed feelings. He was ready to give up and I told myself I needed to follow his lead, but I do still miss that bond, even now.
Our weaning journey continued and he had his first roast dinner for Christmas, then his first sandwich for my birthday the following year. He was and still is curious about all foods, never afraid and always determined to shove way more into his mouth than it is capable of holding. We went very gradually, letting him lead the way and always encouraging him to steal from our plates. He loves chips, prawn crackers, Ritz biscuits and any other kind of biscuit (especially chocolate ones!). He will eat any vegetable we give him and goes nuts for an avocado, although we do still struggle with getting him to eat an actual plate of dinner. Tinned orange products (spaghetti, ravioli etc) are always a win, as are potato based products and anything in breadcrumbs. He is no different to any other toddler!
We have worked with the dietician to introduce milk products and we’re still plodding along with that. He loves chocolate so much. He likes ice cream but he doesn’t like it being cold, it makes him so cross!! He once tried to steal an entire pie from my husband’s dinner plate. I have no idea what he thought he was going to do with it! It was about the size of his head! It has been a really really amazing journey with him that has literally given me plenty of food for thought. I cannot wait to see what the next years bring and I’m hugely grateful to have him by my side (stealing my food)
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I'm 33 years old and live in Kent with my husband and two year old son. I love crafting, creating and writing. I am a Duke of Edinburgh's Award Leader and an Early Years professional. You can follow my adventures at www.luckystardesigns.co.uk.
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