6 months is upon us (how did that happen so fast!!!) and its time to introduce some solids. It is recommended that you do leave it until this time as a baby’s digestive system is not mature enough before this to handle anything other than milk and introducing foods earlier can cause the risk of allergies and stomach problems along with obesity in later life, so its worth considering discussing it with your Doctor or health professional beforehand if your baby is younger than 6 months.
Cameron had been taking an interest in what we where eating and would sit with an open mouth watching our every bite for a few weeks, he could sit upright in his highchair and was constantly putting things in his mouth, so I knew he was ready for solids when he turned 6 months and that’s when our little tiny taste bud adventure began.
It really is one of the most exciting and messy milestones in your baby’s first year, but prepare yourself if you are a bit of a ‘monica’ and like everything pristine and clean your in for a rude awakening!
We armed ourselves with some first weaning spoons from Boots but they where a bit too curved and indented that he found it hard to get the food off the spoon so I switched to Munchkin white hot safety spoons instead which where super easy for him to feed from and an added bonus was the fact that the tip turns white should the food be too warm. Another great option I found was Tommee Tippee weaning spoons which where even flatter and great for little mouths to slide the food off. You will need to offer your baby some water or their usual milk to wash down the food with. It’s a little trickier to find a drinking cup that your baby will adjust to especially if your baby has been breastfed. It is perfectly normal to go through several cups of all shapes and sizes to find the one which works best. For us the Philips Avent easy sip cup worked best as it was flexible and soft and easy for him to drink from as opposed to some of the harder teat cups.
Munchkin white hot safety spoons (4 pack) £2.99, Toys R Us
Tommee Tippee weaning spoons (6 pack) £1.00, Asda
Philips Avent Easy Sip Spout Cup with handle, £5.99, Mothercare
I started by offering some baby rice mixed with expressed milk (use your baby’s normal milk) but with the consistency of wallpaper paste and judging by my baby’s face it must have tasted it too. 
They recommend to try something a few times before they get a taste for a new food but after several attempts over a few days we gave it up as a bad job and moved onto some smooth pureed fruit. Ella’s Kitchen have a very good range of pouches with just one fruit or vegetable which is fantastic for working out which foods your baby likes and agrees with. 
Once you have tried the same food for a day or so if your baby has not reacted to it then you can introduce another new food and then combine the two and so on. After a few days we where mixing apple and pear, mango and banana. The same for vegetables we tried sweet potato for a few days then carrots on their own and then when I knew he was not reacting to the foods I was able to mix them both together the next time.
After a week I introduced porridge for breakfast. 
We did try various Cow & Gate cereals but he just didn’t enjoy them but loves his porridge so that is part of our daily routine now. We have even got a little adventurous now and I let him try to feed himself, resulting in more over his head and my kitchen floor but that’s all part of the fun.
One day he grabbed some of my toast off the plate and began to excitedly devour it by sucking away on the toast so that’s when I decided to try baby led weaning where you let them have small cut up portions of various foods. I switch between this and me feeding him and its working out well. I hope you all enjoy this exciting new step in your babys routine and enjoy it one taste at a time.
