We decided to take a vegetable first approach to weaning, with a mixture of traditional weaning and baby led weaning (offering purees, followed by finger foods to explore). We were going to introduce a new flavour every 2 days. The more varieties of veg little ones wean with, the more tastes they’ll love (Ella’s Kitchen).

We wanted to focus on building a positive relationship with food, right from the beginning. With eating being a fun experience, full of exploration and excitement. On the build up to weaning, we introduced Thomas highchair, as a place to enjoy. We let him play in it and sit with us at the dinner table, enjoying family time.

As I mentioned in my previous blog, Getting Weaning Ready, I’m definitely not an expert on food and nutrition. However, I did my fair share of research before starting, and this is just what we chose to do for Thomas’ first tastes.

A couple of days before weaning began, I started to prep the foods we would be introducing to Thomas, and freezing them, ready for weaning. This process makes things much more convenient, as well as providing homemade food, knowing exactly what I’m feeding him. I am going to cover this process in my next blog.

Day 1 & 2 – Carrots

We introduced Thomas to carrots on his first day. We thought this was quite a safe bet. We were pretty nervous but also very excited. We decided to start weaning at lunch time, as Thomas isn’t very hungry in the mornings and its suggested not to start with an evening mean, due to digestion and potential allergies.

We defrosted two ice cubes of carrot and mixed the puree with a bit of his usual formula and offered him a small amount on a spoon. I was expecting gagging, immediate disgust or even choking, but there wasn’t any of that. His little eyes lit up and he opened his mouth for more! We couldn’t believe it. Hes ate a fair amount and then we handed him two batons of carrot, to explore. I had steamed the carrots so they were slightly soft, but not too soft for bits to break off.

We repeated this on the second day and it’s safe to say carrot was a hit! He even had a go with the spoon and eating the bowl! A really positive experience.

Day 2 & 3 – Peas

We wanted to introduce some green vegetables early on, as they are a great source of iron. We decided not to offer Thomas peas as a finger food, there just too small. We offered the pea puree and his little face was a picture! He really didn’t seem taken to peas. However, we decided to still go ahead and offer him peas the next day, as it can take up to 10 tries, for a baby to like a taste.

Day 4 & 5 – Sweet Potato

Next off, we decided to introduce a carbohydrate, in preparation for moving onto combinations. Thomas seemed to like the sweet potato and enjoyed exploring the baton of it. Its like he had his very own sweet potato fries! I put a little bit of puree on the baton and on his tray, so he could explore the taste, texture and smell.

Day 6 & 7 – Broccoli

Getting those greens in! Thomas seemed quite taken with broccoli. Again, on the first day we mixed it with his formula and on the second we mixed with water. To be honest, for him, it didn’t seem to make a difference. He enjoyed holding a floret of broccoli, but he wouldn’t put it in his mouth. Hopefully, when we try again he will have a go. I demonstrated myself, but he didn’t choose too.

Day 8 & 9 – Parsnips

I thought parsnips would be a hit, to me, they taste pretty sweet. Thomas however, pulled the most amazing faces and didn’t seem to like them at all. He tried a baton of it and threw it! He wasn’t keen and didn’t eat much.

I almost decided not to bother on the second day of parsnips, but I’m glad I did. It was a completely different reaction and he seemed to enjoy them.

Day 10 & 11 – Cauliflower

I didn’t expect this to go down well. Personally, I find cauliflower very bland with a strange tang. Although, I love cauliflower cheese. But Thomas loved it! Once again, he wouldn’t put the floret in his mouth (maybe reminds him on tiny trees) but loved the puree. I didn’t even bother mixing with milk on the first day.

I honestly cant believe how well Thomas has taken to weaning, hes loving it and gets very excited at lunch time. We have now also introduced some baby porridge at dinner time. He absolutely loves this and makes happy noises as he eats. We were kindly gifted some Hipp Organic creamy porridge to try and it’s been a massive hit.

Our next tastes planned are, spinach, potato, Swede, aubergine, butternut squash and corn. We are also going to be introducing combinations of vegetables, at dinner time (such as, carrot and sweet potato).

My First Flavours

We’ve been tracking little mans weaning journey on this lovely personalised chart, from @myfirstflavours. It will be such a lovely keepsake to look back on. We can also keep track of what he likes and doesn’t.

If you have enjoyed this blog and would like to continue to follow Thomas’ weaning journey, click the follow button below and keep your eyes peeled for my next blogs.

I would love to hear what your little ones first tastes were or are planned to be? Did they enjoy them? Let me know in the comments section below.

Weaning blogs:

Getting Weaning Ready

Weaning – Batch Cooking

Coming up soon:

Weaning – Combinations

Check out my Instagram, where I’m most active – @mummymitchell18