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Diary Of A New Mum -
Week 19

All Things Weaning

This week we started the exciting process of weaning. I know ‘current guidelines’ say wait until six months, but a few years ago they said 4 months, and a few years before that 3 months. We, as Jess’s parents, made an informed decision to start at 18 weeks – and Jess’s reaction told us we had timed it just right. In fact, the look on her face when she tasted her baby rice said, ‘Why have you waited so long?!’ 

All the signs were there. Her milk feeds, which had satisfied her for up to four hours at a time before, suddenly weren’t enough. She was crying for food much earlier than usual. Being tiny, she couldn’t fit enough in her belly to last her until the next feed so she demanded her milk earlier and earlier until it seemed as though we were feeding her constantly. 

She can also hold her head up really well now, and sit in her Bumbo chair unsupported, and she puts everything in her mouth (although this might be teething). We planned it all really carefully, I read all the books (as is my tendency when doing something new) and Monday morning we gave Jessica-Ann her milk as usual then sat her down to try her first taste. 

The book said that babies, on being given a spoonful of something relatively solid for the first time (actually the baby rice mixture is just like thick milk), would do one of three things: Screw up their faces, cry and spit it out; screw up their faces, open their mouths and let it drop out; screw up their faces, scream and violently spray the food all over the room. 

With Jess they only got one part right – she did screw up her face. Then she moved the food around her mouth while making yummy noises, swallowed it, and opened her mouth wide for more. She was like a little bird. She had all the rice, and actually looked disappointed when it was finished. 

So weaning clearly isn’t going to be a chore at all! Since then she’s also tried pureed pear, which she loved, and sweet potato, which she also loved. It’s a breeze. Her poos are fine (sorry to go on about poo again), so it clearly agrees with her, and she is sleeping even better than before – an all round happy, contented baby. 

I surprised myself this week. Not given to spending time in the kitchen (cooking is Paul’s forte, not mine), I actually enjoyed cooking and pureeing Jess’s food. It felt wholesome and nurturing, not tiresome and tedious like I’d imagined. She has dug deep inside me, this baby, and pulled out all sorts of qualities I never knew I had. Who knows what I’ll discover about myself next! That I like cleaning, for instance? No. I don’t think so. Not even Jessica-Ann could produce a miracle like that.

Week 20 - Dads Have Feelings Too

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