Select your preference
Where to buy

Weaning stories and support

Follow these three parents as they share their weaning diaries with you – complete with lots of yummy meal ideas.

Sarah & Baby Timothée: Diary of a combination weaner

Sarah is on a mission to get baby Timothée (6 and a half months) enjoying food with his family – she’s currently combining two meals a day with his milk feeds. Take a look at a week in the life of their weaning journey.

Sarah Ruiz and her husband Abdo welcomed their baby Timothée six and a half months ago and started to wean him just before he turned six months. Starting off with two weeks of single vegetable purées, they have since started to mix different flavours together and Sarah has decided to focus on a combination of purées for spoon-fed weaning and some elements of baby-led weaning too. Sarah has tried many of the recipes from Joe Wicks’ book, Wean in 15.

“Timothée is currently having two meals a day in addition to his milk feeds,” says Sarah. “He has loved most of the foods we have given him so far and I am looking forward to trying out lots and lots of different tastes as we head into the summer. For now, he is having meals that I cook from a couple of baby recipe books that I have. However, sometimes I make something that we can all eat together if the recipe is suitable and if it looks tasty. The idea is to get him eating the same thing as us soon! Both Abdo and I love cooking, so we’re really enjoying the weaning journey with him so far."

Take a look at 10 days of their weaning journey
Day 1Breakfast:
Plain homemade porridge (rolled oats cooked with milk) with a bit of peanut butter mixed in for a bit of protein. Timothée has loved most of his food so far but I think his favourite one has been porridge!

Lunch:
Rice with courgettes and cheese, plus a tiny bit of egg to discover if he has an allergy; this was his first time having some egg. So far, so good!
Day 2Breakfast:
Porridge with almond butter and some juicy sliced strawberries – he LOVED IT. Porridge has swiftly become a favourite for breakfast and we try to switch it up with different fruits each day.

Lunch:
Avocado and basil purée, served cold. He liked this, even though I thought it might be quite a strong flavour. He seems to enjoy most of the things I have cooked for him so far and the only thing he hasn’t liked at all so far has been mushrooms. We’ll try those another time.
Day 3Breakfast:
Banana pancakes with a with bit of yogurt and some smashed berries. He found the pancakes a little bit difficult to manage, as they got squashed in his hands!

Lunch:
Courgette, pea and mint purée that I had made before and stored in the freezer.
Day 4Breakfast:
Porridge with raspberries. This was his first-time trying raspberries and I think he was a bit surprised by them! He enjoyed picking them up and mushing them into his mouth.

Lunch:
Avocado and butterbean mash. This was left over from a previous meal and I had frozen it. He didn’t seem to enjoy it as much warm though – I had offered it to him cold the time before. He also had a couple spoons of mango purée.
Day 5Breakfast:
Porridge with raspberries and blueberries – he’s getting more adventurous with his fruit!

Lunch:
Broccoli, courgette and sweet potato purée. I had leftover vegetables to use up, so I just mixed it all together. He also tried broccoli and avocado as finger foods, plus a couple of spoons of mango purée again.
Day 6Breakfast:
Banana pancakes again, this time served with yogurt to dip them into. He liked being able try doing this himself, though I tried to guide his hands to avoid too much mess.

Lunch:
Today he ate some scrambled eggs mixed with tomatoes and turmeric for flavour. I also gave him a Kiddylicious banana wafer to help him to practice eating finger foods. Timothée always wants to hold the spoon himself now, so we do end up with food everywhere!
Day 7Breakfast:
This morning, we tried some plain yogurt mixed with apple purée.

Lunch:
We gave him a puree, as we were outside. This one had peas, broccoli and pear in it, which he enjoyed, probably because it’s quite sweet. He also had a snack of some Kiddylicious Fruity Puffs that kept him going until we got home for a milk feed. I’m really looking forward to giving him some watermelon when they come into season this summer.
Day 8Breakfast:
Porridge with cashew butter, as I am trying to spot potential new allergens. He actually cried this morning when I took the bowl away, so he is definitively a fan of his porridge.

Lunch:
I gave him some Kiddylicious Wafers to keep him occupied while I was cooking and to help him practice eating finger foods! Then he had a small portion of red lentils mixed with cauliflower, turmeric and kale. He only had a couple of spoonfuls, because I think the texture was a bit surprising for him. We’ll try this one again soon, as there was lots left over that I put in the freezer. I like to use herbs and spices in his food – we use a lot in ours, so I want him to get used to them.
Day 9Breakfast:
Coconut yogurt today, with some mashed blueberries. They are always a hit.

Lunch:
He had whizzed up veggies – including some cauliflower and butterbeans. It meant a really easy meal for me and I could cook something a bit more adventurous for our own dinner.
Day 10Breakfast:
He had some plain yogurt with a couple of mashed blueberries in it. He seemed to like the alternative to porridge.

Lunch:
Today I made a chickpea and cauliflower curry served with couscous. He wasn’t a fan of the texture at all and only had a couple of spoonfuls. However, he loved grabbing at the food and a lot of it ended up on the floor and the walls! He then had some pear purée for dessert.

Ida & Baby Jasmine: Diary of a second time weaner

A devotee of baby-led weaning, Ida takes a go-with-the-flow approach to weaning her daughter Jasmine (14 months). Take a look at a week in the life of their weaning journey.

Ida Bougouin and her husband Theo, have a son Nathan who is five and daughter Jasmine who is 14 months old. They are a truly European family – Ida spent part of her life in Portugal where her parents live and Theo is French, so they have a very international diet with plenty of garlic and spices! Ida has made more of an effort with baby-led weaning with Jasmine than she did with Nathan because she is more confident the second time around. Ida cooks food that Jasmine can grab easily.

“I think you have less fussy eaters if they have been baby-led weaned,” says Ida. “I think if you give them beige or bland food, they may not grow out of it!”

Jasmine eats some meals at home and some at the childminder’s but much of what she eats has been cooked at home and sent with her for lunch the next day.

Take a look at 10 days of their weaning journey
Day 1Breakfast:
We had some wheat biscuits with milk, a little sprinkle of bran because Nathan loves it and that makes Jasmine want to try it too, with some raisins and half a banana. We try to vary the cereal and the types of fruit each day. In the early stage of weaning, Jasmine had a mild cow’s milk allergy but luckily, she grew out of it.

Lunch:
Sandwiches with grated carrot and hummus. We also gave her some cucumber and carrot sticks, though she wouldn’t touch the cucumber. She likes to play with the hummus and ended up with food all over her face.

Dinner:
Salmon baked with cherry tomatoes and orzo pasta. This is such a quick and easy meal to make and both kids love it, even if a lot of it does end up on the floor!
Day 2Breakfast:
Jasmine has a cup of milk before she goes off to the childminder’s, as I am conscious that she doesn’t have much milk during the day. Once there, she had some overnight oats that her childminder made with grated apple and cinnamon, soaked in whole milk.

Lunch:
She had some of yesterday’s salmon, pasta and tomatoes, heated up. She tends to eat more when she’s not at home and will try things she won’t try at home, too. I was told that she ate some cucumber there today, which she wouldn’t touch at home!

Dinner:
Schnitzels with mashed potatoes and peas. She loves peas some days and hates them the next – you’re never quite sure what’s going to happen!
Day 3Breakfast:
More wheat biscuits with strawberries this time, cut into slices.

Lunch:
She had a piece of schnitzel from last night with some hummus and vegetable sticks. She also had some apple, cut up into sticks.

Dinner:
Pasta carbonara – a family favourite and one that’s easy to throw together after a day of work.
Day 4Breakfast:
Pancakes with blueberries. She picks up slices of the pancake and eats them herself and then tries to pick up each berry, with variable success!

Lunch:
She had some of the pasta from last night, with some steamed vegetables that the childminder made. There are some vegetables that she will eat mashed but not in their natural form – it’s a bit hit and miss at the moment, though she is more amenable to eating vegetables at the childminder’s!

Dinner:
We had risotto with lots of different vegetables in it and some salmon, which Jasmine loves. I had to feed her most of this, as it’s a bit tricky to eat it with her hands. I’m actually quite impatient, so if the babies start to play up or try to throw their food, I sometimes take it from them and feed them.
Day 5Breakfast:
She had a little bowl of rice krispies, some bran and raspberries. She likes to experiment with a spoon now and occasionally gets some food in her mouth but most of it falls off, and then she waves the spoon around.

Lunch:
Risotto from last night – which the childminder said she ate stubbornly with her hands, grain by grain!

Dinner:
We had curry and the kids both had some. And they love naan bread. Jasmine likes to try whatever we have – and if it has spice in, she will eat it! If we go out, she’ll eat what we have, so finding food for her is not going to be a problem!
Day 6Breakfast:
Eggy bread cut into little squares and some chopped fresh fruit.

Lunch:
A wrap with hummus and grated carrot, followed by a yoghurt – which she rubbed into her face and hair!

Dinner:
Spaghetti Bolognese. I put lots of different vegetables into the tomato sauce to make sure the kids get a good mix of different vegetables.
Day 7Breakfast:
She had a bowl of cornflakes with raspberries, then she wanted to grab my toast, so I gave her half a slice. I try not to give her too much bread, as she loves bread and would just eat it all day long if I let her.

Lunch:
Some of last night’s Bolognese sauce with couscous, as it’s quick and easy. I also gave her some pepper sticks, which she pushed away.

Dinner:
Our weekly treat, steak and chips. We make the chips in the air fryer, so they are not oily, and we give them to the kids with no salt on them. We also don’t give them the blue cheese sauce we have, as I am conscious of the salt content.  She does already love Stilton, though, if she can grab a piece.
Day 8Breakfast:
Bran flakes with some pieces of grapefruit – she loves things with strong flavours. We can give her cow’s milk now, though at seven months, when I wanted to give her some formula, she vomited. We had prescribed milk for a while until she grew out of the allergy.

Lunch:
A little sandwich followed by some mixed fruit pieces. We always have lots of fruit in the house and Jasmine loves it all – clementines, bananas, apples, strawberries, melon, pear, grapes and kiwi. She has not yet tried cooked fruit, nor pineapple but we will try that soon.

Her hand-eye coordination is getting so much better, so she is able to pick up quite small or slippery foods.

Dinner:
Homemade burgers, which we tend to do more of in the Summer. Though Jasmine is a bit funny about vegetables, she likes food, especially protein!
Day 9Breakfast:
Pancakes again, this time with strawberries and raspberries.

Lunch:
Falafel, with mashed potato and sweetcorn. This is easy for her to pick up and it was the first time she had tried falafel. It was a hit.

Dinner:
Seafood pasta in tomato sauce, with some garlic. She does like garlic, though not too much and is quite experimental. When we were on holiday recently, we had ordered lunch, but it took a long time, so she ate the lime slices that were on the table. With each piece, she pulled the funniest face, but she ate it all.
Day 10Breakfast:
Malted wheat cereal with raisins and banana.

Lunch:
Some leftover salmon from last night and broccoli that the childminder cooked – the childminder told me she liked it so much that she took some from another child!

Dinner:
Monkfish, though I added too much garlic and she didn’t like that too much.

Kirsty & Baby Yara: Diary of a blender fan

Kirsty is easing her little one, Yara (7 months) onto lumps to help her build confidence with new textures. Take a look at how Kirsty still introduces lots of new flavours and ingredients over a week in their weaning journey.

We started weaning when Yara was nearly five months,” says Kirsty. “While I am aware that the advice is to start babies at six months currently, she showed an interest in food and was not sleeping properly.” [Current advice from the NHS is to start at six months.]

“I usually spoon feed her with blended foods. Sometimes I will let her feed herself if I think that she will not choke or gag,” explains Kirsty. “I find that when she gags, it puts her off the food she is eating, and she tends to remember the experience and not want that particular food again. She does usually seem hungry though and has never spat out a spoonful of food!"

Take a look at 10 days of their weaning journey
Day 1Breakfast:
Fruity wholegrain porridge mixed with milk powder (for six months plus) and warm water, plus blended apple and banana purée to make sure she has a good amount of fruit. When we started weaning, I tried her on baby rice mixed with milk, once a day, then tried small amounts of porridge once a day, until we have built up to three meals a day now, plus pudding after dinner!

Lunch:
I made her a dish of homemade carrot, cauliflower and peas, with two leaves of mint, blended. Then she had fromage frais for pudding.

Snack (around 3 or 4pm):
Three strawberries as a finger food and some squashed, warmed dates.

Dinner:
Homemade potato and broccoli purée with grated cheddar, which had some dried mixed herbs in it. She ate this really well and then didn’t want pudding.
Day 2Breakfast:
We stuck with the same breakfast as yesterday, as she liked it – so porridge and yummy fruit again.

Lunch:
I cooked some baby sized pasta, which I served with puréed tomatoes, courgette and Kiri cheese (a soft, processed cheese especially for children), with some dried mixed herbs. She really liked this.

Snack:
She ate a quarter of a banana, chopped into baby sized fingers and a little baby biscotti.

Dinner:
She ate the rest of portion of potato, broccoli and cheese purée from yesterday.
Day 3Breakfast:
Plain breakfast porridge this time, mixed with four smashed blueberries – she seemed to like the colour!

Lunch:
Today I made a variation of the pasta she liked from yesterday, this time with courgette, peppers, leek, parsley and tomato.

Snack:
She munched on an apple rice cake and a couple of warm dates. Sometimes I give her half a rusk to chew on during the day as well if she seems hungry, or if she has been quite active.

Dinner:
I gave her an easy dinner of mashed up potatoes, cauliflower and peas. For pudding, I baked some plums and served them warm with some fromage frais. She ate a lot this evening and I do think you should be guided by your baby when it comes to appetite, not by books.
Day 4Breakfast:
Again, she had porridge with four smashed blueberries. Yara eats a mixture of jars and pouches, alternated with homemade fruits, vegetables, cereals, fromage frais and hand-held rusks and biscuits.

Lunch:
Today we tried something a little different; she had half an avocado and then half a banana with fromage frais. She has this really funny habit of shivering when she eats a cold fromage frais. She opens her mouth and as soon as it goes in, she shivers. She has become so used to doing this and seeing me laugh, that now, even if I give her an empty spoon, she thinks it’s fromage frais and she shivers and hasn’t even eaten anything! She just does it for the laugh!

Snack:
She ate two strawberries as a finger food and a Kiddylicious soft banana bake biscuit.

Dinner:
She had pasta, mixed with courgette and tomatoes. I also gave her some grated apple. This was really interesting as it was a new flavour and texture; she scrunched her face up as she ate it but carried on eating it anyway. However, it quickly became a game – she slapped at the apple, then picked it up, then slapped it again, then ate it and scrunched up her face as though it was bitter and repeated this all over again. I ended up washing her clothes, my clothes, and the kitchen cupboards! When grated apple dries, it STICKS!
Day 5
Breakfast:
Plain porridge mixed with puréed prunes.

Lunch:
She had the remaining portion of homemade pasta, courgette and peppers, which I had frozen. I think this baby will be a real vegetable lover. The acidity in fruit doesn’t seem to suit her tastes much but she eats it if I blend it with something else. She does seem to love dates, though!

Snack:
She refused a snack today, as she’s teething.

Dinner:
She had another re-heated portion of my homemade potato, broccoli and Kiri, mashed very well. For pudding, she had just plain fromage frais – again, with funny faces!
Day 6Breakfast:
Porridge mixed with two squashed strawberries as a change.

Lunch:
Today’s homemade meal was a mixture of puréed spinach, carrot and cauliflower. She followed this with fromage frais again, as it’s such a hit.

Snack:
Today she had two of the Kiddylicious banana soft biscotti. They are fast becoming a favourite.

Dinner:
I tried offering her homemade couscous for the first time today with blended vegetables, including sweet potato, swede, carrot, tomato, turmeric and cinnamon. She found the couscous grains horrible and refused to eat them, then started to gag, and pushed my hand away. This was quite a surprise and I think it was the texture she found unusual, rather than the flavour, as she has had pasta before. For pudding we decided to play it safe smooth rice pudding, which we know she loves.
Day 7Breakfast:
Her favourite porridge again, with four squashed blueberries.

Lunch:
I tried her out on homemade vegetable soup, which included carrot, swede and sweet potato, with red lentils for protein, blended well.

Snack:
Half a banana and half an apple rice cake.

Dinner:
Tonight, she had puréed broccoli, spinach and potato. It reminded me of the time I tried her with cod once and made her a baby fish pie with blended vegetables – and she absolutely hated it! She turned away as soon as she smelled the spoon, then sneezed when it came near her and it just went everywhere, all over the kitchen!
Day 8Breakfast:
Today, she didn’t want any breakfast as she is teething again. She drank some milk and has been chewing her fingers.

Lunch:
I gave her the vegetable sauce that I put on the couscous the other day, all very mashed. She only had a few spoons and was rather moany, again because of the teething, I think. She went to sleep after a warm bottle.

Snack:
A couple of Kiddylicious blueberry Wafers.

Dinner:  
Again, I offered her the vegetable purée I made for the couscous but without the couscous. Today she ate most of it and seems a bit better. For pudding, I gave her squashed poached pears with a small bit of fromage frais to keep her interested.
Day 9Breakfast:
Porridge with four squashed blueberries.

Lunch:
Again, she refused her lunch and was rubbing her mouth due to the teething.

Snack:
Because she had missed her lunch, I gave her a really easy to eat and digest snack of half a rusk mixed with milk and some cereal mix. I made into a thick blend and she ate it and then went to sleep.

Dinner:
I gave her some steamed broccoli florets as a finger food so she could try to feed herself. She ate a bit and then rubbed her mouth – she isn’t quite getting the hang of it yet and perhaps her teeth are still bothering her. She also had half a portion of homemade blended carrot that was in the freezer, warmed up. She didn’t want pudding, but I did give her a drink of milk. I’m going to try to introduce fish and chicken in the next few weeks but whilst she is so young, I’ve stuck with vegetables.
Day 10Breakfast:
Fruity wholegrain porridge with milk and half a strawberry.

Lunch:
Pasta with courgettes, peppers, leek, parsley and tomato, mixed with some grated cheddar cheese. Pudding was a banana, chopped into little pieces which she tried to eat by herself.

Dinner:
She had pureed courgette and tomatoes. She seemed to like it better than the first time I tried this flavour. Today, I’m planning on making her some mini muffins with banana and dates for sweetness and instead of flour, I will use blended porridge oats. When I give her warm (pitted and mashed) dates, she can’t get enough of them, she becomes so excited she shakes and opens and closes her outheld hands as though she is about to experience something fantastic!