Читать книгу Truly Scrumptious Baby: My complete feeding and weaning plan for 6 months and beyond - Holly Willoughby, Holly Willoughby - Страница 5

Hello again!

So here we are. Over the past six or so months, you and your baby have finally mastered the milk feed, and whether you’ve gone for breast or formula, all your hard work is plain to see in your baby’s growing weight on the scales. Whether you’ve found the whole experience a doddle or a struggle, you’ve done it, and the results are squidgeable! But in this ever-evolving world of baby, it’s time for change. It’s time for the next exciting step: to introduce your little bundle to the colourful, flavourful and wonderful world of food – something that may well be met with mixed emotions!

You might fall into the camp of mothers who have exclusively breastfed since day one and loved every nursing moment, hence the thought of having to give up some of these feeds to foreign food matter is a bit threatening. You might be one of those mothers who loves the ease of milk (whether breast or bottle) and so the thought of having to add the preparation of food to your already busy routine is simply horrifying. Or you might be the sort of mum who’s hated the whole milk-only phase and can’t wait to start cramming the freezer with ice cubes of liquidized carrot. Whichever category you fall into, the simple truth is that the time has come and you have to embrace the solid, for the good of your baby and her development.

It’s true that the thought of weaning can make even the most self-assured of mothers feel daunted. Not least because, as usual, there are decisions to be made. Do you go down the traditional route of spoon-feeding your little one lump-free purées, or do you investigate the newer ‘baby-led weaning’ approach and let your baby feed herself from the moment solid food first touches her lips? As with everything, there are no right or wrong answers. I’m just here to try to arm you with options for making your own informed choices about what will work best for you, your baby and indeed the rest of your family.

When I started this project, I reflected on all those things I had wanted to know as a parent when I embarked on weaning for the first time: when to start, for example, and how to know if my baby was ready. I wanted to know how to prepare myself for the daunting task ahead, what equipment to buy and how to move from one stage to the next. I wanted simple, easy-to-follow recipes, made with economical ingredients that pack a nutritional punch. I certainly didn’t want to waste money on expensive weaning gadgets, or spend lots of time in the kitchen on fiddly recipes that left me with a ton of washing-up. To top it all, I wanted to know exactly what challenges I might face and how to manage them.

So, in this book, I hope to provide you with all this information, and more. In my experience, the weaning process can be tricky to master and varies for every baby – there will be changes to your routine and potentially some frustrating moments. But even when there’s more food on the floor than in your baby’s tummy, one thing I can guarantee if you follow the recipes in this book is that you’ll be catering to her nutritional needs at each stage of the weaning process. Each recipe has been developed to ensure that your little one gets the correct balance of nutrients every step of the way. Minimum fuss, maximum benefit is my motto. And I hope this will allow you to have a bit of fun with food, to make mealtimes appealing for your little one – without losing your sanity in the process!

For my part, I absolutely loved the experience of taking all of mine through the various weaning stages. I can remember each of their faces when that first spoonful of baby rice touched their lips. So best of luck, fellow feeders! And try not to stress. Remember the mantra that every baby is unique and your baby will get there in the end. How many adults do you know who are still living on a diet of puréed fruit?!

Come on – we can do this!