The basics of weaning- Introducing solids (Part 1)

Its recommended that you may start weaning babies to solids at 6 months or if you notice signs that they are ready, such as those listed here..

For me, I started BabyS on solids when she was 5.5months old. Her neck was steady by 3-4 months plus, she was really interested in what we ate also..

I read up on the internet and got some additional info from my girl's PD b4 i started.. I also went to borrow some books from the library..

Annabel Karmel's books are good in some ways, but alot of the ingredients or recipes that she has are very 'ang moh'/ western.. but still its good cos it gives u a idea of what u need to do, how to prep the food for pureeing and some good tips..

PDs have some pamphlets that are very useful... Polyclinics do have some too but i find those are quite outdated.. but better than nothing right..

The advice I got from the PD was to start baby on rice cereal first. Start with white rice cereal and not brown rice cereal if you want to be careful. Cos he has seen some kids who have an allergy to the rice husk. So if you start them on brown rice first, you wouldnt know if they have any allergy to the husk or the rice, etc..

Then move on, starting from certain fruits then to veges then to meats. (I have a chart, I'll add in whats there when I can get the chart)

I started BabyS off on Frisocrem Rice based milk cereal..
 
Why Frisocrem?

Cos alot of reviews said this was not as sweet as nestle. And i have personally done a test taste of both. THe frisocrem didnt taste as sweet to me..

But pls note, frisocrem is a milk based cereal. So do not add in milk when reconstituting the cereal becos there already is milk. Other cereals like Nestle, Healthy Times, etc, will require you to add in formula milk/ breastmilk or water..

If your child is lactose intolerance or requires certain kind of milk only, then you may want to consult your doctor on which type of cereal to consume. I have friends who make their own rice cereal becos of allergies..

BabyS was fine with this becos she was taking Friso..

Use a clean container/ bowl and a clean spoon. Follow the instructions on how to make it carefully..  This is not the time to start experimenting..

Frisocrem doesnt include a scoop so I just used the scoop that came with the Friso milk step 1 (blue scoop).

For the first few times i gave two scoops of cereal and mix with boiled water till the correct consistency. The consistency should be like melted ice cream, just slightly thicker.. Books suggest giving it after a milk feed (dont let baby finish all the milk). I dont get that concept. I am already 3/4 full. Would I wanna eat cereal? So i gave cereal first, then top up with milk. I just made her normal amount of milk. She can finish it if she wants,if she didnt, fine also, since she already consume cereal.

I gave it for 5 rows in a row (books and drs suggest 3 days but i am kiasu). When she didnt show any signs of rejection, I started to add in puree.. more of puree in the next post!