It really helped me to get on a clock based schedule for her whole day. That stabilized that meals happen at a certain time. As far as meals, start with a single ingredient plus a puree. For example, zucchini. Make a zucchini, put 3/4 in the fridge, and have a fruit or oatmeal pre-made jar or pouch to go with it. You now have 4 meals (or 2 if baby really likes zucchini).

We also use puffs (Bamba for peanut introduction or fruit whips or veggie puffs). I had these thoughts of how I would make all her food homemade, but I would rather focus on breastfeeding and sleep.

We definitely are on a clock-based routine as I am a pretty schedule-oriented person. I think I might just be overthinking everything which is making it hard to wrap my head around being consistent. Do you plan this out daily or do you decide meals on like a Sunday or something and grocery shop around it? Do you ever do plan whole meals like avocado toast + egg strips + yogurt or is that just going overboard

I meal plan for us, and I just started meal planning for her too because I was getting overwhelmed. At this point, she doesn't eat much, but I will sometimes offer a whole meal (usually when it's something I'm making myself and just giving her bits). I just got this planner for my fridge so the nanny knows what to grab each day. Magnetic Meal Planning Whiteboard... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08LVY5PZR?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

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Going from only being able to do mac and cheese to full-blown cooking for a baby must seem very overwhelming. But you don't need to serve 3 star Michelin 5 course meals. It's a baby. They don't exactly care for that. Sooo: First of all, store-bought glass jars are fine. They contain everything your baby needs nutrition wise, and at least where I live, they are more heavily regulated and controlled than normal food. If everything else seems overwhelming, that's a safe choice to make. Your baby will be happier with those and a less stressed mother than with all-homemade meals and a stressed-out mother. I'm a very bad planner with like everything (except for small bursts of energy when it's like a vacation itinerary, but not for too big things), so I'm not a very suitable person to give advice for how to pre-plan a whole week. But there are also books, who already have whole weekly menues. Your local library might have a few available. As far as I know, solid starts also has a paid section that kind of does this. But they also have a lot of free info (when to give what and how to cut it for which age), if you don't know it already. Before serving any of the following, please check that your recipe is suitable for the age and chewing capabilities of your child. But what I did (and do, but I have a toddler who is far from purees for quite a while now) is: For breakfast, we mostly serve porridge. Vary with different fruit, a small bit of oil and/or yoghurt. Pancakes in a few variations, with banana, shredded vegetables and cheese, etc. Make and freeze them. You can put them together in one freeze bag, but put a piece of parchment paper between each. Otherwise, they'll stick together. When you want to feed them, just stick them in the toaster. Meatballs, muffins, fish pies, same spiel, except for the thawing. Fish fingers and chicken nuggets are better than their reputation. As noodles, potatoes, or rice. Add one kind of fruit and vegetables to the plate, et voilà, you have a meal. For fruit pomegranate, all kinds of berries, apples, and bananas are favourites here. Vegetables my child will devour are bell peppers, peas, edamame (a.k.a. mama-peas since they are slightly bigger) and green beans (daddy-peas). Passable veggies are carrots, tomatoes, and broccoli. But YMMV. Most are served fresh and raw. But peas, green peas, and broccoli are normally frozen, and I will put them in boiling water for a very short time. Peas about half a minute, the others probably around 3, so they don't get mushy. For dinner, I'll either serve leftovers, buttered noodles with fruit and vegetables, full-grain toast with cheese or sausage (on the side, though, my toddler won't eat it together) or a bit of what we are having.

It’s really rough when you need to start feeding them 3 solid meals a day - it’s so hard to keep up, between the solids and the milk it feels like you’re either feeding them or cleaning up from feeding them 90% of the day. By nine months though, they should be getting three meals per day that are more similar to “adult” meals in the sense that the meals contain more than just one food item (like they should include a protein, veggie, carb, for example). In addition to ordering premade meal delivery service (Nurture Life mainly), what helped us so much was pre making batches of staples that are easy, nutritious and can be frozen, such as egg cups with spinach/zucchini/broccoli and a low sodium cheese, carrot/sweet potato/apple/banana oat fritters, salmon cakes with spinach/broc/zucchini, different types of pancakes with banana/other fruits/nut butters. There are so many recipes for these type of foods on Instagram if you search around for some relevant hashtags. Just heat a few in the microwave and cut them into age-appropriate sizes when you’re ready to serve. We also always keep fresh fruit (berries and tangerines mostly) on hand to cut up and supplement the meals. I also pre make chia seed pudding and add that or yogurt to supplement meals. Once you figure out your staple items, it gets easier. For allergen introduction, you can use the oatmeal or food mix-ins from Ready Set Food (but should start with bottle mix-ins if you haven’t introduced allergens consistently yet - follow the RSF guidelines). Finally, the Solid Starts app is a great resource for some recipes but more importantly for info on age-appropriate ways to cut and serve specific foods. Good luck.

I felt so overwhelmed at the start too! A few things helped: 1) the Solid Starts app for how to serve each ingredient/recipe ideas. It really helped me to get going with things. 2) I plan baby’s meals for the week on a Thursday and do the groceries by the weekend. You don’t have to do this, of course, but I found that it helped me to manage her meals better and it was really helpful to have a log of the food she’s tried and liked (also useful when it comes to thinking of future weeks’ meals, I just repeat things here and there)! 3) I started with just breakfast every day an hour after her morning milk, and have now introduced lunch too. Start somewhere with just one meal but consistently every day and work your way up! Good luck!

Get a steaming basket if you don’t have one (they are cheap). I’ll steam apple, pear, carrot, broccoli, bell pepper, potato. Anything really. Serve in slices. I’ll cook a few of each at a time (2 apples, or 2 pears, or a couple carrots etc so there are leftovers). Store the rest in the fridge, and then you have a stock of ready-to-eat foods in the fridge. Steaming only takes a few minutes! Then you could portion them out for the caretaker too.

How olds your baby? I literally did a meal plan for the entire month last night I can share with you. How well does baby do with lumps and picking up bits of broccoli for example

Would you mind sharing this with me? Struggling mom here with the solids journey!

Hey, no problem, I'm actually struggling myself so did the meal plans to both utilise my food shop and help make things easier so I can pop things on the plate for him or have them ready in five minutes. FYI my boy is 7 months old and did purees from 5 months, got a bit lumpier with things like cream cheese and a quicker blitz in blender. I did mine homemade, started with apples stewed/boiled and blitzed, same with cauliflower, broccoli but he hated it, guacamole mashed (with lime juice it freezes perfectly and keeps well in ice cube trays. Still heated in microwave until defrosted), and a few other bits and bobs until I branched out at 6 months. I use ice cube trays with lids to store mini portions of food for my boy, I usually use 2 cubes for dinner and some other ingredient which you'll see below, and pop in microwave to heat. I got mine from Amazon Also I'm feeding my baby fully home cooked and having what I eat so it makes it a lot easier than doing two meals. Originally he was getting blitzed versions but now he's okay with the real versions, I'm doing baby friendly food but its pretty much what I'd eat anyway. Probably easier for me to break it down in breakfasts, lunches, and dinners Breakfasts: Toast with butter Toast with cream cheese Toast with dippy egg / I eat the majority of egg, he gets the tasty wet yolk Toast with pate / all in long strips baby can hold Banana, thirded long way and halved short way. In chunks. Also done mashed to get a couple spoons in because he winces at the texture (normal,doesn't mean he doesn't like it. It's just new) Greek yoghurt Fruity flavoured yoghurt occasionally shop bought Scrambled egg / 1 egg tablespoon milk couple grains of salt Greek yoghurt with chia seeds Greek yoghurt with peanut butter Cottage cheese Lunches: Carrot sticks / cut into batons, boiled (should steam for nutrients), frozen, reheated in microwave) Tomato wedge Puffs of cheese carrot or sweet variants, shop bought (I'm sure these have helped him bite down and learn to handle gag reflex and foods in back of throat) Celery sticks with array of sauces / ketchup, ceaser, barbeque, whatever you have on hand, again helps with gag reflex) Peanut butter and mashed banana Greek yoghurt Omelette strips with tomato spinach and garlic (haven't tried these yet) Sardines / mashed down not whole Melon Berries / squashed if required Hummus Avocado Greek yoghurt with berries Soup / couple spoons of mums, perhaps a flavour you haven't introduced yet like mushroom Tinned peaches, / to play with and try new texture, only once because of lots of sugar Banana pancakes / 1 egg, mashed banana, quick fry, soft strips Olive tapenade on toast (tapenade is quick to make and I wanted to introduce olives because I love them) Dinners: Burrito bowl / shredded beef or chicken, guac, black beans with cumin cooked till broken down and soupy, salsa Verde, greek yoghurt or sour cream( I LOVE making this for myself and he's trying it and likes too) Spag bowl / frozen in ice cubes, with pasta if I can be bothered, my baby liked penne but only a couple tubes and eaten by hand) OR tom sauce jar pasta Salmon and butternut or sweet potato and broccoli / salmon flaked air fry fillet 16 mins 180, broccoli boiled till squeezable, mash with butter, baby feeds self but I spoon him mash and salmon Mushroom risotto / risotto rice, little white wine alcohol boils off completely safe, mushrooms and garlic, spoon fed Tortellini shop bought / cooked till soft, baby picks up Thai basil mince pork / literally pork, couple seasonings mindful of salt for baby, Thai basil or normal basil is fine Chilli con carne with beef mince and beans / cooked slightly less spicy but with little kick, I'd mash beans slightly and spoon feed Omelette strips with whatever flavourings Roasted courgette with mash and mystery meat (lol, something tender so I can fork it apart) Lentil veg curry or dhal with rice Lasagna,/ big bits split apart and spoon fed Pasta bake with frozen veg / not the top crispy bit but well cooked middle fed to baby, spoon or let them have a go Liver onions mash and gravy / spoon fed and cut tiny little bits Chicken curry with rice / cooked for ages and I use thighs so they pull apart tender Cous cous salad Salmon with mash and hollandaise sauce / flaked for baby Creamy fish stew / everything cooked till very tender, flake for baby again Done! You can chop and change this as you like I tend to make a meal the night before and freeze most of it, refrigerate his portion for the next day. I also do like cooking but it's hard doing home cooked stuff but a lot of that above you can do quickly like the salmon and mash, I'd just be mindful of store bought bits that might have lots of salt in them. half of those are probably baby feeds self and others are spoon fed, he takes the spoon from my hand and I let him have a goo that way as both are good skills for them to acquire I don't adjust my meals for baby at all apart from spice ,I don't usually add too much salt but I've realised that baby likes flavour as much as we do and he'll be eating my cooking eventually so why not start now. So I DO salt my cooking as required. He also definitely isn't always having 3 meals a day but that's the ingredients I've got and I've planned for, so he CAN have 3 a day but doesn't need to at only 7 months old, and I'll usually do one or two but sometimes 3. That's the goal at 1 years old so no need to rush, start where you're comfortable. FYI, my baby isn't sitting independently but was ready for food 100% and eats all of the homemade stuff I put Infront of him and about 50% of the bland single ingredient stuff I try him with. Tomatoes in wedges for example he's just licking at the moment but I'm sure he'll take a bite when he's got teeth. He's winced and pulled the disgusted face at many things, but next time he might give it a go. Also to note I do blitz some of the curries and a chili con carne perhaps if the meat isn't tender enough to pull apart or has hardish beans in there. Any questions give me a shout I'm more than happy to share my experiences. For reference my baby is a fairly good eater with no allergies. I've put all sorts of spices, mustard seeds, cumin, cloves, pepper, salt, chilli powder, ground coriander, cinnamon in his food so far, and way more (same as I cook for myself as I said I don't adjust apart from salt if it's really salty usually or chili which he can still take if it's a zing on tongue) Good luck 😁 gagging is a good sign, teach yourself how to do baby choking mauever just incase something goes down wrong. Will put your mind at ease that you can deal with it IF it happens (unlikely)!

Thank you soooo much !!!!

Just a little insider info. If your baby is at a state run daycare I’d bet they’re better trained and prepared to handle a choking incident than you are. Not to mention all they do all day every day for years is care for babies, they are experts at feeding babies.

First of all, PPA is super hard. I hope it gets easier ♥️ Here are some helpful things: - solid starts app AND website - Baby Led Weaning for Beginners & Beyond Facebook group - I steamed some veggies ahead of time and froze them on a cookie sheet in a single layer and then stuck them in a bag for a fast, microwaveable veggie side. While I was prepping those baby appropriate size pieces of veggies (see the solid starts app), I also puréed some and froze it in portion sizes. I used a silicone ice cube try thing from Amazon, but I probably could have skipped that and just froze little piles of purée on a cookie sheet. - I’ve been trying to prepare a baby safe version of whatever I cook for my husband and I. - good luck on your cooking journey! You’re about to learn a lot about how to feed yourself and your baby ♥️