The weekend was meant to be calm, with no plans. It did not turn out that way. I had not realised how much work goes into feeding a baby anything other than milk.
Why we started
B is six months old. He rolls very actively now, burns a lot of energy, and wants the breast so often that it seems milk alone might not be enough. So I began starting solids with a breastfed baby, very gently, with the tip of a spoon and a little courgette puree. I added butter, and slowly some meat so that he does not run short of iron.
With Ms and Mr I gave only vegetables for a long time. Now I know that adding fat earlier and giving animal foods is more useful. A couple of weeks here or there makes no real difference, though.
The full freezer
I have been very productive. The freezer is packed to the brim. We made room for B a long time ago: one shelf out of three is his. On it there is courgette, cauliflower, apple, chicken, salmon, pork and lamb.
I cooked all the meats on the bone and used plenty of bone broth when making the puree. The salmon I baked in the oven in foil with nothing added. The beef cubes came from a local producer, and I gave cranberries simply as berries. At some point I want to try allergens such as gluten. Oat flake porridge seems a good choice, but I have not got round to it yet. I have tried egg yolk and potato, but I do not freeze those. Carrot and sweet potato will come from the shop.
All this cooking has taken several days, hours at a time. Nothing else fits in the freezer now, though I still want to make broccoli. In a few months, when there is more room and B is old enough, I would like to make cabbage, swede and beetroot too.
The chewing question
One thing keeps raising questions for me. With the other two I gave only purees from six to twelve months. With B I have been thinking that chewing would help the development of his tongue, palate and jaw, so perhaps I should offer firmer, lumpy food earlier. But how?
If I hand him a strip of meat, he gags on it and gets nothing from it. In a puree I can add butter and bone broth, which I cannot do with a strip of meat. Vegetables are also better mixed into a puree with butter than served as a big steamed piece that he would probably throw and gag on. A puree cube is also more concentrated, so he actually gets more food, and more complete food.
So I do not really know. Perhaps I will carry on with purees and at some point offer something like cucumber or banana as a piece on the side.
I think all this fuss around starting solids with a breastfed baby is easier for people who are used to giving milk by bottle as well. I am used to nursing only, and I will keep doing it for a long time. It is by far the simplest thing. We sleep cuddled together and he nurses around the clock.
Alone with three under five
My partner has had to do work on weekends and evenings and be away, which is hard when I am alone with three children under five. Ms is four and needs a lot of attention. Mr is two, has Down syndrome, has only just started getting used to nursery, and getting him to the potty is still a problem from time to time, so I have to watch him constantly. Yesterday he went by himself, but he does not always manage it or want to.
Now that the bigger two are at nursery, I can concentrate on B. He also has some trouble with his breathing, so I have to use inhalator several times a day.
The city trip I will not do alone again
At the start of the week I went to the city with Mr and B. The municipal transport helps, but the day was very hard. It would have been simple with only Mr’s physiotherapy, but B also had to see the paediatrician. I will not go alone with both again if it means several departments in the hospital.
The driver helped me lift the balance bike, the potty, the backpack, the infant seat and everything else into the vehicle. Then I went in with Mr on his balance bike, the backpack on my back, and B on my hip, up to the third floor in the lift. While Mr was in gymnastics I took B to a cafe and nursed him. Then I fetched Mr, dressed him again, went outside, and crossed to another department for the doctor.
One door would not open. I had to leave Mr in the corridor, carry B in and put him on the floor, then go back for Mr. Several times we sat on the potty and nothing came, until at last we got a wee. When B needed a blood test, the paediatrician herself watched Mr. Then we dressed again and went back outside.
By the time I reached the taxi I was completely spent, as if I had run a seven kilometre marathon. Then we went home. I thought that because Mr had stayed awake during the drive he would sleep at home, but he did not. He was up until the evening. It was a very hard day. If we have to go again, my partner is coming too.
So that was the weekend that was supposed to be calm. A freezer shelf full of food for B, a lot of thinking about chewing, and one hospital trip I do not plan to repeat solo. Starting solids with a breastfed baby is going well. It just asks far more of the cook than I expected.
You are not alone.
If this story resonated with you and you’d like to go deeper, you can explore my e-book Our Journey – A Different Path. It offers honest reflections and lived experience beyond this post.
If you’re looking for practical support, I’ve created Routine Templates to help parents and children navigate daily life with more clarity, structure, and understanding.
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