Weaning time already wow time flies when your having fun, and weaning should be as well. So what do you need to wean your baby.
Not a lot really.

First is getting equipment, where to start we here is a list of the items I have for weaning my daughter.

Ice cube trays 2 will do but I have 6.
Freezer bags try to get re-usable. Get about 20 to 30 bags
Or use the plastic boxes you get from the Chinese They are great. Save up about 10
Soft tipped weaning spoons (I recommend tommee tippee) 6 to start with.
4 to 8 small tubs (again I recommend tommee tippee).
1 easy flow cup (again I recommend tommee tippee).

You can get a cool weaning started set from Argos for around £10 which you get
6 soft tipped weaning spoons( heat sensitive)
4 weaning tubs(pots)
2 weaning bowls one with lid and spoon
1 easy flow cup

I also have

8 small tubs from poundland
I have 27 soft tipped weaning spoons
6 small bowls with lids
3 easy flow cups.

So have all the equipment now it is the food. I’m not sure of the BLW (baby led weaning) So this is for the puree route. First choosing how you will feed your baby, jarred , homemade or a mix?
I do both I started with baby rice easy to get and easy to make. I personally choose hipp organic food. Unless I make it myself and use both organic and normal fruit and vegetables.

What foods to use when starting weaning?

Baby rice
Apples
Bananas
Mango’s
Plums
Peaches
Pears
Butternut squash
Potatoes
Sweet potatoes
Carrots
Swede
Peas
Cauliflower

Though there is so much more you can try a list of foods to avoid
until there a year if you wean before 6 months old (please contact your health visitor or your doctor before you start if you want to wean before six months old.)

Avoid

Eggs
fish and shellfish
soft and unpasteurized cheese
Also avoid Salt, sugar, honey and nuts
Foods that containing gluten and wheat.

You should always read food lables before giving them to your baby.

Another item you might want to get if you don’t have is a steamer as it is the best way to cook your fruit and vegetables and along with a blender. A hand held blender will be great for blending your baby food.

Related posts:

1. Weaning your baby onto solids
2. Newborn Foods – The Finest Meals For Your Infant
3. Baby Solid Food – How To Get Started

Breastfeeding can be one of the most wonderful, fulfilling relationships you can have with your child, aside from all the numerous and well documented health benefits. It can also be very difficult to achieve success with and a great many women who really want to breastfeed fail to get past the first couple of months because they just don’t get the help they need.

Just as women have lost touch with natural birthing, we’ve lost touch with breastfeeding as well. Getting the right help which includes accurate, factual advice, is also very hit and miss. If you’re having problems my experiences can help.

As an Active Birth teacher and Associate of the Active Birth Centre, my interest in women and children extends naturally into the area of breastfeeding. I am not a qualified breastfeeding counsellor or lactation consultant. I offer my help to you as someone who breastfed two children for two years each. My first child was very difficult and I had severe problems for weeks and weeks. My second child was a breeze. I know what is correct for breastfeeding and what is not otherwise I wouldn’t have continued to feed each child until they were two. It was fantastic to know that every feed was giving the precise nutrition, health benefits and immunity that a human baby needs, but the wonderful, nurturing, peaceful times of feeding my children is a memory I look back on as one of the most loving and nurturing times of my entire life. I would hate to think that someone cannot go on with feeding when they really want to, just for the absence of good sound advice – so if you do ever experience problems please call me or email me and I’ll help in whatever way I can.

In the absence of a one to one visit to help you, I also have a breastfeeding book (an e-book) which is available for purchase as well.
69 Colindale Street Monkston Park Milton Keynes Bucks MK10 9PX
Telephone: 07970 549199
Email: prepareforbirth@yahoo.co.uk Website: prepareforbirth.com (not yet active)
By Isobel Boyes

Related posts:

1. Nine Top Tips For Breastfeeding Your Baby
2. The Three Best Breastfeeding Positions
3. Tips On Breastfeeding Your Infant

Because some babies like to feed differently than others, and because you’ll want both your baby and yourself to be comfortable in different surroundings and situations, there are three best breastfeeding positions that I recommend.

The Cradle position

You may or may not need pillows for the Cradle position. First, place your baby on your lap with your baby’s head at the breast you intend to feed from. If your baby’s mouth is level with your nipple then you should not need to use a pillow. If you need a pillow find one that allows your nipple and baby’s mouth to be level with one another.

Once you feel that you have the right height you can try this position. If you’re feeding off your left breast, place your right arm up your baby’s back and support your baby’s head. With your left hand express a little bit of breast milk. It may help to a massage your breast first. Also have a wet nipple area can help to save your nipples getting sore.

Then place your thumb at the top of your areola and your second figure underneath your areola. Think of it as 6 o’clock on a clock face. Big hand at the 12 and small hand at the 6. Doing this helps to form your breast better for your baby get a better mouthful of your breast. Now your baby’s nose should be directly across from your nipple. Keep expressing a little breast milk to interest your baby to feed. When your baby opens his or her mouth wide quickly but gently move your baby’s head towards nipple. Do not be forceful; it could put your baby off.

The Rugby (or “Football”) position.

Some babies prefer to feed from one side. The best way to deal with this is to use the Ruby position (sometimes called the “Football” position). For example, say your baby likes to only feed on your right side and will not feed from the left breast. Place a pillows (more than one if you need to) on your left side under your arm. Again, check the level of your nipple and your baby’s mouth as we discussed above.

Place your baby on the pillows and lie him or her on their side. Check where your breast is in relation to where your baby is lying. If you have to maneuver your breast to your baby then you will struggle to feed comfortably. This is where a breastfeeding pillow can come in handy, or an arrangement of pillows on your lap; whatever works for you to position your baby properly.

Do the same thing as described in the Cradle position, but with the baby on your left side, using your left arm to support your baby’s body and head. Form your breast as described in the Cradle position. This position makes your baby feel like he or she is feeding off your right breast instead of your left.

The lying down position

This position is easy on both sides, and is similar to the other positions. We are going to try feeding off our right side this time. So we are lying on our right side with your baby lying on his or her side so facing you. Adjust your position until your baby is lying where he or she can best reach your breast. Support you baby’s body and head with your right arm. Use your left hand to form your right breast. As with the other two positions, wait until your baby has a wide mouth before offering your breast.

It won’t take long

Before you know it, you’ll be used to using the position or positions that are most comfortable for you and your baby, and you won’t even have to think about what you’re doing. It’ll come naturally!

Related posts:

1. Nine Top Tips For Breastfeeding Your Baby
2. Breastfeeding My Baby, Where Do I Start?
3. What You Need To Do When Breastfeeding

1. The best thing I ever did before I had Emily was to go to a breast feeding workshop. They teach you how to deal with things that might cause problems while you get breastfeeding established.
2. Don’t worry if it seems to take time to get it right. A long and stressful birth, a c-section, and other factors might cause your baby to not want to breast feed straight away. Other babies will take to it immediately. It’s a natural thing to do, but it takes time for you and your baby to learn this new skill.
3. If you want to express so your partner can feed the baby, it’s recommended that you wait 6 to 8 weeks before giving your baby a bottle. This is due to nipple confusion. It’s easier for a baby to get milk from a bottle than his or her mother’s breast, so it’s better to start the baby on the breast first.
4. Remember that you can express ahead of time and store breast milk in the freezer for when it is needed. See my article Top Ten Tips for Expressing Breast Milk for more information on breast milk storage.
5. To position your baby for feeding, place the baby on your lap with your baby’s head at the breast you intend to feed from. If your baby’s mouth is level with your nipple then you shouldn’t need a pillow. If you need a pillow find one that allows your nipple and baby’s mouth to be level with one another. Make sure your baby is lying on his or her side and is straight. If your baby is feeding form your left breast, for example, use your right arm up your baby’s back to support the head.
6. To begin feeding, manually express a little breast milk first. Having a wet nipple area can help keep your nipples from becoming sore. Then place you thumb at the top of your areola and your second figure underneath your areola. Doing this helps to form your breast better for your baby get a better mouthful. Now your baby’s nose should be directly across from your nipple. Keep expressing a little milk to interest your baby to feed. When your baby opens his or her mouth wide, quickly but gently move your baby’s head towards nipple. Don’t be forceful, it could put the baby off. A little discomfort is normal to start with, but feeding should not be painful. If it is, your baby is not latched on properly. Take your baby off and try again.
7. To break your baby’s latch gently side your small finger into your baby’s mouth to break the suction. If you do not break suction it will really hurt, and it’s very unlikely that your baby will come off.
8. If you start feeding from your left breast, try to swap to the right the breast at some time during the feed. If you start with your right breast at the next feed doing this will allow both breasts to be empty, saving them from becoming engorged.
9. First time mum’s, while you’re still in hospital, call on help when you need to feed. It’s always worth getting someone to check that you’re doing this right until you feel confident that you can do it right. Going home when there is something not right could cause your baby to feed improperly and lose weight.

Learning a new skill immediately after going through childbirth can be stressful. Remember to stay calm. It’s worth it in the end, because you’ll know you’re giving your baby the best start in life.

Related posts:

1. The Three Best Breastfeeding Positions
2. Tips On Breastfeeding Your Infant
3. Is Breastfeeding Causing Your Baby’s Gas?

The way I make up my baby’s bottles. I boil the kettle and leave for 30 minutes and sometimes longer. I then fill my baby’s bottles (around 3 to 5 bottles at a time). The way I add formula powder does vary. I sometimes add the formula powder at the time of adding the water. Other times I add the formula powder when a bottle of milk is required. If I am going out I will put the formula powder into containers. I do store made bottles of formula milk in the fridge but no longer than 24 hours. If my baby doesn’t finish her feed after an hour from when she started it, we will not feed her it after an hour.

Related posts:

1. Making bottles of Formula
2. Who’s Concerned About Sterilization Bottles?
3. Should You Be Using Plastic Baby Bottles?

Firstly boil water in a kettle and leave to cool for 30 minutes.
Always go by the guide on the box of formula. Then add the required amount of water to your baby’s bottle and the required amount of formula powder.
Shake well (round 10 seconds) and always check the temperature of your baby’s milk and cool under cold water if necessary. Feed your baby immediately.
Feeds should not be stored and make each feed as required. Unfinished feeds should be discarded after an hour, although some guidelines say discard after 2 hours.
Guidelines also say do not repeatable boil the water.

Related posts:

1. How I make bottles for my daughter
2. Who’s Concerned About Sterilization Bottles?
3. Sterilising Baby Bottles

1. Be sure to drink plenty of water. It’s hard to produce milk without it, as I’ve learned. I started out expressing four to six 3oz bottles a day, but then tapered off to two or three bottles. I realized I had not been drinking much water. Increasing my water intake helped to get my milk production back up. If you decide to increase your water intake, express 15 to 30 minutes later than you normally would for a while.

2. Expressing is usually better in the morning, or after a bath or shower. You get a good let down from it. (Let down is a basically a reflex that moves your milk from the milk ducts into your nipple where your baby or breast pump can suck milk out.)

3. If expressing more than once a day, try to keep to a routine. I express two to three times a day, at 8am, 2pm and 8pm. Although it’s often recommended, I don’t express through the night, since I always have to feed through the night because my partner won’t get up to feed by bottle.

4. About 5 minutes before you’re going to express, prepare two face cloths or flannels and a bowl of hot water. Don’t make it too hot! I prefer to double express using an Ameda Lactaline dual pump. I put the hot cloths on both of my breasts for five minutes before expressing. If the cloths cool too quickly, reheat them.

5. Before expressing, remove one cloth at a time and massage that breast, rubbing softly. Pay special attention to massaging any lumps or sore areas. If you’re expressing off one breast at time, put just one cloth on the breast your planning to use first. Once you feel you are ready to express, take the cloth off that breast, reheat it and place it on the other. If you’re planning on double expressing, place hot cloths on each of your breast, wait five minutes, then massage both at the same time.

6.If your baby is due a feed, latch your baby on each breast for a few suckles. It could improve the amount of milk that you can express afterward. It takes about an hour for your production to rebuild.

7. If you do not have a regular routine, you’ll express when you feel heavy and sore. You can increase milk production if you wait an extra ten minutes or so before beginning but it is not the best way. The best way to increase your milk production is to, express more regularly through the day and through the night.

8. To help with sore or cracked nipples, hand express a little of your breast milk and rub it onto your nipples and areola. I recommend that you do this after each time you express. It works better than any cream. If you have to use cream I recommend Goldshield Kamillosan. Chamomile ointment can also be used for nappy rash. But only use after expressing or breast feeding. I always wipe off any creams before expressing.

9. If you want to use a hand pump, I recommend the Tommee Tippee. Easy to use, clean and take apart. For an electric pump I recommend the Ameda Lactaline Dual Breast Pump. It is great for double pumping, which saves heaps of time when expressing. It’s more expensive, but you get your money’s worth. I tried a Medela dual action pump, and hated it. An hour after starting I still only had 30 mills. I can hand express that in 3 minutes.

10. Finally, it’s very important to store breast milk properly:

• Milk kept in bags specially designed for breast milk storage can be stored in the fridge or freezer.
• Milk kept in the freezer can be stored for up 6 months at temperature of -18 Celsius or -0.4 Fahrenheit.
• Milk stored at room temperature 26 Celsius or 78.8 Fahrenheit can be keep for up to 8 hours.
• Milk thawed and placed in the fridge can be stored for 24 hours if unopened at the temperature should be +2 to +5 Celsius or 35.6 to 41 Fahrenheit. If opened it can be stored for 12 hours at the same temperature.
• Milk stored in the fridge without being frozen or unopened can be stored for up to 72 hours. (Recommendation is 24 hours. I only keep it for 24 hours before I will pour it down the sink.) The temperature should between +2 to +5 Celsius or 35.6 to 41 Fahrenheit.
• Milk that has been drank but not finished should be poured out after an hour.

Related posts:

1. The Understanding Of Pumping Breast Milk For Your Baby
2. How to Store Breast Milk
3. Baby Feeding- Breast Milk Or Formula Milk For Your Newborn Baby