Baby food in England

The food here in England is much different than in the U.S.  I figured that baby food, however, would be pretty similar.  Not so much.  First of all, they use the term "weaning" here to mean, "introducing your baby to solid foods."  In the U.S., we use "weaning" to mean, "ending breastfeeding or bottle feeding."  I learned that when a health visitor came to our postnatal group to discuss weaning.  The philosophy here is to use "child-led weaning".  They encourage you to let your child feed herself, and they say it is not necessary to puree foods.  In fact, they do not encourage spoon feeding.  The health visitors here (which are the informational specialists for babies and children since you do not see a pediatrician unless there is a medical reason) suggest that you begin introducing solids around 6 months.  With child-led weaning, you steam vegetables and cut them in long pieces that are easy for the child to hold.  You can offer anything soft and easy to chew.  The idea is to get the child to eat what you eat and be in charge of her own amounts.

 

 It sounded really good to me, but I started both Dylan and Amelia on rice cereal.  I was afraid if I went straight to solid foods, she would choke.  So at 6 months, we gave her rice cereal out of a spoon.  She did really well.

 I started giving her these Farley's Rusks.  It mushed up easily as she chewed on it.  You can actually mix these with water to make a rice cereal.

I started steaming veggies with our dinners and cutting them into pieces for Cora.  She did really well with carrots, sweet potatoes and green beans.  I took a look at the store just to see what they offered in baby food.  I found that most baby food here comes in glass jars.  I was fine with that, but it was a change from the plastic cases in the U.S.  They do not have Gerber here.  The main baby food brands are Cow & Gate, Hipp Organic and Heinz.  I was very surprised to find the various flavors of veggies.  My older kids ate green beans, carrots and sweet potatoes.  Check out these jars...fruit muesli, baby cauliflower cheese, my first bolognese, carrot potato & lamb hotpot, and apple & cookie crumble.

How about these...

sweet squash & chicken, pasta in a tomato & ham sauce, spaghetti bolognese....

They do sell these in plastic tubs.

 And these are great for on the go

 

 Cora also likes the various rice cakes.

One health visitor said not to even purchase food from the baby aisle.  She said most baby food has added sugars.  She told me to feed her what we eat.  Other than a few baby food items, Cora pretty much eats what we eat, including oatmeal, Cheerios, vegetables, chicken and meatloaf.  It is convenient, and I think she's getting enough.  What do you think?