We only bought the formula in the scenario that breast feeding didn’t work out. This was the case in the end, it just didn’t work out for me and the baby. So I am glad we had some formula in stock. 

The steriliser was a Philips AVENT Express Electric Steam Steriliser. We did lots of research on which steriliser to buy and this one seemed to fit all our needs.

I thought an electric steam steriliser was best, it seemed to do everything for you.

I had a practice at making a bottle up from scratch.

This is what I did:

• Wash the bottle, teat and ring thoroughly.
• Pour into the steriliser the set amount of water using the measuring beaker.
• Place them on the rack in the steriliser – with the bottle upside down.
• Put the lid on and switch it on.
• The machine soon started making noise and you could see the lid steaming up.
• I watched the machine like something exciting was going to happen. However it just sat there steaming away…
• The light going off signalled it was finished.
• Next I opened the lid – far too soon. Everything was boiling hot, far too hot to touch. This was reassuring, the steamer had worked – but bad for my poor fingers!

I knew that once the lid was open anything else in the machine would not be sterile and if we wanted to use anything later we would have to sterilise it again.

Next was the bottle.
At 1st I used the Avent bottles that came with the steriliser, but our baby didn’t really get on with them. We switched to Dr Brown ones on the recommendation of our midwife. These were brilliant.

1st I put the right amount of formula in. I was very careful over the amount. I knew the baby could get stomach ache or not enough nutrients if the amount was wrong, and filled up the bottle to the right level with cooled boiled water.

The water still wasn’t cool enough to drink. So I had to wait… and wait.
Eventually it was ready.

1 1/2 hours after we started.

“No wonder mothers have no time” was my initial thought.

Doing eveything in the right order made everything so much easier.

1. Boil the kettle, with fresh tap water. It can be cooling while the bottles are sterilising.
2. Wash the bottles, then add the water and the equipment to the machine.
3. Switch it on.
4. Go and do something else. The machine takes 8-12 minutes depending on how full it is. The light goes off when it is ready.
5. Prepare the bottle, sit it in a jug of cold water if it needs cooling down more.
6. When the bottle is ready – baby can have a feed!

We got making the bottle up down to a precise art. I wanted to do it properly, and was so glad I had a test run before the baby was even born.

If it took over an hour each time – the baby would get very hungry!

The dramatic findings suggest that “mothers who were given ten times the usual dose of Vitamin D during pregnancy had their risk of premature birth reduced by half and had fewer small babies… No test showed any adverse effect of the large dose of vitamin D.” *

This is great news. If a simple vitamin can help boost the health of babies and prevent premature birth, surely every woman should be encouraged to take it.   

Vitamin D can be found in some foods, but it is mostly absorbed from sunshine. This means people living in cooler countries may not be getting enough. This includes the UK and parts of the US.

Vitamin D is found in foods such as oily fish, eggs and liver, and in fortified foods such as margarine, breakfast cereals and powdered milk. The levels in food alone are not enough.

Vitamin D has health benefits for other groups of people not just pregnant women. For example, Vitamin D deficiency is common and deficiency during pregnancy and childhood may increase the risk of a child developing Multiple Sclerosis.

* Times Online News article

As with many mothers, I gave my baby pureed vegetables as his 1st foods. He loved carrot, broccoli, suede, cauliflower, broad beans (taking the skins off before pureeing them was fun!). He wasn’t so keen on peas.

I found pureeing a couple of days worth of veg and freezing it in ice cube trays was really convenient. An ice cube amount of veg was just right for him to begin with. As he got hungrier, he progressed to 2 cubes then 3 then 4. After that he started eating chunkier food.

The health visitor advised me to get him onto vegetables before fruit. He would like the sweet taste of fruit and might reject vegetables if given them too soon. That sounded like good advice. When he tasted his first strawberry, you could see by the look on his face that it was the best thing he had ever tasted!

Here’s my photo story of pureeing vegetables.

Wash and chop up and cook the veg until soft. (My mum suggested I used the cooled boiled water used to cook the veg as a drink for my son. He loved it, and got all the nutrients from the water.) Puree with a fork, masher, or my favourite an electric blender.

Once in a smooth paste, spoon into a clean ice cube tray. Pop the tray into the freezer.

Pop out the required amount of cubes, either defrost naturally, or heat gently.

Make sure food is only luke warm throughout before feeding your baby!

Some helpful books when weaning your baby:

So, weaning your baby is not as scary as it might seem. Just remember a few simple rules of what you shouldn’t give them to eat. Hopefully below explains why some foods are not suitable for your young baby.

Sugar

Why not?

• Sugary food can lead to tooth decay, both in babies and small children.

What to do.

• Only add sugar if it is really necessary. If your baby has not had sugary food, they will not miss it.
• Don’t encourage a sweet tooth.

Other info

• Sweets, ice cream and so on are not recommended for babies under 1 year old.

Honey

Why not?

• Occasionally honey can contain bacteria that produces toxins in babies intestines. This can cause infant botulism.

What to do.

• Never give your baby, under 1 year old any honey.

Other info

• Honey can also encourage a sweet tooth and lead to tooth decay, so it is best avoided.

Some helpful books when weaning your baby:

Salt

Why not?

• A baby’s kidneys can’t cope with salt.

What to do.

• Don’t add any salt to food you give your baby.
• Check the labels on food you buy, like cheese, sausages, bacon – they are often high in salt.

Sodium or salt??

• Food labels often list sodium not salt. 1g of salt is less than 0.4g of sodium.
• Babies under 1 year should have less than 1g of salt per day, so check labels carefully.

Other info

• Baby food isn’t allowed to contain salt
• Foods you buy that you eat too, like cooking sauces, can be high in salt, so while it is good that your baby is eating the same food as you, watch how much salt they are getting.

Nuts

Why not?

• Nuts can cause choking in children under five.

What to do.

• Don’t give any whole nuts, including peanuts, (see below) to children under five

Also

• Peanut allergy can be life threatening. Children from families with a history of allergy are most at risk from peanut allergy.

These tips may help reduce the risk of your baby developing peanut allergy: avoid eating peanuts or peanut products while you are breastfeeding, or pregnant

• don’t give your child any peanuts, or foods containing peanuts, peanut (groundnut) oil
• or peanut butter, until they are at least three years old
• read food labels carefully if in doubt, avoid the product

Low-fat, low-calorie and high-fibre

Why not?

• Unlike adults who are often told low fat and low calorie food is good, babies need fat. It gives them energy, and gives them vitamins only found in fat.
• High fibre products like bran enriched cereals stop babies from absorbing important minerals like calcium and iron. Babies stomachs are tiny so they need to get lots of nutrients vitamins and calories from a small amount of food, and not bulk up on fibre.

What to do.

• Choose full-fat dairy products (fromage frais, yoghurt, milk, chese).
• Avoid brown rice, wholemeal pasta bran enriched breakfast cereals until your baby is older

Fish

Why not?

• Some fish can contain mercury, which can affect your baby’s immune system.
• Raw shellfish can cause food poisoning

What to do.

• Avoid shark, swordfish or marlin.
• Avoid raw shellfish.

Other

• Fish can be very good though, see article on foods that are good for baby!
• Fish, especially oily fish, is recommended by all kinds of experts to be part of a healthy diet. Everyone – children and adults, are recommended to eat at least two portions of fish every week, and one of them should be oily fish.  Fresh fish such as salmon, trout, cod and haddock, tinned fish such as sardines and pilchards, as well as fish products such as fish fingers and fish cakes are all nutritious foods for young children.
• Avoid giving fish tinned in brine to babies, as it is higher in salt than fish tinned in oil or springwater.

Eggs

Why not

• Eggs are high up on the list of foods that can cause allergies
• The risk of salmonella from improperly cooked eggs

What to do

• Don’t give raw or lightly cooked eggs to babies.
• Eggs can be given to babies over 12 months old, make sure both the white and yolk are solid.
• Just the egg yolk can be given to your baby from 7-10 months old.
• As your baby gets older she will start to eat more and more of the same food as you, but you still need to watch out for levels of salt and sugar, and a young child still needs full fat versions of dairy produce.

Some helpful books when weaning your baby:

Other related articles
Easy kids recipes – Fruit snacks for kids
Easy kids recipes – Vegetable snacks for kids
What food and drink should I avoid when pregnant?