Conecta on Facebook

Check out our little guy's claim to fame starring in a flashmob made in a shopping centre close to our home as part of the launch of a new Facebook game called CONECTA which helps to promote social change. 

Check out the video here and the game here 

A Balanced Diet - Food 6-10 months - recipes too!

At 6 months we increased food intake. 

Our little man already had two teeth by this time and was beginning to bite at milk time!!! 

We began giving him porridge with stewed apple for breakfast making it up with water as he refused to take anything mixed with his normal milk. Breakfast was a huge success. From 6-8 months we have gradually added milk so he now has half water and half cows milk with two large desert spoons of oats. As breakfast went down so well we moved on to increasing lunch. He was now able to start with some meat and grains so he was having small meals of mince and veg with rice or lentils or chicken, veg and pasta and loving it all. Gradually over the next two months we introduced egg and fish and began to give him the recipes we would eat minus spices, salt or two many flavours. After each meal he had a small portion of fruit (which I’m told helps to absorb iron).

At almost 7 months old he was having breakfast, lunch and tea and 5 milk feeds in 24 hours. He reduced his milk intake substantially and continued to increase his food portions weekly.

By 8 months he was down to just 3 milk feeds with food portions and variety increasing substantially. He adored food and we never needed to convince him to eat. He had days where he would eat more than others and we kept a relaxed attitude about this knowing that he would eat when he was hungry. We never offered him an alternative to the meal that we had prepared or topped him up with milk but we never let him go hungry. It has been easy to tell with him as he will eat almost anything but I imagine this has to be a delicate balance for those who are more particular about their food. We kept a strict routine on his milk so once we had reduced a feed it stayed that way slowly reducing it ounce by ounce until it was not part of his food intake anymore. This way we were able to monitor how he was eating and be sure he was getting a balanced and healthy diet as he continued to develop healthily.

Now at 10 months he is having a night feed and we have slowly weaned him off the morning milk so that he has some water when he wakes up then a cosy cuddle before going down for breakfast. The plan is to leave his night milk until he is older and able to eat a snack before getting ready for bed but we are aiming to wean him from the bottle by one year and give him cows milk in a sippy cup.

So far he’s doing fantastic and really enjoys sitting up at the table with us for meals. We’re proud to take him out with us for lunch as he eats very nicely and enjoys socialising in restaurants.

Below are a few of the recipes we have tried with our little guy. Please leave us one of your best bites so we can give it a go too!

Chicken, veg and rice mash

Dice a small piece of chicken breast and lightly fry it with some onion and parsley, add some water and bring to the boil, add a tablespoon of rice and some vegetables (we use broccoli, carrots, spinach and sweet potatoes). Leave to simmer until the ingredients are soft then drain off any excess water, mash and serve – this dish is great to make in bulk and freeze and you can substitute rice for other grains

Spanishy omelette with broccoli and carrot

Peel and chop several potatoes then boil until soft. Fry a small onion and add the potatoes to give flavour. Remove from the heat and place in an oven dish. In a separate bowl mix 4 eggs (more depending on the quantity you are making) with a little milk. Poor the egg mixture over the potatoes and oven bake on a low heat until the egg is cooked throughout. Cook some broccoli and carrots and mash then serve as a side dish.

Vegetable bake

Chop carrots, potatoes, spinach, broccoli, green pepper and cauliflower into small pieces and boil until soft. Put 4 large tomatoes into boiling water for 5 minutes until the skins are splitting, remove from the water and take off the skins and chop into small pieces or blend. Fry an onion with some parsley and garlic, add the tomatoes then the vegetables. Mix together and remove from the heat. Place in an oven dish and sprinkle with cheese then bake until the cheese is lightly melted. Mash and serve.