Home Maryanne's Tales Family It’s Time to Wean Kitty!

It’s Time to Wean Kitty!

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In these recent days, I’ve been very excited. Very excited because I’m going to have successfully breastfed Kitty for his first 6 months, as recommended by doctors, nutritionists and the World Health Organization (WHO).

Now just incase you don’t know, exclusive breastfeeding means that the infant only receives breastmilk without any additional food or drink, not even water, not even formula. Kitty and I have two more weeks to go before his sixth-month birthday. I feel very proud of myself. Very very proud. And I bet Kitty does too.

Anyway, as I think of how I will celebrate once we hit the 6 month mark, I have been deeply thinking of how to wean him. From next week, I plan to begin researching extensively on the weaning process. I also plan to talk to fellow mothers on how they went about this, as I have come to learn that the experience of those who have been there before me has greatly helped me in the last five and a half months. Thank you all Mummy Tales readers who usually give me advice and tips.

I was at the supermarket yesterday and stopped by the shelves that stock infant cereals (what I would need to begin weaning Kitty). But when I left those shelves 35 minutes later, I was more confused than informed. Reason being there are all sorts of brands that claim they are the best for your baby and that if your baby takes them, they will grow up all healthy and strong. And me definitely wants Kitty to grow up healthy and strong.

So, if you can share tips on weaning 101, and what brands of cereals, baby rice, uji or foods in the Kenyan market you would recommend, I will be grateful. How did you go about weaning your baby and what worked or did not work for you? How did your baby react to solids?

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Maryanne W. Waweru is a Kenyan mum raising her two sons in Nairobi. A journalist, Maryanne is passionate about telling stories and hopes that through her writing, her readers learn something new, feel encouraged, inspired, and appreciative of what they have in their lives. Maryanne's writing focuses on motherhood, women and lifestyle. "Telling stories is the only thing I know how to do," she says.

16 COMMENTS

  1. As a nutritonst i would say uji is good ,especially the weaning one b y familia.Stay clear of pure health unga tastes like saw dust.
    My babies never ate any of the commercial cereals ddnt like them.Dont give Kitty too much of those commercial cereals they do have sugar and you do not want him having a sweet tooth before his milk teeth are out.

  2. @Santina thanks, I didn’t know about the sugar bit. Is it also true that once they taste the sugars and discover the goodness in them they end up refusing breastmilk altogether? Or is that just a myth? @Josh, thanks:-)

  3. Regarding that bit of refusing breastmilk after tasting sugar i think that is a myth.Just make sure that if you have to use it,you keep it to a bare minimal.

    I gave my son uji when i was weaning him without any sugar added and in its place i added milk and he ate every bit of it.You can do that.

  4. Heeeeee… mama advise is here… fear not.

    uji is good, but let it be preceeded by other things that r lighter… pls dont wake up on day one of Kittys seventh month and feed him uji… noooo… constipation will be his second name. Try some pawpaw just to ‘bot shock’ his digestive system… then go to uji.

    Now, uji.. what uji. Go to Kirinyaga road… those people have a good concotion for 6month old babies… just be sure to mention ur child is 6 months n that uv been breastfeeding exclusively then they will advise u… they dont sell to mums with children under six months… they encourage breastfeeding. Otherwise u can try the proctor n allan one (its the one Renee takes) and yes, dont put sugar.. Renee till today doesnt know how sugar tastes like… try honey if they refuse.. its even healthier than sugar.

    Is a comment allowed to be this long? I still have a lot of advise to go… hehehe.. and BTW, talk to Kittys peadetrician for the best advise, dont forget my baby was raised by my folks so i practically know nothing….

  5. Miss Babes,the problem with the concotions from Kirinyaga road, well intentined as they are is that flour like soya and millet require different cooking times.You will end up getting millet cooked enough for baby to digest but the soya flour is still not cooked enough for baby to digest.
    And there is nothng as bad as uncooked soya flour ,it inhibits absorption of some vitamins from the body.

    The best way to go is try one kind of flour at a time so that the baby gets the most nutrtional value from what you are giving hm and so that if there are any allergies they are easy to pick out.

  6. Santina… i always asume they know what they r doing when they mix that flour for people… i have heard that theory before but my question is always why they would want to spoil a babys digestive system with flour that doesnt cook fast enuff. But anyways, Maryanne like i told u… uliza paeditrician wa Kitty for best advise.

    And BTW, na cerelac? try that too… i still think uji is too much for a baby whose biggest problem has been digesting a liquid.

  7. @Santina and @Miss Babes thanks for your advises, I will keep you updated on the progress. I just hope Kitty gets to like and digest everything I give him well:-)

  8. I think Kirinyaga Flour Mills have the best flours and good mixtures for everybody including the babies. I have friends who have used the flours from the same without any complaints. Start with three teaspoonfuls of the uji and observe Kitty’s reaction preferably on a weekend. Increase the number as he gets used to it. With time introduce seived fruits and graduate to other foods. I would not recommend the flours from the supermarkets because of the preservative chemicals.

  9. Kirinyaga flour miller are good.Since Kitty would just be starting out on weaning they will give rice flour.its not mixed with anything.for my baby pawpaw did not go down well with her,made her get constipated.congratulations on exclusively breastfeeding your baby…i did the same and am so proud!

  10. Hi all and congratulations Maryanne, that is quite an achievement, big one! My weaning experience for my girls was introduction of carbs first, hence uji, banyrice, pureed potato blended with milk etc were my babies’ first foods. I consulted a lactation therapist (nice mathe who had tons of experience on b/feeding and weaning) at the start of my breast feeding experience, through to weaning.
    I agree with Santina from my experience as well as advice I received at the start. Kirinyaga mixture flours were not recommended, for the reasons that Sanrina quoted earlier, as well as the fact that you wouldn’t know what particular ingredient isn’t going down well for baby, should they suffer a reaction. Onebcarb at a time and for at leastba week, to establish digestion patterns and rule or immediately identify out any reactions.
    Paw paw as a weaning food actually causes constipation. Fruits should be introduced after carbs and vegetables. Citrus fruits especially should be introduced much later so as not to interfere with the baby’s you digestive acids.
    Uji isn’t too heavy, in moderation and gradually increasing, it’s perfect and digests fast. Not the heavy..close to ‘ka ugali ka soft’ type of uji, begin with a fluid one mixed with your milk.
    My advice based on my experience. Best wishes as you wean, remember all this is advice, at the end of the day, you’ll work a formula that best suits you!
    This worked perfectly for

  11. sasa, wa…..weaning is much fun n stressing at the same time. 1st apply for leave mapema at least 4 days or a week n begin on the weekend so you have enough time to observe kitty. make sure you are the one preparing you babies meals…hii stage ndio kuhara ovyo huanza. we started with Milupa the wheat n honey or something one, one of my babies refused cerelac n we could not do two types of cereal so we changed to milupa. at 6 months they continued with milupa then i did a fruit paw paw n melon, start with very small portions like 3 teaspoons n add as the days go by i also started giving like 50 ml of water. by month 7 thy were eating food, i used to boil potatoes, butternut n add some spinach when its ready so it just steams, then id mke a very smooth puree. i used olive oil. no onions or salt till later. there is soo much to do i believe every mother has her own experience, its likely that you will be confused by all the advice but please do what works for your baby….we shall meet. i still cook my babies food to date, dont delegate too soon. insist on hygiene, i still sterilize their utensils…..helo your house hel to be patient with the baby while feeding co it can be frustrating. make sure he is still taking lots of milk, it will automatically reduce as time goes by. like now my babies got to a point where thy couldnt take milk during the day, only at night n each would do like 500ml of milk per night.i still struggle with introducing new foods now they feed soo well. i give Mixa Vit for multivitamin. we neeed to meet n talk

  12. Congratulations for doing six! Av just started weaning my daughter after exclusively breastfeeding for six, av tried proctor n Allan and pawpaw but constipation has been her name! I don’t know what to do How can i help my constipated daughter? Any remedies dear moms?

  13. I stared weaning ma baby with famila infact n squash n it work well for her n alot of water nao plannin to go to kirinyaga:

  14. I have started weaning and i am using famila nd my daughter is getting tough time coz of costipation nd ave been recommended by my sister to use Kirinyaga unga coz it worked on her daughter

  15. Kirinyaga flour is dangerous for the kids, doctors /paed/nurses have actually admitted a few kids coz of that porridge. It reacts , causes stomach upsets , has many ingredients and we all knw baby’s are sensitive- how can an infant the uji mchanganyiko – bwana millet wheat Omena surely , even grown ladies jus stick to milet familia- kindly better be safe than sorry

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