Weaning breakfasts for a CMPI baby - pancakes, porridge fingers and frittatas

That's a bit of a mouthful for a post title, but to coin a phrase, it does what it says on the tin. I've been asked a few times lately what I give Harry for breakfasts given his allergies (dairy and soya). These are our go-to baby led weaning breakfasts at the moment, so I thought I'd do a summary post as a kind of touch point for anyone looking for inspiration generally or for CMPI babies specifically.

Harry is still breastfed, but following an appointment with the paediatrician where he commented on how run down and exhausted I looked, it was suggested that I give myself a break and instead of expressing every day, supplement with nutramigen. Anyone who knows me will know that I railed against mixed feeding in hospital - I really wanted to exclusively breastfeed, but after 6 months something had to give and supplementing with one bottle a night, and using formula for Harry's food hasn't been the end of the world. I'm still a bit sad and wish things were different, but he's doing really well and that's what's important. Not what I want, what's best for him.

I am now completely dairy and soya free, and the formula we're using is Nutramigen which we get on prescription. Harry is still sick on the formula, but nothing like he was before I was dairy free and he's rarely sick on breastmilk now.

Anyway, onto meals. Breakfasts are my favourite meal to do for Harry. I tend to stick with porridge and fruit for my breakfast so it's nice to be a bit creative with his. We rotate his options as I try to keep things interesting for him. Yes, I know I'm probably overthinking this.

Easy breakfasts: 

• Toast (read the ingredients) with Pure spread
• Fruit bread (read the ingredients) with Pure spread
• Ready brek made up with Nutramigen and half a small banana mashed in

 Cooked breakfasts:

• Porridge fingers - I've already posted the recipe I use for these. Harry loves them. Loves feeding himself with them and seems to really enjoy the variations. I've done sultanas, blueberries, just banana, and spiced them with cinammon, sweet mixed spice, or a little nutmeg. Again, we're using Nutramigen for these.
• Pancakes - I've posted the recipe I use for these on Instagram but see below for the details
• Frittatas - these are completely dairy free, and I pop in whatever we have in the fridge, so little bits of chopped ham (obviously watch salt intake if you're using ham), or cooked mushrooms are Harry's favourites. If I had some peppers I'd lightly fry those too. Recipe to follow in the next post. I'll add the link here.

 Fruity additions:

•  Half a banana - I think that Harry's not always keen on the taste of banana, but likes holding it and chomping on it.
• Pear slices - with pear I make sure it's nice and ripe, and I leave the skin on so he can hold it as Harry doesn't eat the skin, just sort of sucks the pear away from it
• Apple slices - I tend to eat Granny Smiths, or if I can find them at this time of year, Russets - Harry likes both of these, but likes to suck and chomp on Granny Smiths when his teeth are hurting him.
• Lightly stewed mixes of any of the above, but left lumpy so he can feed himself if I pre-load the spoon.  If I'm stewing the fruit I tend to do so in a little water and add some chopped prunes as apples especially can be quite tart and as I know that Harry has a sensitive tummy I don't want to aggravate it. He loves anything with prunes in!

Baby breakfast pancakes

I make a batch of these (around 11 from this much mix) at a time and freeze them, separated by squares of greaseproof paper so that I can grab one in the morning and pop it in the microwave to defrost while I drink my coffee and Harry and I have a little play.

For this recipe you will need: 

1 mug - any mug will do, but you need to use the same one
Frying pan - I use a non-stick one
Spatula
Whisk/ beaters/ stick blender

1 mug self raising flour
1 mug oat/ almond milk or your babies formula/ breastmilk
1 apple or pear grated
1 egg

In a big bowl, add the flour, milk, grated fruit and egg
Whisk together until bubbly
Put your non stick pan on the heat (I spray with fry light to get it started) and when warm add 2 tablespoons or so of mixture. I can fit three pancakes of this size in my pan
Cook until the top is bubbly, then use your spatula to flip them over, and again cook until bubbly.
I often cook each side again for a minute or so to make sure they're cooked through

Variations - we've added blueberries, slices of banana, and sultanas all with success.