Weaning Baby - Helpful Tips

weaning baby

When it comes to weaning baby, there are lots of things we should know before we start.

Whether weaning a baby from the breast, or weaning a baby from the bottle - The information is roughly the same.

Firstly what does weaning a baby mean? Well basically it means slowly introducing some solid food into your baby's diet of milk. By solid food, at first it actually means puréed foods.

Weaning a baby - What age should I start?

The next important question that I hear many mothers ask, is "when should I start weaning my baby?"

Experts, doctors and the Department of Health all recommend weaning baby at the age of 6 months. If you start to wean your baby before 6 months, you may experience a lot of problems. Babies younger than this may not be able to make the enzymes they need to digest solid food. Their kidneys may not be mature enough to handle anything more than milk just yet. Experts are now also linking this early weaning to obesity in childhood years. So it really is worth the wait.

You shouldn't wait for too long after 6 months, as your baby's iron stores will now be running low. Milk alone after 6 months of age won't meet the nutrients he needs as he starts this more active time in his life.

Weaning baby - Is he ready yet?

You should keep an eye out for signs from your baby that he is ready to start on solid foods. These may include:

If your baby normally sleeps through the night, he may start waking because he is hungry.
His weight gain may slow down or tail off completely. Your health visitor will more than likely notice this and discuss it with you.
Your baby may want feeding more often than usual, and may demand larger feeds.
Your baby may start watching you as you eat and really take an interest.

Weaning baby - How to start

Your baby has get used to these new tastes and textures he is going to experience. Don't forget he's been used to just milk for a long time, so don't expect him to open his mouth, take the food and swallow it straight down! this is highly unlikely.

Pick a time that suits you both, a calm and relaxed time is best. If either of you are anxious the whole feeding time may be a nightmare.

Halfway through your baby's normal milk feed, sit him up on your lap, or in a bouncy chair or similar. Offer him a small weaning spoon with a little food on the end. Your baby's first reaction may be to spit this straight back out! Don't worry, this is perfectly normal and will more than likely happen with any new food flavours or textures over the next few weeks.

Don't try and force the whole dish full of food down your baby. He may not take any more than 3 or 4 spoons at this early weaning stage.

At this early stage your baby should still receive his normal milk feeds as well as the solid foods. As he starts to eat more solids you can gradually reduce his milk feeds, but this shouldn't be rushed.

Weaning baby - First foods

Good first foods are baby rice, or puréed fruits or vegetables. Introduce new flavours or foods one at a time,giving them a couple of days in between. This way if your baby has a reaction to anything, you will be able to identify which food caused it.

Try to offer both savoury and sweet foods, most babies at this age will prefer the sweet foods (mine did!) But you really need to get them used to both. Try boiling a carrot or a pear, then purée so it's a smooth liquid consistency. This can be adjusted as baby gets older. The next stages will include purée with a few little lumpy bits, then mashing. Do let your baby set the pace, don't try and rush the weaning stage as you are more likely to cause setbacks.

Weaning your baby should be a fun time. If you feel stressed or anxious, or your baby doesn't seem to be taking to solid foods. Skip a couple of days, and then try again.

If you have any problems with weaning baby, your first step should always be to contact your health visitor. She will be more than able to help with any difficulties that you experience.

Click here to learn more about what baby can and can't eat for the first 12 months.

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