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How to start weaning

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How to start weaning

At around six months of age, babies start the natural process of learning to eat solid food. While weaning is an exciting milestone to reach, it’s not without its challenges

As babies grow and develop, solid food becomes an important part of their diet. This process of introducing food is called weaning. The Department of Health recommends that babies start weaning at six months. While all babies are different and some may be ready to wean earlier than six months of age, parents should not begin the process before 17 weeks because babies’ kidneys and digestive systems, along with their motor skills, are not sufficiently developed to cope with solid food and it could also increase the risk of infections and allergies. Equally, parents shouldn’t start weaning their baby later than 26 weeks, as it may lead to the baby struggling to accept lumpier foods later on.

Telltale signs that signal a baby is ready to wean include the baby being able to:

  • Stay in a sitting position and hold their head steady
  • Co-ordinate eyes, hands and mouth so that they can look at food, pick it up and put it in their mouth by themselves
  • Swallow food. (Babies who are not ready will push their food back out with their tongue.) Babies will rarely show these signs in combination before six months of age.

How to start

Weaning is an exciting new experience. It’s a gradual learning process for babies and can provide a great opportunity for the family to sit down together and for the baby to learn from their parents. The first aim is to simply get the baby used to the feeling of food and different tastes in his/her mouth, which may take practice. It is also important to offer babies a wide variety of tastes to help educate their palates and help them become good little eaters in the future.

Starting the weaning process with vegetables teaches babies that not all foods are sweet and it can increase their liking and the amount of vegetables eaten for years to come. If a baby spits out a new taste at first, parents should keep trying – the more times babies try a new taste, the more likely they will be to accept it (even if it does take a few attempts!).

 Suitable first foods

From six months:

  • Mashed or puréed cooked vegetables (e.g. potato, carrot, parsnip, broccoli) or baby rice made up with breast/formula milk, then
  • Mashed fruit (e.g. ripe banana, cooked apple/pear).

Next steps:

  • Full-fat dairy products (e.g. yoghurt, custard) with no added sugar
  • Blended or puréed cooked meat, fish or pulses can be introduced after the above foods – making sure bones are removed and without adding salt, gravy or sauce.

Do’s and dont’s

Most ingredients are safe for babies, but advise parents:

  • Not to add salt to food as it is bad for babies’ kidneys. Avoid stock cubes and gravy too as these are often high in salt
  • Not to add sugar to babies’ food. However, natural sugars from mashed fruit or breast/ formula milk are fine
  • Avoid honey until the age of 12 months. Occasionally, honey contains bacteria that can produce toxins in a baby’s intestines, leading to infant botulism, which is a very serious illness. Honey is also a sugar, so avoiding it helps to prevent tooth decay
  • Avoid wheat, gluten, nuts (including peanuts), soya, meat, fish, dairy and other potential allergens until six months of age as they may cause allergies or make the baby ill
  • Don’t give whole peanuts or nuts to children under five years old because they could choke on them
  • Don’t choose low fat foods. Fat is an important source of calories and certain vitamins for babies and young children. It’s better for infants between the ages of six months and two years to have full-fat milk, yoghurt and cheese
  • Not to give shark, swordfish or marlin. The amount of mercury in these fish can affect a baby’s growing nervous system
  • Always check the labels of cooking sauces, soups, breakfast cereals, etc., as they may contain high levels of salt, sugar or artificial sweeteners.

Top tips for starting weaning

Parents can try the following:

  • Choose a time of day when they are relaxed and baby is alert
  • Try giving the baby food during or after a milk feed so that the baby is not hungry and doesn’t get frustrated when expecting the breast or a bottle
  • To begin with, offer a couple of teaspoonfuls of food once a day. Try starting with puréed vegetables, then progress to fruit or cereal mixed with milk
  • Allow plenty of time, and prepare to get messy
  • Wait for the baby to open their mouth before spoonfeeding. If the baby doesn’t seem to like a particular food, don’t force it – just try again another day
  • Gradually increase the amount of food and offer food twice and then three times a day. The aim will eventually be to get babies eating three meals a day – breakfast, lunch and dinner – with healthy snacks in between
  • Once the baby has learned to eat puréed foods, start giving food with soft lumps. Even babies without any teeth can learn to chew soft food
  • Let the baby learn and get used to individual tastes before mixing foods (particularly fruit and vegetables)
  • Remember to keep introducing the baby to a wide range of healthy tastes and textures by trying new foods – this way they are more likely to keep eating them as they grow up. It can take 10 or more attempts before a baby accepts a new food, so keep trying
  • Be positive and praise the baby for trying new foods.

The process of weaning

 

Next, read the article on homemade versus ready-made food for infants.

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