Weaning Your Baby

In its flattest definition, weaning is the process by which a baby is introduced to a new diet which more closely reflects his or her needs as a growing human - usually from mother's milk to solid foods. In practice, the process is much more fun and exciting than that definition makes it sound, but it's useful to know why weaning is necessary before you begin the process.

As your baby matures, he or she will have radically changing nutritional requirements, and we'll talk a little more about this in due course. For now it suffices to say that even the effort it takes to grow requires different energy intakes at different stages of development. Nature has funny ways of manifesting these changes. For instance, many mammal species actually become lactose intolerant at one stage or another of their growth, which effectively forces them off their mother's milk, giving them no option but to seek out different food sources. A forced change in diet then allows that animal to behave more like an adult. The process goes full circle; the growing infant requires a changing diet, and the changing diet encourages the child to grow. It's quite clever really. Nature however doesn't make us, as humans, lactose intolerant after a certain amount of months (although an unfortunate few do still develop an intolerance). Nature trusts humans to make our own decisions when it comes to weaning. This trust afforded us by nature comes with responsibility; we have the power to make the decisions about what our babies eat, but we must be responsible or they could become ill.

Weaning Advice

This responsibility is an exiting one though. This guide offers some information about weaning and some baby diet advice which we think might be beneficial to you. Bear in mind though that each baby is different - it's what makes them so special - so what has worked well for one baby might not work so well for another.

There are three main phases of weaning, and we'll look at each phase in detail. The phases are distinguished by the age of your baby, and they are:

• phase one (4-6 months)
• phase 2 (6-9 months), and
• phase 3 (9-12 months).

Phase one is the longest and the most important stage, and the most difficult, so it will be discussed in more depth than the other two phases below. Before we do, let's discuss some general weaning information. While each baby might be ready to transfer to solid foods at different times, there are a few signs which are universal. These signs can be used to indicate when your baby is ready to be weaned, and they're listed below:

• Your baby can sit up comfortably, albeit with assistance from you.
• Their neck muscles are sufficiently developed and controlled to hold their head up well.
• Your baby holds objects and brings them to their mouth.
• They chew on their fingers, their hands and their toys.
• They show an obvious interest in the food YOU'RE eating.
• A milk feeding which would previously have been enough to fill them up no longer seems to satisfy them, and they still seem hungry after a normal feed.

If your baby is showing a combination of theses signs then they're probably ready to wean, but you should consult your Health Visitor, Dietician or Nutritionist, if you have one, and your GP if you don't.

Phase One (4-6 Months)

Phase one regards only the very first contact your baby has with solid foods. The foods in this stage aren't truly solid, and this phase only lasts a couple of weeks. Your baby will probably be ready to start weaning at around six months of age, although it's possible that he or she could be ready a little earlier than that (or a little later). The World Health Organisation recommends that weaning begin at around six months because until that age a baby's digestive system is not sufficiently developed to process solid foods. Until this age, the nutritional value of milk - natural or formulated - will be enough to support your baby's growth. After this time, you should try introducing a few solids into your baby's diet.

It's useful to develop a routine from the start of the weaning process which revolves around your baby and your baby's food. Conditioning them to associate food with positive attention is essential for them to enjoy eating more challenging meals. Eating is an inherently familial event anyway, and you'll probably find you all enjoy the intimacy of it.

Phase One Foods

Let's talk about the choice of food to go for, since the first foods are usually very important. Probably the most common first food is baby rice, usually mixed with water or breast/formula milk and mixed to have the consistency of a thin-ish rice pudding, or a thick soup. Baby rice is popular because it seems to work well. If your baby responds positively, then they probably found the texture quite pleasing. Therefore, you might like to consider opting for pureed foods more regularly. They're more solid than milk, but not so alien to an inexperienced eater that they are impossible to digest.

If you're making your own purees instead of buying them off the shelf then popular early pureed foods include pureed apple or pureed pear. They need to be cooked thoroughly before they're pureed to make sure they're completely safe, and remember to remove any pips and fibrous materials before you begin; pips can be sharp and fibres are difficult to swallow and digest. (If you're buying off the shelf, make sure it's organic.)

Try other fruits and vegetables and observe the foods your baby responds well to and responds badly to. Bananas are usually very well received and they can simply be pulped with a fork and fed. Carrots and courgettes are a little more controversial, but they can be easily mashed after they've been cooked and are quite healthy food sources. Courgettes will need to be peeled before they're cooked and served to eliminate the fibres in the skin. For the first six months of their lives your baby has relied on the iron in their mother's milk and the deposits in their body stored during their time in the womb. After six months, the iron stored in their bodies has been used up and they're not getting enough from the milk. This iron then needs to be replaced in their new diet. Courgettes, apricots, potatoes and other high-iron veggies and fruits can be cooked and mixed with baby rice for a nourishing, easily digestible meal. Vitamin C helps the process of absorption, so combining vitamin C rich foods with high iron foods is a recipe for success.

Phase One Feeding

Using a plastic spoon, offer a small amount of pureed food to your baby. The reactions of babies the first time they are offered food on a spoon varies hugely. Some babies will eat what's on the spoon without any fuss and maybe look at you for more. Others may find the sensation of a solid object in their mouths highly objectionable and will struggle. It's common for babies to take food into their mouths and then dribble it back out, because their tongue control isn't developed sufficiently to manipulate the food in their mouths, and they're only used to pushing their tongues against a nipple to get milk.

Persist and be patient; your baby is learning to control their tongue, it's difficult if you've never done it before. They're also experiencing everything for the first time, so some reactions might be a little unexpected (you might find that your baby has an irrational fondness for spinach, for example).

The best time to make the first offering of harder foods is in the middle of a normal feeding session. Try to offer your child a small amount of food in the tip of a spoon during an ordinary feed, because your baby won't be too full or too hungry; they will either take the food because they trust you and they're body is telling them to, or they will reject it and you can continue feeding normally until you try again.

Phase Two (6-9 months)

During stage 2, your baby will develop the ability to chew their food, to transfer food from their hand to their mouths, and to determine what flavours and textures they like and which they don't.

By now your child should be accustomed to foods more difficult to eat than milk, and should be familiar with having food presented to them. Now you can move on from simple pureed fruits and vegetables and begin to experiment with flavours and textures, introducing new things, including warm foods, and make your baby's diet more closely resemble an adult diet. In this phase food can still be chewed even if your baby's teeth haven't yet appeared.

Therefore, pasta, bread, soft cereals, fish, eggs, chicken, yoghurts and cheese can all be introduced. It's still best to leave out spicy food, soft or blue cheeses and sauces for now. Also, nuts should be left to at least the age of three, shellfish is too demanding on the digestive system, salty foods are not good for young kidneys and sugary foods are not good for young digestive systems.

Towards the end of this stage, you may be able to encourage your baby to hold the spoon for him or herself. This will teach a sense of independence from a young age, helping to coordinate the hand with the eye and developing the communication skills if you maintain a conversation throughout the feeding. Games played during dinner times will anchor them with a sense of fun, and your baby will hopefully soon start to look forward to it keenly.

Phase 3 (9-12 Months & Beyond)

After around six months of weaning, with your child now approaching a year old, your baby will probably have forgotten all about the convenience of breast of formula milk, and will be trying new flavours and offering their opinion of them quite vocally. They should be able to eat with the rest of the family, as long as their portion as carefully cut into tiny portions or mashed, and there is no salt added. You'll still need to avoid spicy foods, shellfish, nuts, and exotic cheeses, but most other things are now fair game. Avoid sugary foods and keep to low-fat content meals, and use your common sense.

Continue to encourage your child to use their own spoon and help them feed themselves. Begin working in the three-meal-a-day feeding format around this time; this routine is healthy and good for discipline in later life.

Summary

We hope you found the information on this page useful. There are numerous high-quality products on the market which are designed to help the weaning process a little bit easier and enjoyable. Oliver's stocks toddler cups and weaning sets, as well as high chairs and stylish bibs, all of which have been developed by parents, for parents. But the most important thing to remember when your weaning your baby is to be patient, and keep the process fun and lively!