Weaning your baby onto solid food can be an exciting time. However, it can also be stressful and time-consuming. We’re joined by Kirsty Parsons, a trained health visitor and owner of Bright Beginnings Baby Massage, for some expert ideas and suggestions to ensure the weaning process runs smoothly.
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1. Wait Until Your Baby Is 6 Months Old
There’s a reason we advise this, and that’s because at six months old babies will be better at managing food in their mouths and will be able to chew and explore their food. Most babies will also be sitting at this stage and have good head support.
2. Start Slowly
Start offering food once a day when you first start weaning. Begin with small amounts of solid food, usually before your baby’s milk feed. Increase it to twice a day when you feel your baby requires fewer milk feeds and can cope with different textures.
Another option is to start by mixing your baby’s milk into a small amount of porridge. This is a good idea as your baby will already be familiar with the taste of milk.
3. Pick A Suitable Time of Day
Choose a time of day that suits you both, ideally when you aren’t in a rush. You’ll need to be realistic with yourself and understand that it will take a bit of time (and a bit of mess) so if you’re regularly busy on a certain day of the week, avoid that one to start with. Also, try involving other family members in the process. Eating together as a family may encourage the baby to try new foods.
4. Choose Your Method
Choose a method which will work for you and your baby, either spoon-led or baby-led. Or you can combine both methods to suit you. The best thing to do if you’re not sure is to try a bit of each. You’ll soon discover what your little one seems more interested in doing.
5. Use Finger Foods For Baby-Led Weaning
Baby-led weaning tends to include foods babies can hold in their hands, for example, vegetables. Finger foods include broccoli, cauliflower, parsnips, avocado, melon, bananas, sweet potato, carrots, pasta and toast.
Babies are naturally inquisitive so they learn by exploring. Research has shown that babies who are given the opportunity to explore a wide range of food tend to accept new foods more readily. As babies learn through play, exploring food can help them learn how to handle different sizes, weights, tastes and textures at mealtimes. It’s a good opportunity for babies to practise their hand-eye coordination.
Once babies become more used to eating, you could introduce a spoon and allow them to explore with utensils.
6. Blend Foods For Spoon-Led Weaning
With spoon-led weaning, a parent or caregiver feeds the baby so this tends to include more puréed or soft mashed foods. The smooth textures of these foods can decrease the chance of choking. An advantage of spoon-led weaning is that you’ll know how much your baby has eaten, as you can be sure they’re actually eating it and not just playing with it.
For smooth textures, purée vegetables in a blender to quite a runny consistency. You could blend down cooked carrots, broccoli, or even butternut squash. From smooth purées, you can then go on to introduce thicker mash with soft lumps, giving baby the opportunity to experience more textures. Thicker foods include sweet potato mash, slightly blended banana or even scrambled egg.
7. Aim For Variety
Offer a variety of foods that you as a family also eat. This decreases the chances of having a picky eater later on (and saves you from cooking four different meals each evening). Introduce finger foods, soft foods and less sweet flavours, for example cauliflower. A variety of tastes will widen baby’s intake of nutrients, while different textures will help your baby learn how to chew.
8. Be Patient
Your baby won’t like everything straight away so if they don’t like one food, don’t completely rule it out. Leave it for a few weeks and try again. Remember to stay patient and don’t beat yourself up if it doesn’t work out straight away.
9. Don’t Worry If You Need To Grab A Pouch
While most professionals will not recommend jars or pouches, these can be convenient if you are having a family day out or dining at a café or restaurant. It’s not something to beat yourself up for doing every once in a while. Parenthood can be busy!
10. Avoid Salt, Pepper and High-Risk Foods
Remember to keep foods plain to start with and don’t add salt, pepper, spices or garlic to your baby’s food. Avoid nuts, popcorn, jelly cubes and marshmallows to minimise the risk of choking. Raw shellfish should also be avoided due to the risk of food poisoning and babies under one shouldn’t have honey.
11. Choose Baby-Friendly Seating
Use a high chair with comfortable seat pads, as this will help your baby sit properly in a stable position. Strap them in with a safety harness to stop them from falling out. The trays attached to the highchair allow babies to freely explore their food, enhancing fine motor skills during the process. An added bonus is that you can remove the tray and give it a good clean.
12. Use A Messy Mat
Messy mats are really versatile to allow your baby to sit, make a mess and explore their food. Plus, they are easily wipeable. Makes cleanup a doddle!
13. Invest In Ice Cube Trays
Ice cube trays are great for freezing baby food, particularly if you prefer bulk cooking and puréeing food. Silicone trays are ideal as you can easily pop the food out in cubes ready for defrosting.
14. Check Out Start For Life Recipes
There’s a ton of recipes you can start to use to help ease your little ones into weaning. It doesn’t have to happen all at once either. Take your time, and go easy on yourself if things seem tricky. You’re doing your best! Check out this page from the NHS for recipe ideas.
Thank You To Kirsty – Bright Beginnings Baby Massage
All of these benefits demonstrate how important Dads are in these early childhood experiences. Dads tend to challenge their children to explore and take part in new opportunities, as a result, children learn to build self-confidence, independence and motivation to succeed. Take a look at the local groups within your area, get booked in and let the fun commence!
Kirsty is a trained health visitor and baby massage instructor, who runs her own baby massage classes over at Bright Beginnings Baby Massage. Check her out on Instagram here!
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