Weaning is fun! Or at least is should be. We’ve pulled together some tips from local mums to help you along your way.
What is weaning?
It is the process that we must all go through to get from being fed exclusively with milk to eating solid foods.
When should I start?
Currently, the guidance is that you should start weaning at 6 months. This follows research provided by the World Health Organization that shows that babies’ digestive system is ready for solids at around 6 months.
Signs that your baby is ready to wean are:
- sitting up,
- wanting to chew and putting toys and other objects in their mouth, and
- reaching and grabbing accurately.
My baby is 3 – 5 months and has started waking in the night, should I start weaning?
The official NHS guidance is that it is normal for babies around 3 to 5 months to start waking in the night when they had previously slept through. This is not a sign that they require weaning.
However, some local mums have told us that they have started weaning early in order to reduce night-time waking. For some mums, this has been successful, but for others it hasn’t.
Here are some other strategies you could try to reduce night-time waking at this age when a baby has previously slept through:
- dream feeds – try giving your baby a full feed of milk at around 11pm without rousing them too much,
- offering water instead of milk during the night (although this could lead to your baby getting used to having water in the night, which still requires you getting up),
- if breastfeeding, some mums give their baby a bottle of formula for their last feed as this can help babies go for longer between feeds (although this could affect your milk supply, so you may want to express at the same time as giving a formula feed),
- attempt to settle your baby without feeding them (easier said than done at 3am)…
- or, if you can’t beat them, join them – just enjoy the special quiet feeding time you have with your baby at night.
Weaning – the purée way
Traditionally, babies have been weaned by using purées. You start off with smooth vegetable purées and gradually increase the thickness and lumpy-ness of the purees as well as expanding the range of ingredients.
If you are looking for very detailed guidance about what to give your baby and when, go no further than Gina Ford. She gives a day by day plan of what to feed your baby and this can be very reassuring for some mums.
For recipe ideas, the weaning guru is Annabel Karmel. She has been going for quite a few years so her books are widely available – try ebay or nearly new sales for a bargain. There is everything from a simple carrot purée to more elaborate fish pie.
Top tips for weaning with purée:
- take your time, allow your baby to eat at their own pace
- at first, it is normal for babies to cough and gag on the food. They need to learn to swallow when something is at the back of their throat
- use ice cube trays to freeze purées. You can then just heat up small quantities
- add milk to the purées (you can use whole cow’s milk from 6 months) to make them more sloppy or baby rice to make them less sloppy
- you don’t need to sterilise anything (except milk bottles) after 6 months – just clean everything thoroughly
- try finger foods as well as purées – a piece of cheese, some pear, a rice cake… You could try giving your baby a finger food to keep them entertained whilst you are heating up the purée. [WARNING: don't leave your baby unattended with food, they could choke.]
- allow your baby to play with another spoon whilst you are feeding them if that is what they want to do.
- banana stains don’t come out, so you may want to take your baby out of their best jumper (knitted by grandma) before you feed them.
- try feeding the purées cold – it will make it a lot easier when you are out if your baby is used to eating cold food.
Weaning – the baby-led way
If you are terrified at the idea of making purées and think it sounds all too much like hard work, then baby-led weaning (BLW) is for you.
It is a great new approach to weaning developed by Gill Rapley, where babies simply feed themselves family foods. This means that you simply offer your baby a bit of whatever you are eating and let them ‘discover’ it at their own pace.
To find out more about BLW, visit Gill Rapley’s website for great pictures and top tips.
As BLW is quite a new thing, there isn’t as much advice available. So, a local mum has kindly volunteered to keep a diary of her experiences. Click here to go to her blog.
The BabyLedWeaning website is a great source of information. There’s loads of really good threads in there – all
experience based but it’s very helpful when you start digging around. For newcomers and those that are some way down the line too.
Weaning foods
When you are giving your baby his/her first foods, you might begin to think about where you are getting your food from. It might be worth going organic to limit the amount of pesticides that are getting into your baby. Local firm Moor Organic offer organic boxes delivered to your home for FREE.
You might also want to occasionally use pre-prepared baby food available from supermarkets. A number of mums recommend Plum baby foods.
Share your tips
If you have any top tips for weaning, please contact us and we will add them here for other mums to use.
Note
Always consult your doctor or health visitor if you have any issues relating to your baby’s feeding. The tips given here are from local mums – they are simply suggestions of what you could try. Your baby’s health remains your responsibility.
NEVER leave your baby unattended when feeding.
