Women Health

When To Start Weaning Your Baby And What To Feed Them.

Having a new baby is amazing but everyone knows it isn’t easy. Starting to wean a baby onto solid foods can definitely be one of those challenging moments and also scary. Parents are always scared of giving their child something they can’t have yet or whether they will choke on some food. This article will help to find ways to give babies the best nutritious foods that are perfect for weaning, so it’s best to start looking at weaning bibs because this is going to get messy!

When Is It Time To Start Weaning My Baby?

First it’s best to contact the child’s pediatrician to see whether the baby is ready for weaning. Many pediatricians look out for a range of different signs which parents can look out for. If a baby shows the following signs and the pediatrician says it’s okay, then parents should start to wean their child off formula or breast milk and swap to solid foods.

  1. The baby is wanting feeding more regularly
  1. The baby has doubled its birth weight
  1. The baby is interested in the solid foods you are eating
  1. The baby puts their hands and toys in their mouth regularly
  1. The baby opens its mouth when you are eating
  1. The baby can sit up on their own without support
  1. The baby can keep his head and neck supported on their own.

If the baby is not showing these signs, don’t worry. Weaning can start from a couple of weeks old to a couple of months old. A tip is that if the baby is wanting to feed more regularly, swap out one of their feeds for a solid and start that way.

What Do I Feed My Baby When Weaning?

Introduce vegetables first so that it builds a good starting block for a healthy balanced diet. It can take up to 8 attempts before a child gets used to any new flavour, so keep trying. Try to start with one vegetable at a time to pick up on their reactions and monitor how they are getting on. There are also a great range of other foods that you can start to feed a weaning baby including cereals, meats and baby rice.

When starting to wean a baby it’s best to start off with single ingredient foods. Cereals must be single grain and vegetables, fruits and meats are not recommended to mix together yet. Meats were thought of to be a last resort but it’s a great source of zinc and iron.

Another great tip is to try the baby on a new food type every 5 days so parents can see if there are any reactions. An example of a reaction may be diarrhea or a built up rash. This way parents can tell what causes these responses.

Weaning food doesn’t have to be bland, and it doesn’t have to all be raw. Make sure that the food isn’t too soft as this will mush in a baby’s hand and if it’s too hard, it will prevent the baby from gnawing.  Try using different cooking techniques also as this can help a baby to like foods they weren’t so sure of the first time.