The Basics of Weaning Your Baby

When to Wean

By six months old, many babies are showing signs that they are ready to be weaned. They may be showing a general interest in food or even reaching for your fork or plate. “When your baby starts watching you eat with those curious eyes, it’s their way of saying, ‘I’m ready!'” says Dr Mona Kazemi, Paediatric Occupational Therapist and Feeding Specialist at Cayman Theraplay. Before you start the process of weaning, the term used to describe the process of introducing a baby to solid food, there are some key milestones that a baby must reach:

• Babies should be at least six months old
• They must be able to sit up and hold their head steady
• They need to be able to coordinate their eyes, hands and mouth
• They should be showing an interest in food.

It’s a good idea to start off the weaning process with just one solid meal a day and continue with your usual milk feeds as normal. Choose a time of day when you and your baby are relaxed, have plenty of time and when your baby is neither too hungry nor too full. A simple mid-morning breakfast of baby rice, loose porridge or banana is an excellent first meal for a baby. Don’t be surprised if your baby doesn’t eat much, spits most of it out or seems to gag (more on that later), rejecting food is very common in the early days. For some lucky parents, their baby will take to solids like a duck to water, demolishing anything and everything put in front of them, but for the majority of parents, weaning takes time. Just remember not to compare your baby to others and seek help from your paediatrician if you are worried about their progress.

Eating is second nature to the rest of us but for babies it is entirely new. They need to become accustomed to the feeling of food in their mouth, learn how to chew, swallow and move food around their mouth, get used to different textures and tastes, and learn how to pick up food with their hands, and later cutlery. Learning to drink from a cup is an important skill that should be encouraged and there are baby-sized silicone cups available to buy that are perfect for little hands.

Once your baby is getting the hang of things you can introduce a second meal into their daily routine, and over the course of six months your baby may well be eating three meals a day. That said, it is important to go at your baby’s pace and remember that babies learn from others, so the more you eat with your baby the quicker they will pick up the skills needed to eat solid food.

Baby-Led Weaning or Puréeing

Until recently, almost all babies were weaned on a menu of puréed fruit and vegetables, with more challenging textures and flavours introduced incrementally as baby’s skills and palate developed. Mums (mostly) would spend hours in the kitchen, peeling, steaming, blending, portioning and freezing nutritionally balanced purées ready to be spoon-fed to their little one. Ready-made purées available to buy in supermarkets gave parents a degree of convenience but they also came with a side-order of preservatives to lengthen shelf life.

In recent years however, a new method of weaning has gained in popularity, baby-led weaning (BLW). First promoted by an NHS nurse, BLW suggests parents bypass purées altogether and instead encourages babies to feed themselves with age-appropriate finger foods. BLW has become nothing short of a phenomenon, with social media channels dedicated to helping parents wean the BLW way, offering tips, tricks and meal inspiration to hundreds of thousands of followers globally.

In reality, many parents wean their baby with a combination of both purées (or well mashed fruit and veggies) and finger food, and there is no need to stick to one method or the other. “Whether you start with purées, finger foods, or a mix of both, the goal is to make mealtimes safe, joyful, and supportive of their growing bodies and minds”, says Dr Mona Kazemi.

If you are about to begin weaning your baby, read on to find out about some of the benefits and drawbacks of each method.

Pros and Cons of Baby-Led Weaning

Pros

1. Your baby will learn to explore tastes and textures on their own terms, developing their independence along the way.
2. They can eat the same food that has been cooked for the rest of the family, meaning less time spent in the kitchen. Remember not to add salt to your baby’s food as it is bad for their kidneys.
3. Picking up food and bringing it to their mouths encourages the development of gross and fine motor skills as they learn coordination, movement and accuracy.

Cons

1. Some parents, especially first-time parents, may feel anxious about their baby choking on whole foods. Thankfully choking is rare, but babies often gag when they start weaning which, while unsettling to watch, is a normal reflex that protects your baby from choking. Make sure you know the signs of choking and consider getting your first-aid certification from the Red Cross, so you know how to respond in an emergency.
2. One of the possible downsides of giving a baby freedom to eat what they want is that parents have little control over how much they eat and many worry that their baby is not getting the nutrition they need at a critical time in their development.
3. BLW is a messy business! Good for the dog, less so for you. Unless of course you are intensely relaxed about spaghetti bolognese all over your walls.

Pros and Cons of Puréeing

Pros

1. It can be easier for parents to ensure that their baby is eating enough to meet their nutritional needs.
2. Babies can still learn to self-feed. Spoons can be pre-loaded with purée for baby to bring to their mouth. Just don’t expect them to hit the target every time!
3. Feeding a baby purée is easy so you can always ask grandparents and other family members to help!

Cons

1. Puréeing involves additional food preparation which can be very time-consuming.
2. Babies that are fed purées are less likely to sit and eat with the family so they can miss out on the social side of eating and may be less likely to learn by watching others.
3. They can get stuck on smooth textures and reject lumpier food if they are not challenged with new textures.