Breast or formula milk provides all the nourishment a baby needs for the first six months of life. However, at around 6 months, you will need to start weaning your child.
When to start
The best time to start weaning your child is at 6 months but not before they are 17 weeks. Before 6 months, all your baby's nutritional needs are met by milk and their digestive and immune systems are not sufficiently developed to cope with food other than milk. After 6 months, your baby needs the extra nutrients, especially iron, that solid food can provide and signs that your baby is ready for some solids are:
- your baby appears dissatisfied or still hungry after a breast or bottle feed
- your baby is hungry very soon again after a feed and demands an extra feed
- your baby wakens through the night for a feed having previously slept through
How do I start?
Pick a time of the day when both you and baby are relaxed and alert. Mid-morning is ideal as you will have the rest of the day to see how your baby reacts to the food. Give half of your baby's usual milk feed and then offer a small amount of food on a shallow, soft-tipped weaning spoon. Baby rice makes an ideal first food since it is mixed with your baby's usual milk, providing a familiar taste. You can also vary the texture to be as liquid or as thick as your baby prefers.
Start by giving your baby around one teaspoon of food – but prepare about a tablespoonful of food to account for spillages! Your baby might reject the food at first or have difficulty taking the food from the spoon so try 4 or 5 times and then give your baby the rest of their breast or formula feed.
Always introduce new foods one at a time, leaving at least 3 days between the addition of each new food. This will give you time to see if a particular food causes a reaction in your baby. Try to include a wide variety of foods and flavours – it's been found that babies who experience a lot of different foods early on tend to become less fussy eaters as children and adults. But be patient – your baby might reject some foods the first time they taste them but keep offering them from time to time since it can take up to 20 attempts for a new taste to be accepted.
Once your baby is established on solids you can space out their milk feeds and solid meals throughout the day. If there is a family history of food allergy, it is advisable to avoid that particular food for at least 6 months and up to one year. Your GP or health visitor will be able to advise you.
Tips to preparing first foods
- Before the age of 6 months, all the utensils that come into contact with your baby's food should be sterilised. After 6 months, when babies tend to put everything they find into their mouths, it is only necessary to continue to sterilise their milk bottles or cups
- Using a steamer will allow you to cook vegetables until soft while retaining as many vitamins and minerals as possible
- Cook all foods initially and puree by pressing through a sieve
- Store portions of pureed fruit and vegetables in separate ice cube trays in the freezer. The amount contained in a single ice cube holder will be just enough for you to try out as a new food
- When defrosting or re-heating, correct the consistency of the food after it has been heated and just before serving with a little breast milk, formula milk, full fat cow's milk (after 1 year) or vegetable water. This will cool the food before eating
- Avoid adding salt and sugar and if using commercially produced baby foods read the ingredients labels to ensure no sugar or salt has been added.
Guide to baby's first foods in stages
Since babies are used to only drinking milk, first foods should be smooth and quite runny in texture. Baby rice, sweet fruit and root vegetables make great first tastes:
- Baby rice is an ideal first food as it can be mixed with your baby's usual milk to provide a familiar taste
- Pureed fruit such as pears and apples. Choose ripe fruit which is naturally sweet, peel and simmer or steam for a few minutes to soften before pureeing
- Pureed vegetables. Root vegetables such as carrot, sweet potato, butternut squash and parsnip are ideal as they are naturally sweet. Peel, steam until soft and then puree, mixing with a little liquid to give a smooth texture
- Gradually introduce your baby to new foods such as pureed stone fruit (peaches, nectarines and plums), dried fruit (prunes, apricots and raisins) and other vegetables such as potato, courgette, broccoli, cauliflower, peas and green beans
- Ripe bananas, avocado and papaya can be given uncooked
- This is a good time to introduce lots of new tastes to your baby and many babies like stronger flavours than we might expect so even if you don't like spinach, don't hesitate to offer if to your baby! You can also ring the changes by adding flavourings to usual foods such as cinnamon to apple or pear puree, vanilla to banana, mint to peas or cumin or very mild curry to root vegetables.
New foods that might have previously prompted an allergic reaction can be added to your baby's menu at 6 months and foods can now be mashed rather than pureed. Once your baby can sit unsupported, you can also offer finger foods that they can hold themselves but never leave your child unattended when eating.
New foods can include:- cereals which contain gluten such as baby porridge and oat cereals such as Ready Brek, and wheat-based cereals such as Weetabix
- continue to offer a variety of fruit including berries (sieved to remove seeds), citrus fruit and small amounts of tropical fruits such as pineapple or mango
- well-cooked meat, fish and poultry
- your baby might like small amounts of pulses such as lentils and beans from 8 months
- well-cooked eggs
- yogurt, custard and fromage frais can now be introduced to your baby's diet and cow's milk can be used in cooking and in making up foods such as cereal. Cow's milk is not suitable, however, as a main drink until one year and your baby should still take at least 500ml of breast milk or formula every day
- you can offer your baby water or unsweetened fruit juice (diluted at least 1 to 4) with meals
- try to move your baby from a bottle to a cup, with the aim of doing away with bottles entirely by one year. Some babies, especially breastfed babies, may find it easier to move directly to an open cup for drinks
- good finger foods include toast fingers, small sandwiches, slices of peeled fruit and vegetable sticks, slices of cheese
Your baby will now be able to eat most foods and will most likely want to feed themselves – with your help (remember never to leave your child unattended when eating). You might find it useful to prepare two bowls of food – one for the baby to play with and one for you to actually feed them from! Your baby can probably eat the same meals as the rest of the family at this stage, but be sure to set the baby's portion of food aside before adding seasoning.
While your baby can eat a wide variety of foods, you will need to avoid the following until 1 year:- smoked foods
- honey
- shellfish
- soft eggs such as lightly scrambled eggs
- pate
- soft and blue cheese
- nuts - avoid chopped or whole nuts until 5 years because of the risk of choking
