Weaning Made Simple

INDEX

weaning made simple

How do I know my baby is ready for weaning? What should I be giving them? How much is too much or too little? What if they hate my cooking? What if they won’t try new things? What if my baby chokes? What if they refuse food? Overwhelmed and under pressure. That’s how countless parents feel when starting out on their baby’s weaning journey. But it doesn’t need to be complex!

As families hit this major milestone (and doesn’t it creep up on us ever so quickly?), ‘worry’ often far outweighs the ‘wonderment’, and ‘fear’ overshadows the ‘fun’ that parents are expected to have when feeding. It’s time to set expectations aside.

Weaning can be mighty challenging. Fact. There is no one-size-fits-all for getting your baby eating like a food pro. There is no step-by-step manual to producing the perfect eater. That would be far too easy. After all, we all know how parents love a challenge!

I wouldn’t have spent my life’s work helping families with advice, support and recipes if feeding baby was ‘simple’ and ‘magical’. The intense pressure many parents feel to ‘get it right’ (and I’ve experienced this first-hand myself) can be all-consuming. Compounded by the fact that there is a world of conflicting information and advice out there, it’s completely natural to feel defeated before you’ve even dabbled with those first foods.

You’re probably wondering why my book is named Weaning Made Simple, when in actual fact, weaning can be fraught with complications. Having spent over 27 years researching baby and child nutrition, developing recipes and providing practical support to weaning families, I know what babies need in order to lay the foundations for a lifetime of healthy eating. And this new book cuts through all the unnecessary jargon and outdated advice to provide exactly what you need to know and do.

No frills. Just the practical information and easy-to-follow guidance for getting your baby to a great place as they reach their first birthday. The reality is, your baby is not going to automatically like all the foods you want them to like. Weaning is about working through flavours and textures, helping them to enjoy the foods that meet their needs nutritionally.

Are you ready to join me? It’s time to banish that build-up of worry and offload expectation. We’re on this journey together, so relax, go at their pace and take it one meal at a time. Let’s go!

what is weaning?

We use the term weaning to mean moving your baby from milk to solid food. It is also talked about in terms of moving your baby from breast to bottle or even weaning your baby off a dummy, although in this book our focus is on solid food.

Weaning is a gradual, gentle process and one that is learned. Before babies learn to walk, they roll, crawl, stumble and fall. Yet, we keep encouraging them until they can walk unaided, and parents should take the same approach to introducing food.

Weaning is about introducing a variety of flavours, tastes and textures. It’s about teaching her how to eat solid foods and explore a wide variety of nutritious foods that will provide a great foundation for her future health. The important thing is to start slowly, at a comfortable pace for your baby.

YOUR BABY’S USUAL MILK FEEDS

Weaning is a gentle process, so it’s important to remember that your baby’s usual milk will still remain the most essential dish on the menu with around 500–700ml of breast milk or formula needed each day up until her first birthday.

Up until your baby has reached 12 months, the aim during this time is to introduce a variety of foods to support your baby’s growth and development, but it’s important to note that she will still rely on breast or formula milk to offer a complete balance of nutrients needed at this crucial stage of development.

However, from around 6 months, your baby’s regular milk will no longer provide her with all of the nutrients she needs – in particular iron (see here). Full term babies are born with reserves of key nutrients inherited from mum, but by 6 months, her stores of these start to deplete, which means that milk is no longer a one-stop shop for all-round nourishment. Instead, nutrient-rich foods need to be included in her diet to supplement her regular milk. We’ll go on to talk about all those important nutrients including iron, essential fatty acids and protein-rich foods on pages here.

Once your baby starts to move on to three meals at around 6 months, you can bring her milk feeds down to 3–4 milk feeds per day (total milk still around 500–700ml). Check out my meal planner on here as a guide on how to combine milk feeds with mealtimes.

COMBINING MILK & SOLID FOODS

At this stage it’s about introducing a variety of new tastes and textures rather than volume of foods that contribute nutrients and calories (not just yet anyway). If you’re thinking of starting your little one on her weaning journey a little before 6 months (and we’ll come on to this shortly) then remember that it is more about introducing new foods than giving a full meal. You’ll need to build up to this gradually.

During those early stages of weaning, parents sometimes (and understandably) offer food when their babies are hungry, when in actual fact, they just need a milk feed. Introducing solids too early (under 4 months of age) may have a detrimental effect on the immature digestive system and could lead to anaemia by displacing their regular milk with vegetables and fruit, which are low in iron. When starting out weaning, it is best not to change your usual milk feeding pattern.

Around 6 months

What is the right amount to begin with? Start with food just once a day, around midday, and if she seems to enjoy it, you can gradually progress to two meals, and then three meals, until she’s enjoying her breakfast, lunch and dinner just as you would. Every baby is different but most parents find it easiest to continue with the morning and evening feeds and fit the other milk feeds around baby’s new mealtimes, gradually following the hunger and fullness cues giving a little less milk as their baby takes more solids. It’s worth noting that during this time, with so many new and interesting foods to explore, she is likely to naturally have less of an appetite for milk.

To ensure they still get enough of the white stuff, formula or breast milk can be added to purées and will count towards her overall milk intake.

Drinking water

Introduce a cup from around 6 months and offer sips of water with meals. Using an open cup or a free-flow cup without a valve will help your baby learn to sip and is better for her teeth.

myth buster

I can’t give my baby tap water

Tap water is perfectly fine for your baby from 6 months (so long as the supply is safe). It is only necessary to boil tap water to kill any bacteria if using with formula.

Lunchtime is the best time of day for her first meals, as she should be hungry, but not too tired to eat

HOW TO COMBINE SOLID FOODS WITH MILK FEEDS

This is intended as a reference to the first weeks of weaning, but always be guided by your baby’s appetite: some will want to go faster, whereas others will take longer to move on. If you are starting a little before 6 months, only give your baby purées. You can introduce finger foods at 6 months. I will go on to explain more about this later.

Breast milk and/or formula should still be given as your baby’s main milk as cow’s milk has a lower amount of many key nutrients, in particular iron. However, you can give small amounts of cow’s milk with cereal or in cooking from 6 months. Stick to full fat milk (for example, if you’re making cauliflower cheese) as the calories will help fuel your baby’s growth.

➤ By 7 months, once first tastes have been established and your baby has started to explore finger foods, you should be aiming for around three small meals a day. Usually you will find that your baby will naturally show signs of wanting to reduce milk feeds and so you can bring these down to three to four feeds per day (total milk around 600ml). At this stage it is still common for many babies to wake at night for a milk feed. This is fine, but aim for no more than four milk feeds a day (over a 24 hour period) and ensure that they are taking sufficient solids and drinking water.

Most babies will naturally reduce the amount of milk they consume as they increase their food intake. However, some babies may need a helping hand to cut down in order to have any kind of incentive to try food. She will need to learn to recognise when she is hungry and full-up, and if she isn’t reducing her milk intake, it could delay her progress with weaning.

➤ By 10 months, there are so many tasty new foods to try that your baby will be consuming slightly less milk and will have probably dropped another milk feed (total milk around 500ml per day) as she will now be having the likes of yoghurt and cheese in her diet too. Carry on reducing her milk feeds down to two to three feeds a day as you want her to be exploring as many different foods as possible. At this stage, finger foods, chopped foods or small portions of a suitable family meal (avoiding those foods listed on here) will take centre stage and purées should now be off the menu. You can also introduce a small mid-morning or -afternoon snack instead of one of her milk feeds.

➤ By 12 months, you can switch to full fat cow’s milk as lots of important nutrient packed goodness will now be coming from food. Cow’s milk is also an ideal source of bone-boosting calcium, as well as vitamin D, which helps the body take in all that calcium. If you are breastfeeding, then it is perfectly fine to continue doing so – the World Health Organisation advise continuing until your baby is 2 years old in addition to solid food. Just ensure that cow’s milk or breastfeeds do not replace food, and that your toddler does not have more than 500ml of cow’s milk per day as this can lead to iron deficiency and further feeding difficulties.

myth buster

I shouldn’t offer cow’s milk before 12 months

Cow’s milk should not be consumed as a drink until 12 months, but you can use it from 6 months in recipes. So long as your baby is getting their recommended daily intake of breast milk or formula, then you can include cow’s milk in your baby’s cereal and recipes and cow’s milk products like yoghurt and cheese.

WHEN TO INTRODUCE SOLIDS

Put simply – around 6 months of age. Of course, some babies will show signs of being ready before, but ‘around 6 months’ is the age advised by the World Health Organisation. Babies should never be weaned before 4 months (17 weeks) as their digestive systems aren’t mature enough to cope with food at this point. So what are the signs that your baby is ready to take that leap?

SIGNS SHE’S READY

She is sitting up and supporting her own head

This doesn’t have to mean sitting up completely unsupported, just as long as she can sit up for 3–5 seconds on her own. This is why a highchair will be your most important piece of weaning kit as it will provide that additional support for her feet, bottom and back while eating.

She has developed hand-to-eye coordination

She needs to be able to coordinate food and direct it into her mouth. Is she trying to stick her fingers, fists and everything in sight into her mouth? That is a good sign she’s mastered this skill.

She is showing signs that she has lost an early baby reflex, called tongue-thrust

This is a protective reflex to help prevent babies from choking. As soon as something foreign is put on your young baby’s tongue, the tongue-thrust reflex means she’ll try to push it out of her mouth. This reflex is likely to have disappeared by 6 months, meaning she is better able to move food from the front to the back of her mouth and then swallow it. Not all babies