How to wean your baby
Your baby gets all her nourishment by breast milk or formula up until around four to six months of age – the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the World Health Organization (WHO) recommend that babies should be exclusively breastfed, or given formula milk, until they’re six months old. The same age guideline also applies to formula-fed babies.
The AAP suggests that sometime between four and six months is the best time to try offering your baby her first solids, but try to hang on for as long as you can if your baby still seems to be satisfied by her milk feeds, unless your pediatrician recommends otherwise or her milk feeds no longer seem to provide enough sustenance. Signs include her not going for as long between feeds and waking up during the night hungry when she had been sleeping through.
Before four to six months, your baby’s digestive system is still too immature to process solids, and weaning babies too early has been linked to a raised risk of asthma and eczema as they grow. But once your baby is between four and six months she should be developmentally ready to try solids, and will need the extra nourishment they provide, although it’ll be a whole new experience for her and she might need some persuading to take those first few mouthfuls!
Four to six months
If your baby is closer to four months when you move her onto solids, you’ll need to start her off on sloppy baby rice cereal made up with breast or formula milk, before moving her on to fruit and vegetable purées – apple, sweet potato, butternut squash and parsnip are ideal.
Store-bought baby food is fine but it’s so easy to make your own baby food by steaming or boiling the diced fruit or vegetables until they’re soft before whizzing them to a puree in a mixer.
As your baby nears six months you’ll need t move her onto food with a thicker consistency (if she is closer to six months when you offer her her first solids, stat out with thicker foods rather than sloppy purée, as you’ll need to progress her more rapidly). Offer mashed foods with a thicker consistency – avocado, banana, potato, broccoli and cauliflower are ideal.
Offer her solids twice a day, with her usual milk feeds in between. She still will be getting most of her nourishment from her milk feeds at this stage in the weaning process She also will still need her milk feeds – you need to still give her a minimum of 16-20 ounces a day. Introduce new foods one at a time three to four days apart to ensure that you can pinpoint the cause of any potential
allergic reactions (such as a rash or diarrhea).
Seven to nine months
Your baby should definitely be eating more textured foods now, so that she can practice chewing as her first teeth start to cut through her gums.
She can have the same mashed vegetables she’s been enjoying and you can start to add meat to them (unless you’re raising a
vegetarian baby): finely chopped or minced chicken and steamed or poached white fish, such as cod or pollock, are ideal. You also can offer wheat-based foods, although it’s best to hold off on these until your baby is over 12 months old if you have a family history of food allergies.
Grated cheese can be melted into her food and she can also start eating full-fat yogurt but she won’t be ready to drink cows’ milk as a main drink until she is over one year old.
You can now offer first finger foods to your baby – try giving her diced frozen vegetables steamed or boiled to a soft consistency, strips of pita bread, rice cakes, slices of soft fruit, such as peach and nectarine, and cereal (Cheerios are ideal).
At this stage she’ll need solids three times with finger food snacks in between. She also still needs a minimum of 16-20 ounces of breast or formula milk a day.
Ten to 12 months
Move your baby from mashed foods to finely chopped foods now and aim to get her used to a wide variety of tastes – studies show that this age is the best window of opportunity for raising a baby who isn’t a
fussy eater and loves those veggies!
Along with what she’s been eating so far, she can now have minced lamb and beef-based sauces teamed with soft-cooked cooked pasta. Cheese and vegetable sauces should also hit the spot. She also can have scrambled egg yolks or finely chopped hardboiled egg yolk (wait until she’s over 12 months old if you have a family history of allergies).
Offer her tasty dips with her finger foods – try hummus, cottage cheese or mashed cooked lentils (packed with iron, this makes a great pasta sauce too). Aim to give her solids four times a day with finger food snacks, and a minimum of 12 ounces of breast or formula milk.
12 months and beyond
Ideally your baby should be having a sloppier version of whatever you’re having by now, so set aside a portion for her and be sure not to add salt to it as her kidneys won’t be able to process it and she could become ill. For that reason, avoid giving her fast food or TV dinners, as well as jarred sauces and commercially-prepared broths that are high in salt.
Around now you can give your baby her own spoon so she can make her first attempts at feeding herself while you also feed her. She can have what she had at ten to 12 months, along with scrambled whole eggs and chopped whole hardboiled eggs. She’s also ready for stringer-tasting fish, so try her with finely flaked poached salmon (check it carefully for bones)
Once she’s over 12 months she can now have cows’ milk as a drink – stick to the full-fat milk until she’s over two (unless your pediatrician advises otherwise because of concerns about your child’s weight), as she will need the extra fat and calories for her healthy growth and development. Another thing to bear in mind is that once your baby is toddling she will likely burn more energy so start to gradually increase
portion sizes.
What to avoid
Some foods should be
avoided until your baby reaches a certain age, especially if you have a family history of food allergies.
- Peanut butter, wheat, eggs and shellfish before the age of 12 months if you have a family history of allergies.
- Salt Your baby’s kidneys can’t cope with too much salt, so don’t add it to your baby’s portion if he eats home-cooked meals, and avoid giving him store-bought convenience food and snacks.
- Sugar Don’t add sugar to your baby’s food as it will encourage a sweet tooth and put her at risk of tooth decay.
- Honey should not be given to babies under 12 months old, even to ease a cough – it can contain botulism spores, which could make your baby very ill.
- Fruit juice It contains sugars which can contribute to tooth decay and it will also cut into your baby’s milk consumption, so don’t offer it to her while she’s under six months old. Once she passes six months, she can have pure unsweetened fruit juice diluted to one part juice to 10 parts water, but only offer it at mealtimes. Soda, tea, coffee and herbal drinks are not suitable for babies and young children.
The information in this feature is intended for educational purposes only. If you have any concerns about your health, the health of your child or the health of someone you know, please consult with a doctor or other healthcare professional.
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Last Modified: 22/02/2009