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Moving onto solid food

Details: Category: Babies; Published on Friday, 25 November 2011 12:53; Hits: 301

Weaning is all about gradually moving your baby from a milk-only diet onto a balanced diet that includes solid foods. All babies eventually need something more satisfying than the seemingly endless round of milk, even if they don’t want to give up the bottle just yet! Dad Info takes you through the transition from milk to baby food… prepare to get messy!

When does weaning start?

For the first four months of your baby’s life breast milk provides all the nutrition she needs. But at some point between four and six months it’s time to start trying solid foods.

Breastfeeding: how it works

No sirloin steaks yet of course, but a bit of sweet potato purée or mashed apple will slip down easily. From then on the balance between food and breast milk gradually begins to shift, until either you (usually) or your baby decides it is time to stop breast-feeding. Bear in mind that you need to keep giving your baby milk for about a year.

Moving from breast to bottle

Is my baby ready to start solids?

Your baby may be ready to start solids if she:

Can hold her head up and sit upright when in a high chair or supported by a cushion
Has doubled her birth weight (generally when she’s roughly six months old)
If you’re unsure whether to break out the purée, ask your health visitor or GP for some advice.

What will I need?

Apart from patience and a willingness to get messy, you’ll need:

A rubber-tipped spoon.
A plastic dish – some come with suckers to stop your baby sweeping her plate onto the floor.
Suckers or no suckers, you’ll probably also need a protective covering or mat to keep your floor clean.

Play time

The first spoonfuls…

Remember: never leave your baby alone with her food – there’s a risk she’ll choke.

Your baby has to learn a new skill: she’s got swallowing down to a fine art, but needs to practice moving food around her mouth – so it’s advisable to invest in a good supply of bibs…
It’s a good idea to start off with small spoonfuls of baby rice, which tastes a little like milk and won’t come as too much of a surprise to her.
Let her have some of her normal milk before giving her the rice – if she’s hungry, she won’t want to be fussing about trying to get the hang of proper food.
Then finish off with more milk and plenty of praise.

Don’t worry if your baby resists your attempts at spoon-feeding to begin with or doesn’t take much food from you, it is generally just a question of practice.

You can try to stimulate her interest in food by putting a little on her lips – hopefully she’ll like the taste and be eager for more.

Some things to plan ahead for in your child's life

Introducing new foods

After a couple of weeks on the baby rice, you can give your baby new flavours and textures to enjoy. If you can, give her puréed carrots and other vegetables before you try her on fruit so that she doesn’t get used to the sweeter taste of apples, bananas or pears.

The Dad.Info no-nonsense guide to puréeing:

Always wash fruit and veg, then peel and chop into small pieces.
Place in a saucepan (or microwaveable bowl) and cover with water.
Simmer (or microwave) until the fruit or veg are soft and tender.
Using a spoon, push the mixture through a sieve to break up any lumps and leave you with a smooth purée.
Puréed food will keep in the fridge for 24 hours.

If you’ve made enough to last for a few days/weeks/months, purée cubes or ice-cube trays are ideal for freezing individual portions. Once frozen, transfer the purée cubes to a freezer bag and store for up to two months.

When serving up from frozen, make sure the purèe is completely defrosted before heating, and stir well to make sure the food is cooked evenly throughout. Then leave to cool before giving it to your appreciative customer…

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