Weaning: What to Feed, When to Feed, and How to Feed Your Baby

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Understanding weaning

The steps involved in introducing your baby to solid food are not set in stone and you may find that she progresses more quickly or more slowly than other babies of a similar age. Some days may be better than others, too, and there will also be times when she wants only her usual milk. It helps to understand the basics of weaning and the theory behind it. Armed with knowledge, you’ll be able to develop a method that works for both you and your baby.

Understanding weaning | CONTENTS

What weaning’s all about

Weaning truths and myths

Critical nutrients

Special diets

Allergy concerns

Reflux, constipation, and diarrhea

Is your baby ready for weaning?

Baby-led weaning

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What weaning’s all about

Weaning is a gentle process that involves slowly and sensitively replacing your baby’s regular milk with nutritious food that will fill her with energy and encourage optimum growth and development. Bear in mind that eating is a learned skill, like walking and talking, and will take time for your baby to master. You have a window of opportunity between 6 and 12 months when your baby will eat pretty well, so take advantage of this to introduce a variety of new flavors that should set her on a path of healthy eating for life.

Weaning is a gentle process, involving slowly and sensitively replacing your baby’s regular milk with healthy, delicious, nutritious food.

Your baby’s usual milk

From around six months, your baby’s regular milk will no longer provide her with all the nutrients she needs—in particular, iron—and her stores start becoming depleted by this stage. This is one reason why now is the ideal time to begin weaning, as missing nutrients need to be provided by food. It is, however, very important to remember that your baby’s milk will continue to form a significant part of her nutrition for many months to come, giving her the fats, carbohydrates, protein, vitamins, and minerals she needs. What’s more, feeding your baby her milk will remain an important source of comfort and will help continue the bonding process. Your baby will need breast milk or formula until she is at least 12 months old, when her diet is varied enough to offer the correct balance of nutrients. Breastfeeding can be successfully continued alongside the introduction of solid food. There is plenty of research to suggest that breast milk continues to offer antibodies well into toddlerhood, which can help your little one resist infection. It also contains a readily absorbed form of iron, as well as protein, essential fatty acids, vitamins, minerals, and enzymes, making it a perfect complement to a healthy, varied diet.

Breastfeed your baby as usual, or, if she is on formula milk, make sure she gets at least 500 ml (2 cups) per day. Most parents find it easiest to continue with the morning and evening feeds and fit the other milk feeds around mealtimes, gradually giving a little less as their baby takes more solids. Feed your baby after her first tastes instead of before, so that she is hungrier and more willing to try the foods you are offering. Top her up with a milk feed once she’s had a few spoonfuls of purée.

Premature babies

Babies born before 37 weeks will have fewer nutritional stores than full-term babies. Breastfed premature babies will require a multivitamin that contains high levels of vitamin D and an iron supplement. Some moms will also be given a supply of breast milk fortifier to enrich their breast milk. Bottle-fed premature babies will be given prescription milk fortified with vitamins and iron. A dietitian will advise when to switch to regular formula.

If your baby was born prematurely, start weaning her between 5 and 8 months after birth, but not before three months after the due date. This is to ensure she is developmentally ready to digest solids, while at the same time balancing the need for more nutrients. As with all babies, look for signs of developmental readiness (see Is your baby ready for weaning?). Premature babies should be regularly reviewed by a registered dietitian who is qualified in children’s nutrition.

Introducing a mixed diet

When you begin to wean your baby, you’ll be introducing her to new tastes and textures. At the outset, she’ll take these in the form of a liquid purée so that it’s similar to her milk—it should be almost the same consistency as yogurt—and then progress to lumpier, thicker purées, then chopped or lightly mashed. In baby-led weaning, you’ll be introducing soft finger foods.

Variety is the order of the day. Introduce your baby to new foods (including those you may not usually have yourself!) every day or so. The greater the variety, the easier it will be to progress to a healthy, nutritious diet. Small amounts represent success in the early days, so don’t panic if she doesn’t manage a whole bowl.

The first stage is about introducing new tastes and textures and teaching the art of eating. If she doesn’t like what you are offering her today, put it aside and try see if she likes it better another day.

TOP TIPS

Before you wean your baby, it’s helpful to be aware of the top tips for successful weaning:

Make sure your baby is ready. Pushing a young, reluctant baby will make the start of weaning upsetting for you both.

Babies sometimes find the process a little clinical and become upset when mealtimes no longer involve the comfort of sucking milk. When offering your baby her very first taste or two you may find it easier to hold her on your lap, as this will help her feel loved and secure.

When babies feed from the breast or a bottle they instinctively push their tongue forward. Now your baby needs to learn to keep her tongue at the back of her mouth. If she can’t get on with a spoon, try dipping a clean finger in the purée and let her suck your finger for the first few mouthfuls.

Avoid feeding your baby when she’s tired, irritable, or very hungry.

Don’t get hung up about portion sizes. If she’s taking a little, you’ve done well.

Don’t compare your baby with others. She will develop at her own pace and it is no reflection on her intelligence or abilities.

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Weaning truths and myths

The process of weaning is surrounded by myths. We’ve got grandma telling us that babies need to be weaned at three or four months in order to sleep through the night, then reports suggesting we’re giving babies a lifetime of health problems if we do it sooner than six months. So what is the truth?

Sleeping through the night

Many babies continue to wake up at night, which can be exhausting for parents. If this is the case with your little one, once the weaning process is underway make sure you give him a nutritious evening meal that contains a carbohydrate, a protein, and a vegetable. Protein takes a long time to digest and may help keep your child satisfied for longer if he is waking up due to hunger.

Teething and weaning

The development of teeth doesn’t mean your baby is ready for solids. Some babies cut their first milk teeth around four months, which is early for weaning, while others show no signs of teething until well after six months.

Weight gain

It’s often suggested that underweight babies benefit from early weaning; however, research shows that continuing with milk feeds helps your baby reach his optimum weight because initial foods are often low on calories.

Weaning and food allergies

Expert advice on whether the early diet of infants should include food allergens has varied over the years. However, recent research suggests that early exposure to allergens is the best way to avoid food allergies in babies. U.S Health and Human Services recommends that potential allergenic foods such as eggs or peanuts can be introduced from six months of age. For those babies who don’t have parents or siblings with allergies, or early-onset eczema, start introducing allergenic foods in the same way you would with any other food. This is because delaying introduction of these foods may increase the risk of allergies to them developing. However, if there is a high risk of food allergy, get your baby allergy -tested before you introduce allergenic foods.

Avoiding wheat, meat, and dairy

Cutting out whole food groups is dangerous. Dairy is an important source of calcium, vital for teeth and bone growth and a good source of protein. While wheat is an allergy risk, most babies don’t have problems with it (see Wheat allergy and celiac disease), and it is also a great source of carbohydrates, B vitamins, and fiber. After six months, it’s a healthy addition to your baby’s diet. As for meat, there are few other such readily available sources of easily absorbed iron.

Undigested foods

Check your baby’s diaper for foods that come out whole—for example, peas and corn. This is a sign that your baby is not developmentally ready for these foods, so you need to help by chopping, mashing, or puréeing them so that the nutrients are more accessible to his body. Passing food through the digestive system is hard work and undigested foods use up energy without providing any benefit to your baby.

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Critical Nutrients

As the process of weaning usually starts at around six months, it is no longer recommended that foods are introduced singly (this advice is from a time when weaning began at four months)—and giving only fruit and vegetables won’t provide your baby with the critical nutrients she needs. At six months of age, it is essential to wean your baby onto a varied diet.

Breast or formula milk still supplies a lot of your baby’s nutritional needs, but it’s not enough for the rapid growth and brain development that occurs between now and two years of age. So what are the critical nutrients your baby needs?

Iron

Most babies are born with enough iron stored to last around six months, which is helpful as breast milk contains only a small amount of iron and the iron supplement in formula milk isn’t easily absorbed. From when your baby is four months old, her body begins to use iron stores quickly due to the start of a big growth spurt. The iron is used to fuel growth and make more hemoglobin in her blood, which carries oxygen to the brain, where it’s needed for rapid brain development, including for intelligence.

From six months to two years, babies need more iron than at any other time in their lives. Babies who don’t get enough can have sensory and cognitive impairment and it may affect their motor development. Built-in iron stores are depleted by six months—or even earlier if you were iron-deficient when pregnant or your baby had a low birth weight, so iron has to come from food. It’s therefore essential to give iron-rich foods at least twice a day from six months. The best sources are red meat and dark poultry meat. Other iron-rich foods are fortified breakfast cereals; wholegrain cereal products, such as pasta; egg yolk; grains, such as lentils; tofu; dark leafy green vegetables, such as kale; and dried fruit, such as apricots and dates. Try to pair non-meat iron-rich foods with vitamin C foods as they help iron absorption.

Iron-rich food. Lentils are a good source of iron and can easily be combined with nutritious vegetables.

Fats

Although adults may benefit from choosing lowfat foods, babies need higher-fat options for their health. If your baby likes fruit, serve it with full-fat yogurt and toss vegetables in melted butter. Around 50 percent of a baby’s energy needs to come from fats and oils for growth and development, and a lack of fat can affect cognitive development. It won’t be easy to get this much fat into your baby’s diet because she may not eat much. Therefore it’s important to choose energy-dense foods, such as whole or full-fat versions of milk, cream, yogurt, and cheese and cook with oil whenever you can. The best oils are canola and olive—high in monounsaturated fatty acids, they are good for a healthy heart.

Protein

This is the main nutrient for growth, but it can’t be used efficiently by the body unless your baby has enough energy. Protein-rich foods include fish, meat, milk, cheese, nuts, eggs, beans, soy, and pulses.

Essential fatty acids (EFAs)

EFAs can’t be made by the body so they have to come from food. The most important one for babies is docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), an omega-3 fatty acid, which is essential for brain development and the development of the retina. The richest sources are fatty fish, such as salmon, mackerel, sardines, and anchovies. A serving for a baby should be about 1 oz. It is important to choose fish that are lower in mercury. DHA can also be found in eggs from hens fed with omega-3-rich grains, and it does pass through breast milk. Babies who are vegan or vegetarian will need plant-based sources of omega-3-rich fatty acids such as