Tips for Baby Weaning

The team from Gentle Touch has kindly written this guest post with 5 great tips for baby weaning.

Weaning your baby is an exciting milestone, but can feel stressful for many parents. If you’re thinking about starting solid foods with your little one read our top tips for getting started. 

Before you start, think about your baby, your personality, and choose an approach that suits both. 

Read up on baby led weaning and traditional approaches (using mashed or pureed food) and then select a way of weaning that makes you feel comfortable. 

If you don’t want to prepare loads of purees you don’t have to, you can just start your baby straight on finger foods. If you know you’ll be anxious watching your baby learning to chew, start on soft mashed food first. 

The best method is one that helps you feel confident.  Here are some tips and points to consider if you’re thinking about weaning soon.

 

• Weaning is more than nutrition, and nutrition is long term!

 

Think about weaning as an introduction to eating, not just ensuring your baby gets additional nutrients. Mealtimes are about social interaction, as well as nourishing our body. Your baby will have a huge sensory learning experience of sight, smell, taste, texture and feeling food, as well as learning to chew. 

If you’re worried about their diet, or looking at nutrition don’t worry about what your children eat on one day. I advise parents to look at nutrition over a week with small children, so don’t think about one day’s food, consider what they have eaten over the week.

 

• Don’t worry if your baby doesn’t take to food straight away

 

Learning to eat solid food can take time, it might be a few months before your baby is ready to eat a whole meal. Try not to compare your baby to others, they all go at their own pace, it’s not a competition or race. It’s normal to take a few months to get the hang of eating. 

Keep on giving milk feeds on demand for the first year, this is still an important part of their diet. 

 

• Sit down to eat with your baby 

 

Babies are very good at copying us, and if you’re role modelling eating vegetables, and a wide range of foods, they are more likely to eat the same. Show them how we eat, by sitting at the table for every meal and eating together. Make conversation, make meal times enjoyable. 

A shared experience of mealtimes is much more important than getting the nutrients in.

 

• Offer food in between milk feeds

 

Allow time for your baby to drink all the milk they want, and offer food as an activity instead of a meal at the beginning. You won’t be reducing milk feeds for a while, and weaning food is an addition to their diet, so you don’t want your baby to be too full from milk to enjoy their solid food.   

 

• Water isn’t important at the start

 

Many of the mums in our classes worry about when to start giving an additional drink. Water can be given as a complimentary drink as soon as your baby is eating solids, but it isn’t really necessary as long as you’re feeding on demand with milk. 

Milk will still be their main source of liquid until 12 months, but feel free to try a bit of water either just after mealtimes to wash out the mouth, or small sips in between meals on a hot day. 

Finally, enjoy this period of experimentation with food, it’s fun (and certainly messy) but if you’re looking for more support check out our online baby weaning classes.  

 

The Gentle Touch supports mums with holistic sleep coaching, family nutrition advice and parenting support. Anna Mapson is a registered Nutritional Therapist and has supported over 500 families with baby weaning in private weaning consultations and Baby Weaning Classes online and in Bristol. Follow them on Facebook or Instagram 

 

 

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