PARENTHOOD.IE

When your baby is between four and six months you will want to start weaning him and start giving solids. While he still might be bottle or breast feeding, it will probably be time to introduce a baby purée of vegetables or fruit.

Babies should not be introduced to solids if they are younger that four months, 17 weeks, as their digestive system, both stomach and kidneys, is not developed enough to cope with solids. While a baby is breast feeding or bottle feeding under the age of four months, he is getting all the nutrients he needs.

By six months you should try to introduce solids into their diet, not only do children need the extra nutrients, but also to further their oral development.

“A delay in weaning can also be associated with a delayed advancement to the healthy family diet and may be associated with toddler food refusal”, says Siobhan Julian, member of Irish Nutrition & Dietetic Institute (INDI) and Glenisk Yogurts consultant dietitian.

Starting off

Begin weaning your baby by introducing purée of solids, such as root vegetables and fruits. Do not expect miracles and pile up on patience, you should be satisfied if you get your baby to eat a teaspoon or two.

Your baby should be ready for weaning when he:

1. can sit by himself and hold his head steady
2. can hold food and put it into his mouth
3. can swallow his food, most babies will spit it out because they can't swallow
4. demands feeds more often after four months of age
5. still is hungry after his usual feed of milk
6. has started waking for an extra feed

Avoid introducing solids if your baby is very hungry, he will refuse it since both the bottle and breast will fill him faster. Try mix his first purées or baby rice with formula or breast milk. He will recognise the taste and it will make the solids more liquid.

Try making your own purées, it will take less effort than you think and will be both healthier and cheaper in the long run. A steamer, electrical or for the microwave, and a blender or mixer, will be your best friends.  

To preserve as much of the nutrients and vitamins in your baby's purées you should always try to steam the vegetables, meats or fruits. According to baby food guru Annabel Carmel, broccoli loses over 60% of it’s vitamin C when boiled but only 20% when steamed. You can then pass them through a blender or mixer to make the purée. Let the food cool and you can then freeze it in small containers. Do not add sugar or salt to your baby's food. Do not forget to keep giving the vitamin D supplements, even after weaning.

When starting off, freeze the purées into normal ice cubes. As your baby eats more, put several cubes in separate plastic bags. If you like you could later on you can either invest in larger silicone moulds or small containers, that will let you freeze larger portions.

As the weaning progresses you can thicken the purées and even leave some bigger bits in it. Remember that while your baby might refuse the purée you made, it might have more to do with the texture than taste. It will take a while for him to become accustomed to the new textures and tastes, but keep trying.

While most babies are ready to be weaned by six months, if your baby was premature you should consult your GP or health visitor if you have any doubts.

Weaning foods – do's and don'ts

Never leave your child eating alone, the risk of choking is high as he has not yet fully mastered swallowing.

If the baby purée has been heated in the microwave, make sure to stir it well as some areas of the purée could be hot while others cool.

You can introduce meat early on, just make sure it always goes through the blender. Because meet needs to cook for longer, it should be steamed separately.

Baby food is bland, don't be tempted to add either sugar or salt. Not only is a baby's taste buds unused to strong tastes, but internal organs such as kidneys are not developed enough to handle high quantities of salt and sugar will encourage a sweet tooth. For a baby a mashed up banana or other fruit is sweet enough to be a treat.

Whether a your baby is bottle feeding or breast feeding, do not cut out their milk supply when you start weaning. Instead you can replace a bottle with a feed.

Foods to avoid before six months

Gluten, foods that contain wheat, oats, rye and barley, such as pasta, bread and some cereals.
Honey,
Shellfish
Eggs
Nuts and seeds, such as peanut butter and sesame oil.
Raw berries
Salt

Foods to avoid before 12 months

Soft eggs
Salt
Cow's milk
Honey
Shellfish
Pate
Soft and unpasteurised cheeses
Whole or chopped nuts

If there is a history of allergies in your family, you might want to avoid  high allergen foods such as milk, eggs, fish, shellfish, wheat soya, peanuts, tree nuts, sesame seed, lupins, celery and mustard. These foods should be introduces one at the time, to see if there is a reaction to them.