Weaning, what does that word even mean? Pre-babies I wouldn’t have had a clue what it meant but it is in fact the introduction of solid foods to your baby, a fun milestone to get to!
It is a minefield trying to know how and where to start with weaning but it doesn’t need to be complicated. I remember when I started with my first born, I was actually quite nervous. What foods do I start with? What equipment do I need? Is my baby ready? But it’s also an exciting and fun time for them, as they try new textures and tastes!
Firstly you need to check your baby is ready for solid foods, can they sit up on their own and hold their head steady? Guidance is normally around 6 months old that you can start but every baby is different.
Secondly, we found the following items useful: blender, steamer, suction bowl, spoon, bib, mat for the floor that can be easily wiped clean, baby wipes, ice cube tray with lid.
Our lovely marble weaning set was and still is very useful!
Here’s how we started and we hope you find useful…
- Choose the right time of day for your baby, when they are awake and alert. And when you have time and are not too rushed.
- Pick the right foods, we started on vegetables first then fruit. Babies have a preference for sweet foods so it’s best to introduce vegetables first. One at a time. A lot of our friends tried the 100 first foods.
- Offer puréed food with a bowl and spoon. You can also offer as finger food as long as it’s super soft (this is called baby led weaning BLW). We offered both when we started weaning - our first preferred spoon fed and our second preferred baby led! There’s no right or wrong way.
- You can batch cook some vegetables and fruit and freeze them (as you can use them later when you start mixing your fruit and veg together).
- Tip: we bought veggies and fruit on our weekly food shop, steamed some for baby and had the rest ourselves in our dinners that week. Otherwise you’ll end up having to freeze lots of ice cubes of the same fruit/veg and may run out of space in your freezer! Also another tip is to give a few days of cooking before starting to wean, to give you a head start and less stress of figuring out what to cook and feed baby that day!
Once baby has got to grips with one meal a day then you can increase it to two meals a day. Baby will still need their usual milk and the food doesn’t replace it yet.
Don’t worry if your baby is not enjoying it/taking a while to get used to weaning and food. Both our boys took a few weeks to start enjoying, remember it’s such a new experience for them and at this stage it’s more about exploring these different tastes and textures and grasping their food/bowl/spoon. Happy weaning!