The Department of Health issued Guidelines in 1998 suggesting that infants should now be weaned from six months onwards rather than the traditional ‘four month’ milestone that many Health Visitors previously suggested.

So when is it right to begin weaning your infant? The Department of Health suggest that the following signs are a useful way in which to identify when your infant is ready to begin weaning.

1. Your infant shows interest in chewing, whether its their hands or on objects
2. Your infant is able to grab and reach things with accuracy
3. Your infant is sitting upright unaided.

The NHS ‘ Start 4 Life’ campaign recently introduced ‘The Banana Test’ which is said to be an efficient method to identify whether your infant is ready to begin weaning. According to the NHS, if your infant is able to grab a piece of banana and put it into their mouths and eat it, then they are ready to begin eating solids.

With current guidelines suggesting that we should withhold weaning until six months of age, it does seem odd that many of the infant foods on supermarket shelves suggest that they are suitable from ‘four months upwards’. According to the Government Guidelines, these foods are not following recent research and therefore the age guidelines printed on infant foods are outdated and incorrect.

Weaning before your child is ready can increase the chances of your child contracting infections and allergies. Until six months of age, your child’s digestive system is still developing.

Although parents are now warned that they should be in “No rush to mush”, it is hard when your infant who has been sleeping through for the past three or four months begins to wake in the middle of the night. The Governments current guidelines state that infants under six months who wake in the middle of the night are not hungry for solids and should be quenched with either breast milk or formula.

However, if it were completely wrong to begin weaning at four months of age, as has previously been suggested (until 1998 when the Guidelines suddenly changed) then surely the companies selling baby foods advertising from four months onwards would have a fair share of legal battles to pursue. Upon reading more into the Government Documentation upon weaning it actually states “Solids should never be introduced before four months.”

It is important that your child is ready to begin weaning when you make the decision to introduce solids but this should be BABY LED not Government led! Each child is different and each child will achieve different milestones at different times in their lives, this includes when they are ready to be introduced to solids. You, as a parent will most likely know when your little one is ready for food, as they become interested in watching you eat and start to reach out to try foods around them.

Here are some basics for what to do first when you and your baby are ready to begin weaning.

1. Ensure that the equipment you use (feeding spoons, bowls, etc) is clean. It is advisable before six months to sterilise all feeding equipment. After six months, putting items used into the dishwasher should suffice.

2. Sit your child in a high chair so that they are upright and comfortable. Many high chairs now on the market can be used from birth onwards. You may want to use your high chair before your child is four months and able to try solids, perhaps as somewhere safe to place your child for a moment or simply to allow your child to become comfortable in their eating place for the future.

3. Ensure that you have a muslin cloth/ wipes close to hand and have protected your child’s cloths with a bib, Long sleeved bibs tend to be very handy during weaning!

4. Start by offering your child one to two teaspoons of baby rice mixed with their milk (breast of formula milk) during the first week of weaning.

5. Slowly introduce new fruits and vegetables which have been cooked and processed into a mush. (pear, apple, sweet potato, and carrots are excellent foods which can easily be mashed up). These foods can be offered along with baby rice, so that your infant is offered something they are familiar with.

6. Increase the amount of food according to your babies needs. If your baby would like more then offer more! From around nine months onwards you should offer 3-4 servings of food per day as well as the milk feeds. A routine such as Breakfast and milk, snack , dinner, snack and milk , tea, supper milk will soon fall into place.

7. Let babies try finger foods as soon as they show interest. Try to offer a wide range of foods and textures.

8. Rather than plumping for what seems to be the easier option and purchasing bottled foods and tinned baby foods, TRY COOKING YOUR OWN. Not only is it fun but its more nutritious for the child and is far more satisfying watching your child eat the food you prepared by hand.

9. Try to sit down to eat as a family, start as you mean to go on.

10. Remember to encourage foods that you yourself may dislike! Just because you aren’t keen on your greens doesn’t mean that your little one should miss out.

 

Here are some NO NO’s for weaning…

• Never force weaning, One piece of advice that the Department of Health give which SHOULD be followed is “Enjoy it, Encourage it, Don’t force it”.
• Do not use refined sugar or salt in any of your infants foods.
• Do not offer your infant nuts, honey, low-fat foods (those created specifically with lower amounts of fat such as low-fat butter)

If you do decide to wean your child before six months then also avoid the following foods:

• wheat based foods such as bread, rusks etc which include gluten
• eggs
• fish
• shell fish
• nuts
• seeds
• soft unpasteurised cheeses

Upon weaning your child, you will often find that they drop their intake of milk. Before twelve months infants should have between 500-600ml (about one pint) of milk per day. Also, remember that cows milk is unsuitable until your child reaches the age of one year. When introducing cows milk, ensure that it is full fat and pasteurised.

There are many infant and child nutritionists out there who have written and produced a wide range of popular publications upon weaning. These can be very helpful in finding suitable recipes for your little one. Two of the best known child nutritional authors are currently Gina Ford and Annabel Karmel, both of which have a range of books published upon weaning and feeding infants. Although, it is wise to bare in mind that there is some debate as to whether some of the routines and weaning techniques suggested in differing books are correct. As always with parenting, it is down to the parent and the baby to decide what is best for them!

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