A- Choose the time Of Weaning

1. Know the Signs

So how do you know when your baby is ready to start trying solid foods? Once they are around six months, they may start to show some of the following signs:

– Putting fingers or objects in their mouth, or sucking fists.

– Still hungry and restless after a milk feed.

– Increasing interest in solid foods, For example they might open their mouths and ‘chew’ when watching other people eating.

– Able to sit up and hold their head steady.

2. Be Prepared

You’ll probably have much of what you need at home, but there are a few extra things that will be handy as you begin the weaning your baby:

– Colorful bowl (preferably with a sucker or grip on the bottom)

– Colorful baby spoons, small enough for a little mouth

– Bibs: As well as fabric bibs, you might like a wipe-clean version with a crumb-catcher

– Cleaning cloths: For wiping baby’s mouth, and for surfaces

– Ice cube trays: For freezing individual portions of food

– A hand-blender or food processor

– Saucepans or a steamer for cooking

– A high chair for kids

3. Ready and Steady

Though weaning often starts around six months (and not before 17 weeks), each baby reaches milestones at slightly different points. By around 12 months your little one will get the majority of their nutrition from solid foods, the transition takes place over a few stages, and initially milk feeds are still an important part of their diet.

To start, choose a time when your baby is relaxed and alert. Mid-morning is often a good time, as you’ve both had time to ease into the day. Make sure you won’t be rushed. After all, taking food from a spoon is a whole new experience for your little one, so they may take time to accept it: Let them lead the pace, however slow this may be for now!

Make sure you wait two to three days before introducing a new food, and don’t be put off if they don’t accept it the first time. It can take a number of goes before your baby accepts a new food, but don’t worry. While it’s great to offer praise, and gentle encouragement; if your little one is not convinced, just leave it for a while, and try again some other time.

4. Easy Does It

Though meal times may take a little longer, weaning doesn’t have to be overly stressful or time-consuming. Here are a few tips for making weaning a stress-free adventure:

– Keep things simple by starting with single savory purees, graduating to two and three ingredient meals.

– To save time, and avoid waste, freeze portions in ice cube trays, so you don’t have to cook each meal from scratch.

– Include baby rice or oats in baby’s diet, they’re ready in no time and can help your little one to meet their nutritional needs at each stage of the weaning journey.

– Trust your baby to know when they’re full – they may start to store food in their mouth. The important thing is to allow them to choose when they’re full, and not force your baby to eat more than they want to. Don’t worry if your baby sometimes eats less than usual. It’s normal for appetite will vary from day today.

5. Enjoy the Choice

Recent research has shown that giving your baby more savory foods rather than sweet ones can help to shape their preferences for life. So though babies naturally love sweet flavors, learning to appreciate savory tastes can help train their taste buds to enjoy these foods. Why not buy vegetables for the whole family that you might not usually buy, and experience them for the first time together?

try to include a range of different colors, shapes, and textures. Your baby will love brightly colored fruit and veg, creamy cereals, squidgy pasta, and crispy rice cakes.

B- The Stages of Weaning

Stage 1 (From 6 Months)

Baby rice or oats mixed to a runny consistency with breast milk or formula. Offer just one or two spoonful to begin with and just once a day. Generally speaking, offer the baby rice or oats at the second feed of the day. Give half their normal milk feed, then one to two teaspoons of baby rice, and then finish the milk feed. Continue like this for two to three weeks before moving onto Stage 2. Remember to start the feed when you have plenty of time and are relaxed as it may take time!

Stage 2

After a few weeks it is time to start introducing new tastes and flavors, such as puréed fruit or vegetables. Puréed carrot, avocado, apple, pear or mango are good ones to start with. As you progress, you could look to combine different fruit and vegetables – for example, carrot and apple, mango and pear, carrot and avocado, and so on. Alternatively, you could try mixing the fruit with the baby oats. It is probably best not to introduce too many flavors until the baby gets used to each taste you introduce over the coming weeks. Introduce new foods in the middle of the day, along with the milk feed. Then move the baby rice or oats meal to later in the day.

Stage 3

At this stage, you can start to introduce some meat and fish to your baby’s diet. Make sure it is completely puréed and that baby is above six months of age. Meats and fish provide the baby with a great source of much-needed protein. Try mixing them in with your normal vegetable purée or make a quick casserole with meat and veg that makes a tasty purée.

Stage 4 (When Baby Is At Least 7 – 8 Months)

At this stage, you can start to introduce slightly lumpier puréed foods, but never ever leave baby unattended as they can choke in seconds. Remember do not use added sugar or salt.

Stage 5 (When Your Baby Is About 10 Months)

By this age, your baby will be much more adept at feeding themselves, but will still need help from you. Give your baby lots of finger foods to try, such as small pieces of toast, small pieces of ripe banana, well-cooked pasta or teething crackers. Be careful of feeding baby anything that is too hard, such as apple slices that they could choke on. At mealtimes, they may be able to grip a cup and drink from it independently (though some children may not do this for a few more months) and hand-feed themselves an entire meal.

C-How can your family win at weaning?

Here are some tips to get you started:

Vegetable-First Weaning

This evidence-based approach concentrates on offering your baby ‘harder to like’ foods like broccoli, spinach and cauliflower right from the off. The key to this approach is exposure, repetition and perseverance.

Always Feed Responsively

Whether baby led weaning or offering spoon feeds, it’s important to stay in touch with your baby’s fullness and hunger cues. Are they telling you they’ve had enough by turning their head away? If so, let it go. Always let your baby lead the way.

Don’t Stress About Portion Sizes

There will be days when your baby eats a lot, and days when they eat less than the guideline amounts. Some foods may be refused outright on a given day. Don’t panic, think of each meal as a learning opportunity for your baby.

Don’t offer replacement meals, simply move onto the next milk feed or meal. It’ll never be more than one or two hours away!

Offer Your Baby a Wide Variety Of family Foods

Your baby doesn’t need trendy ingredients, special baby foods or time-consuming recipes. They simply need to learn to like the foods their family eats, provided that the family diet is reasonably healthy. Just hold the salt, stocks and gravies until after their first birthday.

Give Your Baby Lots of Chances To Self-Feed

Offer suitable finger foods with every meal, provide a short-handled spoon along with drinks from an open cup. Just like walking and talking, learning how to eat takes time and practice so don’t worry if your baby doesn’t get the hang of self-feeding immediately. They have a lifetime to work it out!

D- Avoid These Foods If Your Child’s Younger than One Year

Although it’s wise to introduce different flavors to your child from a young age, avoid the following foods until he’s at least one year old:

• Salt – Your little one’s kidneys can’t handle it yet also you don’t want your kid to get used to salty flavor.
• Sugar – Instead, try sweetening your baby’s food with mashed banana, a purèe of stewed dried fruit or expressed breast milk.
• Honey – Your baby should only eat honey when he’s at least one year old. In rare cases, honey can contain a type of bacteria that can be toxic to a baby’s intestines.
• Artificial sweeteners – Diet drinks or anything else containing artificial sweeteners are not nutritious and can encourage a sweet tooth.
• Whole nuts – It can cause a choking hazard.
• Certain fish – Shark, swordfish and marlin can contain traces of mercury which can be dangerous to your baby. Rather stick to tuna or salmon.
• Tea or coffee – The tannin in tea may prevent your baby’s body from absorbing the iron in his food properly. Any caffeine is unsuitable for your baby. Rather stick to caffeine-free teas (like Rooibos).
• Low-fat foods – Full-fat versions of yoghurts and cheeses are the way to go as your baby needs the calories.
• Soft, mold-ripened cheeses, raw or undercooked shellfish and eggs or liver pate – It can carry risk of food poisoning. Be safe, and don’t give your baby these to eat.

Summery:

– Remember that as well as discovering solid food, your baby is also being introduced to meal-times, and eating at the table. After all, watching other people eat meals, is a great way for babies to learn what to do, as they love to watch and copy.

– Don’t worry if there doesn’t seem to be much eating at the start. Your baby is discovering new tastes and textures all the time, so just take it slowly, and don’t give up! The more simple vegetable flavors they taste now, the more they’ll love them later.

– Keep a steady pace, encouraging your little one to try new things, but not rushing to finish the weaning process, or cutting out milk feeds until your baby is ready. This will help to keep that little tummy happy while building the basis for an amazing relationship with food.

– Seeing others enjoying food can help your baby learn to love meal times. It’s also a great way for them to learn how to use cutlery. Sharing finger foods can be a fun way to try new things, as they see someone else enjoying it. It also teaches baby about sharing and taking turns.

– Your baby’s nutritional needs are slightly different from older children, and adults. So while it can be lovely for your little one to share family meals like a simple casserole or pasta dishes.