Baby Weaning Guide
What is Weaning?
Weaning means introducing food other than milk into your baby's diet. It is a gradual process and involves slowly giving your baby solid foods. This is necessary because a baby eventually needs more than milk in his diet to continue to grow and develop. Moving on to solid food will not only provide your baby with more nutrients, but will also help develop the muscles necessary for chewing and eventually speech.
Throughout the leaflet we've often referred to your healthcare professional for further baby weaning advice. Although this is most likely to be your health visitor or GP, you can also talk to a midwife, maternity support worker, breastfeeding counsellor or a nursery nurse for advice about weaning. For ease, throughout this leaflet we have referred to baby as he – this applies to both boys and girls.
How do I know whether or not my baby is ready to be weaned?
Each baby is different, so what may be right for one baby won't necessarily suit another.
Signs that your baby is ready to start weaning include:
At what age should you wean your baby?
Current recommendations from health experts are to breast or bottle feed exclusively until your baby is six months old to ensure his digestive system is equipped to deal with solid food. Until then your baby gets all the nutrients he needs from milk. However, as he gets older milk alone cannot satisfy his nutritional needs. If you think your baby is ready to start weaning before 6 months, get the advice of your health visitor first.
Weaning is a gradual process
Go at your baby's own pace, as some take to it quicker than others. Breast or formula milk will still be the main part of your baby's diet, with a daily requirement of at least 5-6 breastfeeds or 500-600mls of formula. Where possible try to prepare your own weaning foods from fresh ingredients. It's easy and more nutritious. Visit our baby food recipes page for some fantastic ideas.
Just Add Water - A Parent's Guide to First Cups
Weaning is not just about your baby moving on to solid foods. It's about learning to drink from a cup too. The ideal time to start introducing a first cup is about 6 months.
Learning to drink from a cup is a gradual process and can be quite messy at times. Although it may be difficult and take some perseverance, you should aim to have your baby off the bottle by his first birthday. Using a cup is much better for his teeth.
When choosing a first cup, remember that:
The free-flowing tommee tippee® First Cup, with its big handles, bright colours and smooth, rounded spout, is the ideal way to tempt your baby to make the transition from breast or bottle.
Young babies don't know the difference between sweetened and unsweetened drinks. Don't give your baby a 'sweet tooth' by offering sweetened versions. Water is the best drink you can give to your baby.
If you must give your baby fruit juice, it is recommended that you do this at mealtimes only and especially not before bed time or during the night. Use real fruit juice and dilute 1 part juice, to 10 parts water. Our First Cup is marked with a juice line so you know how much juice and water to add.
All of these are different names for sugar which can decay your baby's teeth:
Try not to worry about mess and spills. Water can be mopped up and it's rewarding when your child can eventually drink from a grown-up cup.
Healthy Oral Development
Baby Weaning - Tools of the Trade
A spoon is a spoon, you might think. But when it comes to weaning your baby the right spoon is very important
tommee tippee® weaning spoons have all these things – and more. Only tommee tippee® brings you explora® Heat Sensing spoons which change colour from red to yellow to warn when food is too hot to give your baby. They are ideal when you're using a microwave to heat up food because they will tell you at a glance when it's safe to feed the baby – and when it's not.
To make the most of baby's mealtimes, as well as making mealtimes easier for you, we've developed a range of colourful, clever and practical products, designed to offer a complete solution to the chaos that can be weaning.
Our explora® Bowls come with our handy easy grip handles and come in three fantastic colours. The bowls have been designed with our spoons so the angle of the bowl is the same as the angle of the edge of the spoon.
Our Magic Mat is the perfect answer when it comes to preventing spills, as it holds our bowls and plates firmly in place, avoiding any little disasters that may occur.
All our products are made from hardwearing materials that can be put in the dishwasher, freezer or microwave. None of our products contain PVC and are all BPA free, so you can have complete confidence that your baby's wellbeing is looked after. For less stress and mess at mealtimes, the tommee tippee® tableware range has been created with both mum and baby in mind, and has those little extra touches that help make feeding an enjoyable experience.
* The Department of Health recommends that you wait until your baby is 6 months old before you start weaning. However, all babies are different, and some babies are ready to start before then. If your health visitor or GP advises it, you can start to introduce solids from 17 weeks.
How to start weaning your baby: take it step by step
Stage One - Getting started
What if my baby shows no interest in solid food?
Foods to avoid
Some examples of first foods to feed your baby
Stage Two - More new tastes and lumpy food Stage two
Some new foods to try at this stage are:
Stage Three - Independence
Between 9 and 12 months, your baby can start to eat the same food as the rest of the family, either mashed or sieved. Remember not to add any salt, sugar or honey. He will still need his milk (either breast milk or formula) - up to 600mls a day.
Your baby will be getting used to holding a spoon and learning to feed himself. He will also start to pick up pieces of food and put them in his mouth – it can be an exciting, and messy, time.
Once your baby has mastered the art of chewing food, you can start to introduce finger foods and encourage them to start feeding themselves. It can be a very messy stage but this is how babies learn. Aim to have three good healthy meals a day at this stage and remember that although your child is becoming more independent you should never leave him alone while he is eating.
Baby Weaning - Safety, Hygiene and Storing Food
For further advice on weaning your baby, speak to your healthcare professional or any of the following associations:Food Standards Agency