First Tastes
First tastes are important for developing good eating habits and exposing your infant to a wide variety of flavours. When introducing new foods, remember that the amount eaten is less important than the number of foods tried. In the beginning stages of weaning, your baby will still get most of its nutrition from breastmilk or formula.
Try to make this a positive experience for your baby by allowing them to play with, touch and taste new foods. Around an hour after a milk feed and when your baby isn’t too tired is often a good time to try food. Mixing foods with a little breast milk or formula milk can improve acceptance.
Appropriate first foods include:
- Soft, cooked vegetables:Broccoli, carrot, potato, sweet potato, butternut squash, pumpkin, peas — pureed, mashed or served as finger food
- Soft fruit:Banana, mango, blueberries, raspberries, avocado, cooked pear or apple, plums, peaches — pureed, mashed or served as finger food
- Cereals:Oatmeal, rice, quinoa, millet — cooked, mashed or pureed to a suitable texture and mixed with a small amount of breast milk or formula milk
Start with a few spoonfuls or a couple of bites once a day for about a week to gauge whether your baby wants more or less. New foods can be introduced every day or so, and you can also combine foods. For example, try mixing infant rice cereal with pear — or banana with avocado. You can also start offering sips of water in a cup to get your baby used to it.
Building up Solids
Once your baby is around 6 months old and regularly eating solid food, you can offer a wider variety in order to slowly build up to three meals daily. Make sure to offer different textures and watch for signs that your baby is full.
You can begin including:
- Meat, poultry and fish: Ensure these are soft and easy to manage. Remove any bones.
- Eggs: Make sure they’re cooked well.
- Full-fat dairy products: Plain yogurt and cheese are good options.
- Gluten-containing grains and cereals: Choices include pasta, couscous and barley.
- Pulses: Your baby might like butter beans, lentils, peas and chickpeas.
- Finger foods: Try rice cakes, breadsticks and cooked pasta, as well as soft fruits (banana, pear, mango, avocado) and soft, cooked vegetables (carrot sticks, sweet potato wedges, broccoli).
- Nuts and seeds: Ensure these are finely ground or given as a nut butter. Whole nuts should not be offered to children under 5 years old. Watch closely if there is a family history of nut allergies.
At around 7–9 months, many babies can manage three small meals each day. Try to include a source of protein, carbs and fat at each meal.
At around 9–11 months, many babies can manage family meals cut into small bites. They should also be offered harder finger foods, such as raw pepper, zucchini, apple, carrot, crackers and pita bread. By this age, most babies can manage three meals daily and possibly a dessert, such as plain yogurt and/or fruit.
At 1 year old, most babies can eat what the rest of the family eats and join family meals. At this stage, many babies can consume three small meals plus 2–3 snacks daily.
Remember that each baby is different — your baby may eat more or less depending on its own needs.
Foods to Avoid
Although it’s important that your baby eats a wide variety of foods, there are some foods that should be avoided, including:
- Honey: Never give honey to infants under the age of 12 months due to the risk of botulism, a serious form of food poisoning.
- Undercooked eggs: These may contain Salmonella bacteria, which can make your baby ill.
- Unpasteurized dairy products: Pasteurization kills bacteria in dairy products that may cause infection.
- Sugary, salty or highly processed foods or drinks: These usually supply very few nutrients. Sugar can damage teeth, and babies’ kidneys cannot cope with too much salt. Avoid adding salt to family meals.
- Whole nuts:Do not give to babies and children under 5 years due to choking risk. Consult your pediatrician before introducing nut products if there’s a family history of nut allergies or if your child has other allergies.
- Low-fat products: Babies need proportionately more fat in their diet than adults.
- Cows’ milk: You can add cows’ milk in small amounts to foods. However, it should never be used as a main drink or given in large amounts as it does not provide enough iron or nutrients for your baby.
Tips for Successful Weaning
Certain practices can ease the weaning process. Here are a few tips:
- Babies naturally prefer sweeter tastes. Therefore, try to offer vegetables prior to fruit to limit the chances that your baby will reject vegetables.
- Offer plenty of variety. Try to avoid giving the same foods repeatedly. If your baby doesn’t like certain foods, keep introducing it and try mixing that food with a well-liked food until your child becomes familiar.
- Do not force your baby to eat more than they want to, as they usually stop when they have had enough.
- Make mealtimes relaxed and allow your baby to make a mess. This encourages babies to experiment more with food and create a positive association with eating.
- Plan ahead by freezing batches of food in ice cube trays or small containers if you don’t want to cook every day.
- Try to include your baby in family meals. Babies are more likely to eat foods that they see others around them eating.
Potential Dangers of weaning
Although weaning should be fun and engaging, there are a few risks to be aware of.
Food Allergies
Although a varied diet is important, there’s a chance that your baby may be allergic to certain foods. The risk is much higher if there is a family history of food allergies or if your child has eczema Despite popular belief, there is no evidence that delaying the introduction of certain foods after 6 months of age will prevent allergies studies found that introducing a variety of foods earlier than 6 months.
If you have any concerns about food allergies, be sure to talk to your pediatrician.
Choking
Choking can be a significant concern when starting a baby on solid food. However, it’s important to know that gagging is a completely normal part of learning to eat. It acts as a safety reflex to prevent babies from choking. Signs of gagging include opening the mouth and thrusting the tongue forward, spluttering and/or coughing. Your baby may appear red in the face. It is important not to panic or get very anxious when a baby gags.
However, choking is much more serious. It occurs when food blocks the airways, meaning that your baby cannot breathe properly. Signs include turning blue, silence and inability to make noise. Your baby may also start coughing or — in severe cases — lose consciousness.
Here are some helpful tips to reduce the risk of choking:
- Sit your baby upright while eating.
- Never leave your baby unattended while eating.
- Avoid high-risk foods, such as whole nuts, grapes, popcorn, blueberries and meat and fish that could contain bones.
- Don’t give too much food at once or force-feed your baby.
Check out some of our favourite ‘first-food’ recipes!