When your baby should start weaning

The Start Weaning Series – When your baby should start weaning.

The Start Weaning Series – When your baby should start weaning.

Hi, I’m Katie W, Weaning Queen and founder of the Wonderful World of Weaning. I spent many years supporting families as a Health Visitor (family health nurse) and Specialist Children’s Nurse. Finally, in 2015, I was promoted to my most important role to date… becoming a Mum! Having gone through the weaning stage 3 times within 4 years, it is definitely one of my favourite stages of child development! It should be fun and exciting but for many Mums, it is a stressful time and a cause of great anxiety.

In this article, we will be exploring the WHEN to start weaning baby to solid foods.

Four months, six months, anywhere in between, maybe three months, maybe later, who knows really??? Despite the World Health Organisation advising as close to 6 months as possible many parents decide to start earlier around 4 months (up to 40% of Mums in the UK). Weaning at four months was the norm for older generations. I think we have all heard our parents or a grandparent saying ‘it won’t do any harm to wean earlier’. Or ‘baby is a hungry baby just give him/her some food’. Maybe ‘if you want the baby to sleep through the night give them some proper food’. 

The thing for me as a Health Professional, is that there is now much more evidence available around weaning, the optimum time to wean and the effects of early weaning on the body long term. From allergies to weight, bowel function to cognitive development, all aspects have been explored, researched and conclusions drawn. 

But as a parent, I completely understand why you would want to get on and start weaning from 4-months. You know it is coming. Your baby is grabbing everything in sight. You simply can’t eat in peace because every time you try you get screamed at because they want what you have. Or it keeps being suggested that baby is waking at night because they are hungry. And because you think it won’t hurt to just try it. The thing is that you won’t necessarily see the problems with weaning too early immediately. Long-term issues such as the increased risk of obesity, bowel issues and allergies may not develop until much later in childhood. So no earlier than 17 weeks please Mamas! 

Personally, I was very glad to wait.

I didn’t have the time or energy to be making a load of purees and wasn’t keen on store-bought ones, many of them hide the added sugars under alternative names such as honey, sucrose, glucose, maltose, fructose, hydrolysed starch or maize syrup. It is sugar that isn’t labelled as added sugar. (Seriously go check the labels of many shelf baby foods next time you are in the supermarket and see how many have any of these ingredients in them). So I wanted the quickest easiest path to weaning which meant we all ate the same meals. 

So……just be patient a little longer, eek it out just a week more, then another week, then just a little more….trust me, it is worth the wait!!!

Don’t be in a rush to wean, you’ll miss the early baby days when they are gone! The longer you can wait to the 6-month point, the quicker the weaning process will be because you can use a mixture of purees and finger foods, moving through the textures quicker. Your baby will be much more independent, sitting, grabbing, hand to mouth coordination. This makes it much more enjoyable than having to stick to purees for weeks and worrying about gagging, retching or choking. It also means you aren’t having to swipe around baby’s mouth so much to collect up the puree they have pushed back out because your timing was slightly out and you spooned in when their tongue was coming out!!! Far too much mess! 

Much as weaning too early (before 4 months) can cause issues, leaving weaning too late can also bring challenges.

There is a window of opportunity in which to get your baby through the process that, if you miss it, will make it much harder to wean. They will resist new flavours, tend to gag more on thicker textures and not be as inclined to embrace this new exciting stage so much. I don’t prescribe the ‘food before one is just for fun’. I have worked with many families, where the window of opportunity has been missed due to medical reasons. This meant they had difficulties trying to get their little ones to eat or even have food in their mouths. 

Food from 6 months is an important part of a baby’s diet and a huge milestone within baby’s first year. Leaving it too late can make your life even harder!  They need to start getting used to textures. They need to work different muscles that are important in speech development. Plus rolling their tongue and moving food around their mouths. In addition to the oral muscle development are the nutritional implications. From 6 months your baby needs more calories and essential nutrients that milk alone cannot provide. 

Ideally, by 9 months babies should be eating 3 meals a day with a mid-morning and mid-afternoon snack.

Then supplemented bottles or breastfeeds in between and before bed. Milk feeds will come after solid foods or the snacks are milk feeds. Offer solid foods first before milk feeds. You know how full you feel after a milkshake and then don’t want to eat right?? Same for babies if they have milk first! Save the bottle or breast as a treat after the yummy solid foods!

The weaning stage is a really important stage in a baby’s development. What happens during this time impacts their whole relationship with food and mealtimes for life. With more than 1 in 4 (27.7%) children being overweight when they reach school age, starting with a good foundation is key to long-term health and growth. 

The current advice is that 6 months is the optimal time for weaning your baby to solid foods. However, if you do decide to start earlier then make sure it is not to fix another issue such as sleeping or others saying you need to start. Do it because it is right for you and your baby and definitely not before 4 months. 

My 12-week programme has been designed to help you and your baby through the weaning process smoothly, simply and safely.

It is ideal for babies approaching their 6-month birthday. With easy steps to follow and actionable tasks every 2 weeks, you will have your baby fully weaned to solid foods within 12 weeks. Meaning you can simply enjoy mealtimes with your little one! 

Have you checked out the other posts on the Starting Weaning Series? You can check out the WHERE to start weaning one here.

Do you need more information on when to wean baby to solid foods? Then please contact me via my website www.katieworld.com. I also run a supportive community of fellow weaning Mums in my Wonderful World of Weaning Facebook group. 

Make weaning fun and exciting!