At approximately four to six months old your baby will be ready to start weaning. This means that instead of feeding baby formula via a baby bottle you will now be giving your child their first tastes of solid food from a spoon.  This is the first stage of weaning.  A baby starts with bottled formula or breast milk but as they get older and their needs change you need to introduce solid food, usually in the form of pureed fruit and vegetables, baby rice or jars of commercial baby food.  

No baby under four months old should be given solid food and it is recommended that if you are breastfeeding only that your child will not need solid food until they are six months old, although this varies and also depends on how hungry your baby is.  

How to tell that your baby is ready for solid food

If your baby is consuming more than the recommended amount of baby milk for his or her age they may be ready to start weaning.  This can happen when your baby is drinking full bottles of food regularly but has started to want to be feed more often, in other words the intervals between feeds start to shorten, this is a good sign that your baby is hungrier and ready for solid food.

Another way to tell is by your baby’s actions, many babies start to develop a keen interest in food when they are ready to start eating solid food.  They will watch what others are eating, looking from the plate to the mouth, they may even open and close their mouths as if they are also eating or reach for food.

When you are first starting to wean you will need a baby feeding bowl and spoon that you keep only for your baby’s use. These should also be sterilized just as you would with your baby’s bottles or other equipment.

You can prepare your own baby food easily and store it; simply by freezing portions in individual trays, an ice cube tray is ideal.

You should not add any extra flavorings to your baby’s food; you do not need to add salt, sugar or any other flavor.

Feeding baby - Five to Six months

Baby Rice - From five or six months old your baby can be given baby rice, in small amounts. It should have a thicker consistency than your baby’s regular milk but should not be too thick.

Pureed fruit – your baby can now start sampling pureed fruit, mashed banana or stewed and liquidized apple or pear.

Pureed vegetables – your baby is also allowed at this stage to eat any of the following vegetables as long as they are boiled and liquidized. Carrots, potatoes and cauliflower.  

Pre made baby foods – for variety you may also decide to buy jars or packets of food for feeding your baby, these packet foods will have a recommended age group on the packaging.

Feeding Baby - Six to Eight Months – At this age you can start to introduce many other types of food into your baby’s diet.  

Mixed cereals – barley, wheat, oats and rye are all okay at this stage

Bread – Once your baby has grasped feeding and you are confident that they are able you can start to introduce finger foods like bread or toast and baby rusks.

Vegetables – your baby can now start sampling stronger flavored vegetables like, turnip, sprouts and cabbage.

Fruit – at six to eight months your baby can start to eat more varieties of fruit although these should still be mashed.

Eggs – Provided your baby has no egg allergy you can give small portions of scrambled egg mixed in with other foods.

Yoghurt – You can now start feeding baby yoghurts with pureed fruit to your baby.

Cheese – Mild grated cheese can also be introduced at this stage.

Meat – Finely chopped or minced meat is also fine for your baby now; ensure that the pieces of meat are very small to avoid choking.

Fish – Steamed or baked white fish such as cod or whiting can now be added to your baby’s diet.

When feeding baby food that you have purchased, such as jars of baby meals etc you should follow the guidelines on the packet, however there are some common rules you should abide by, you should not feed your baby out of the jar if you intend to keep some of the jar for later use.  Any unused food leftover in the jar should be stored in a refrigerator immediately after use and should not be used after the date/instructions specified on the label.  

Weaning can be an enjoyable learning experience for both parents and babies and to help your child develop a healthy appetite you should offer a variety of different foods from an early age.  Remember that the food that your baby’s does not seem to like today could be their favorite food later on, do not avoid any type of food just because your baby turned that food down once, a baby may need to taste different types of food several times before they develop a taste for one kind over another.