Baby Weaning Guide

Nicholas my second child was very fussy, he wouldn’t eat the jarred baby foods and the only books I could find had recipes for bland purees that he wouldn’t touch. Having lost my first child Natasha I really wanted to make sure that he ate well. 

I have always been passionate about food and love to cook and after Natasha died I spent two and a half years researching everything about child nutrition interviewing many experts and working closely with a consultant nutritionist at Great Ormond Street Hospital. I spent days, weeks, months in the kitchen, testing all my recipes on a panel of babies and toddlers and in 1991 published my first book The Complete Baby and Toddler Meal Planner’.

This weaning guide book has been used by millions of parents all over the world.

Weaning baby from milk to solids is an exciting time and a big step for both of you. Your baby will be entering a whole new world of taste and eating is one of the great joys of life. Babies roughly double their weight at 6 months and treble it at one year. Your baby will grow more rapidly in the first year than at any other time in his life.

Weaning Videos

Introducing solids

The steps involved in introducing your baby to solid food.

The best first foods

Very first foods should be easy to digest and unlikely to provoke an allergic reaction.

Cooking methods

Steaming or microwaving is the best way to preserve the fresh taste and vitamins in vegetables and fruits.

Good foods for baby

Starchy foods including bread, pasta, rice, cereal and potato – these provide a good source of energy.

Freezing baby food

It saves time to make up larger quantities of puree and freeze extra portions.

When can they have?

Babies should not have honey before 12 months.

Foods to avoid

You should avoid these foods when weaning baby.

How to begin?

Your baby's first taste of 'real' food is a momentous occasion.

New tastes & textures

Between seven and nine months is a rapid development period for your baby.

Introducing lumps

As teeth begin to emerge you can introduce slightly thicker purees and some mashed, grated or chopped food.

Finger Foods

Introducing finger foods will help to develop the skills of biting, chewing and self-feeding!

Drinking from a cup

Try to get your baby used to drinking from a cup from around six or seven months perhaps just giving a bottle at bedtime. 

Breakfast

You can now give wholegrain low sugar adult breakfast cereals like Weetabix or Ready Brek.

Learning to chew

By this age, your baby should have gained some teeth and graduated to a high chair.

Encouraging self feeding

As your child’s hand to eye co-ordination matures, she will find it easier to feed herself.