Starting solid food with your baby can be a really exciting time, sharing your favourite meals and tastes as a family. But how do you know when it’s time to begin weaning?
There are 3 clear signs, which, when they appear together from around 6 months of age, show your baby is ready for their first solid foods alongside breast milk or first infant formula.
They’ll be able to:
❤ stay in a sitting position and hold their head steady
❤ co-ordinate their eyes, hands and mouth so they can look at the food, pick it up and put it in their mouth by themselves
❤ swallow food (rather than spit it back out)
These other behaviours are very normal for babies and do not mean they are ready to start solid foods: chewing their fists; waking up in the night (more than usual); wanting extra milk feeds. Try increasing baby’s milk feeds if you think they are hungry before starting solid foods if the 3 signs above aren’t showing yet.
Starting solid foods will not make your baby any more likely to sleep through the night.
If you’re not sure, or you have any questions about starting solids, get in touch with your health visitor, or check out this useful resource:
https://www.unicef.org.uk/babyfriendly/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2008/02/Start4Life-Introducing-Solid-Foods-2015.pdf