Weaning: The Ultimate List of Must-Haves, Dos & Don’ts

by Bellus Family Helping New Parents Be Better Parents

Weaning is that exciting phase when you give a variety of food for your little one to feed on after a boring phase of consuming breast milk/ formula all three meal timings a day. Sometimes more! Weaning is hence when sources of nourishment are introduced to a baby other than milk. Since a baby is born, the only source of food the baby is dependent on is milk, be it breast milk or formula. Though milk provides the baby with all the nutrition needed, it is believed that by six months a baby is ready for weaning. Although this process sounds easy, it takes a lot of patience to get through it.

We are hence here to help you with your baby’s weaning journey by providing some basic guidance.

How do you know if your little one is ready to start on this journey of Weaning?

This question runs in every parent’s mind when their babies are close to 6 months, totally relatable! So how exactly do we know if the baby is ready to wean? There are a few things to observe before you start weaning:

Firstly, babies must be at least six months old to start on solids.
The Baby must also be able to sit with their heads steady.
The baby must further be able to swallow food. Since they have been feeding on milk for a long time prior to this weaning period, it is important to make sure they are ready and able to swallow food to start on solids.
Hand-eye coordination is also an important aspect to check on before starting with weaning for the baby. You can check this by handing a spoon over to the baby and observing if he/she is looking at the spoon, focusing on it while bringing the spoon close to his/her mouth. If so, the baby is so ready to start with weaning!
The final thing on this checklist is tongue-thrust reflex. If the baby hasn’t lost their tongue-thrust reflex, it only means, they are going to spit the food out instead of swallow it. Hence, if they have lost the tongue-thrust reflex, by all means they are ready for weaning.
Two-Types of Weaning: Baby-led vs Spoon-Fed Weaning:
Baby-Led Weaning:
Baby-led weaning also known as BLW is a weaning method that allows babies to feed themselves by introducing them to solids. This way babies get to explore the food they eat by taste, colour, aroma and also develop fine motor skills by working with their hands. Baby-led weaning takes a lot of patience, no sugarcoating.
Many research has shown that baby-led weaning helps the baby develop a number of worthy skills such as hand-eye coordination, good dexterity, the habit of eating properly by chewing well, and stopping when they feel full, all on their own.
Spoon-fed Weaning:
Unlike baby-led weaning where you let babies to start eating on their own, spoon-fed weaning also known as SFW is where weaning is done by spoon feeding. In spoon-fed weaning, cooked vegetables or fresh fruits are mashed or pureed to make feeding easier using a spoon. This way you are in control and know exactly how much baby eats. With spoon-fed weaning, the baby can be fed much faster than when letting them to eat on their own. Further, in spoon-fed weaning, a lot of time needs to be put into preparing the baby food.
See also Breastfeeding Breastmilk Made Simple: What You Need to Know
Weaning essentials checklist:
To start with weaning for the baby, there are certain essentials that you need to make it easier for both, baby and yourself.
The essentials checklist includes:
High chair
Bibs
Suction plates and bowls
Spoons
Sippy cups
Blender
Sieve
- Baby – led weaning must haves:
To get your baby introduced to baby-led weaning there are some basic steps to follow. With a few baby-led weaning must haves you can get started with weaning your baby. Some of the most important things for a baby-led weaning must haves include:
A high chair for baby – led weaning makes it easier to have the baby in one place without running about or getting distracted. When the baby is less distracted, the baby is more likely to concentrate on the food placed in front so it is easier for them to feed on. A high chair is also easy to clean post feeding. As the spills are in one place, it saves time in cleaning the mess and that is exactly why it comes under the baby must-haves.
Bibs for babies are another must-haves because bibs are very useful when it comes to cleaning the mess made by the baby while eating. Particularly on their own little cute clothes. There are different types of bibs nowadays but the one that is most preferred by parents when introducing baby to solids are bibs with pockets, also called as pocket bibs. Using pocket bibs makes the most difficult task as a parent, cleaning, much more easier as it catches food spills, crumbs and even liquids.
Suction plates – when baby is in charge of the whole chaotic feeding themselves journey, there will be moments where the baby throws the food or even pushes down the plate or bowl placed in front of them. Hence, to prevent this from happening, suction plates or bowls can be used. With a suction plate, the baby will not be able to move or push the plate away as it will be firmly placed in one place.
Sippy cups are another one of the most important must haves as babies are starting to eat on their own. With a Sippy cup, it is easy for the baby to drink water as they need it. This helps them to learn how to hold the cup by themselves and mostly even if they drop these, it will be perfectly fine as they aren’t made of glass.
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What foods are best to start with baby-led weaning?
As babies are introduced to explore and eat on their own through baby-led weaning it is important to give them foods which are easy to hold and eat. These are also called as finger foods. Parents need to keep in mind that the foods must be soft and easy to eat.
Here is a list of certain foods you can use as baby’s first foods:
1. Tomato Slices: These aren’t only incredibly easy to use as baby food but are fun too for the babies to happily enjoy! All you need to do is cut a slice of tomato and keep it on a plate in front of the baby. He/She will enjoy sucking the juice out it. You on the other hand, as parents, will have one less worry because after all, tomato slices are healthy!
2. Toast: All you got to do with toast is to cut them into slices and give your baby a variety of tastes with the toast such as jam, peanut butter, homemade healthy hummus and so on.
3. Banana: The softness and taste of the banana is everything including the already health-benefits in it for the baby. You can give this to the junior in however form you want to. slice it into pieces after peeling off the skin or simply cut it into two halves along with the skin and just open the top part of it and give them to bite on it. Eitherway, bananas are fun as well as healthy!
4. Brocolli: The top tree portion on the brocolli is sure to keep the baby distracted. This is also the part the baby will munch on happily when given. The parents can either steam the brocolli or roast it until their soft. You will know the brocolli is soft and ready to be served when you can squish it in-between two of your fingers.
5. Sweet Potato: These are yummy! You can simply cut them into small finger-sized potions and either bake or fry them and serve to your little one. We are sure they’ll go crazy over these mini goodnesses while savoring on them!
6. Avacado: The texture and highly healthy nutritious value in avocado makes it one of the must-haves under the list of baby first foods.
- Spoon-fed weaning must haves:
A few of the things you need for spoon-fed weaning includes:
Baby spoons – Since most of the foods are mashed or pureed for spoon-feeding, it is easier to feed using spoons. So good quality spoons are a must-have. Parents also need to make sure the spoons are soft and don’t hurt the baby while feeding in any means=.
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A blender – for spoon-feeding, a blender is definitely another one of the must-haves! Now, why is a blender necessary? As you have to mash or puree the food, blender makes it easier to get that task done. With a blender, these food can be well pureed as a result of which the baby can consume it easily.
Sieve – Even when you blend the food for the baby, using a sieve will help take away the lumps that remain. Sieve is a must-have because using a clean sieve guarantees that the food for weaning is properly mashed and the baby can be fed without any worry by the parents.
What foods are best to start with spoon-fed weaning?
To start baby on spoon-fed weaning it is better to start with soft pureed foods. Foods that are perfectly mashed and or pureed are easy to eat. Here is a list of foods you can try when you begin to spoon-feed your little one:
- Mashed fruits like avocados and bananas
- Pureed fruits like mango and papaya
- Cooked and mashed vegetables like carrot, yam and sweet potato
- Baby rice or baby cereals mixed with the baby’s usual milk
- Blended meat, fish or chicken. The parents do need to make sure that these are cooked thoroughly and not half-cooked as it can be quite contagious to the baby’s health.
- Well-mashed lentils, split-peas, chickpeas, or other pulses.
- Wholemilk yoghurt, fromage frais or custard.
The Dos and Don’ts of Weaning to the Baby summarized:
The Dos:
- Create a peaceful eating environment free from distractions and noises.
- While on baby-led weaning mode, let your baby pick the food and do the eating without your supervision.
- Offer large pieces of food that your baby can easily hold, pick up and eat.
- Let the baby get as messy as he/she wants to while self-feeding.
- Offer small potions of different foods for the baby to choose from.
- Validate baby’s emotions. If he/she is full or doesn’t want to eat, let them be.
The Don’ts:
- Do not put finger-food in your baby’s mouth. Let them eat on their own. NEVER help! There is a reason why it’s called baby-led weaning.
- Do not pressurize your baby to eat. Let him/her eat in their own phase. No baby is going to remain for long with hunger unless she/he is sleepy and cranky.
- Never put your finger(s) inside your baby’s mouth to get any food out. Coach your baby to spit out any food that he/she is unable to chew or swallow by pushing them out using their tongue.
- Do not ever use any form of distractions for the baby to eat like phones, TV, music, reading etc. During meal timings, keep it all about the food. This also teaches baby discipline while eating.