WEANING FAQ
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What is weaning?
Gradual switching from milk to regular foods.
When does weaning happen?
Introducing foods at 6 months of age in addition to breastmilk or formula is the current recommendation.
Signs for readiness include but are not limited to: Can sit up and has good control of their head and neck, doesn’t push food out with tongue right away and most importantly, shows an interest in food.
How do you wean?
Purees: Blend easy-to-digest foods and feed with a spoon.
Baby-Led Weaning: Cutting soft foods into large, manageable shapes for baby to eat with hands.
With my daughter, I chose to go with the latter as it promotes hand & eye coordination, lets baby experience different textures and allows full control over their intake. Also, I didn’t want to be sitting in front of a high chair for an hour with a spoon.
My second-born got the best of both worlds as he would only play with food but eat it from a spoon.
Basically any foods that are easily mashed are good candidates. Be sure to offer all components of a healthy meal- grains, fats, protein, fruits and vegetables.
Carrots are incredibly delicious baked. Avocados were a family favourite as well. This is also the only time I’ve successfully gotten my children to eat plain yogurt regularly.
Offering a wide variety is greatly encouraged to let your baby become curious and indiscriminate eaters. They say it may take up to 10 attempts to get a little one to try something new.
Won’t my baby choke if I don’t give small spoonfuls of puree?
This is the one reason I hope won’t scare you off from doing the baby-led weaning method. Because this is the reason both sets of grandparents gave us a lot of silent grief for.
Weaning is when babies learn how to eat for the first time. Having had a solely liquid diet, they are unused to having foods with a thicker consistency passing through their throats.
When starting out at 6 months, their extrusion reflex (most commonly known as tongue-thrust reflex where they reject and push away with their tongue; a survival response to foreign objects that may get in the mouth and lead to choking) may still be very sensitive.
They may eagerly put things in their mouth, but you won’t find they’re gulping things down until they’re choking. It’s also why you ensure all foods are soft enough for them to basically liquefy in their mouth.
Gagging will happen because they are learning to swallow. If this comparison makes you feel better, babies can gag on purees as well. Ha!
There is an important distinction between gagging and choking. If they tried to swallow too fast, they will make lots of sounds with an annoyed air as they try to get rid of the discomfort. Their eyes may tear and face turn red from the effort. Here’s when not to panic and in turn make them panic- where it could lead to a choking incident.
(Insert grandparents’ shocked judgement here, mute with the need to maintain respect for our parenting methods.)
Choking is when the airway becomes blocked. You can’t mistake this as your instinct will force you to come to their aid at their silent coughs of distress.
Do yourself a favour and learn infant CPR. You’ll feel much more confident as a caregiver.
Because you’re always supervising when they’re eating, if you see they’re choking, you basically hold the baby face down, with the head at a lower level than their bodies and thump them forcefully in the back 5 times (CPR is only for when they go unconscious).
Don’t try to fish whatever it is from their mouth as it may force it farther down the airway- it should come flying out or else they will return to eating it as if nothing happened. Then you have to act like it’s all normal while your heart beats a thousand times a minute. There are cheap thrills to be had staying with a baby at home!
How messy will it get?
This will depend on the child. My daughter was a very curious but neat eater. She tried everything, carefully picking it up and putting it back down on her high chair tray if she didn’t like it.
My son, on the other hand, has to do everything loudly and exuberantly. From the beginning he was getting it everywhere- hair, clothes, every nook in the high chair. Then he discovered the joys of dropping things on the floor. I can only try to be grateful he didn’t realize he can throw it around.
Anything other important stuff I need to know?
Foods to avoid in the first year:
Nuts, seeds, grapes- anything that won’t break down with ease, unless you grind or crush them beforehand.
No sugar or salt. Use herbs and spices to flavour.
Keep an eye out for food allergies (rash, swelling of tongue/lip/face, vomiting/ diarrhea, coughing/wheezing, difficulty breathing)
Introduce allergenic foods like peanuts, cow’s milk, eggs, shellfish and wheat slowly and one at a time to link the food to the reaction.
Allow them time to investigate and satisfy their curiosity!
Expect extra clean up.
Expose them to different kinds of foods.
Eat as a family- you will eventually, so why not start it that way? Don’t pressure or nag them to eat more or less or to eat a certain way. Remember it’s a huge new skill they’re learning.