DadTalk

Welcome to the World of Weaning

One of the milestones in a baby's development is when it's ready to move on to solid food. Beware dads, because this stage is a bit of a shocker

For one, if baby’s been exclusively breast fed, there’s no longer any excuse to duck out of the feeding responsibilities. Secondly, if you thought milk sick was smelly and messy, it’s nothing compared with the destruction that mushed up baby food can create. And thirdly, be prepared for that slimy mustard-colour substance in their nappies to magically transform into proper mini poos.

Currently, the Department of Health advises leaving weaning until the baby is six months old, whatever the weight, as at this age babies can sit up, control their heads and move food around their mouths. Their digestive and immune systems are also stronger, minimising the risk of food allergies. If you want to introduce solid food before six months, or if your baby was premature, talk to your GP or health visitor first, but never provide solid foods before the age of four months/17 weeks.

Weaning should always be a gradual process with breast or formula milk continuing to provide the bulk of the baby’s diet (500 to 600ml a day) and only a tiny portion of solid food offered at first.

There are no hard or fast rules about the best time to introduce their first solids - so try either just before or after one of their usual milk feeds or in the middle. Offer the first food on the tip of a rubber-tipped or plastic spoon.

Start with a teaspoon of any of the following mixed to a sloppy consistency with expressed breast milk or formula, and gradually build up to a few spoonfuls, but only for one feed a day:

• Baby rice - a special dry, flaky mix - or other non wheat-based cereal.

• Mashed-up vegetables, either singly or mixed together, such as potato, sweet potato, carrots, parsnip or squash. Cook these in bulk and freeze in ice cube trays.

• Fruit puree of cooked apple, pear or mango, and mashed banana.

From about seven months, gradually increase the amount of food you give and build it up to two and then three meals a day, but still providing 500 to 600ml breast or formula milk. Keep the consistency of the food nice and sloppy by using a hand blender or masher and continue to offer plenty of breast milk or formula as well. Try introducing these foods next:

• Smooth fruit yogurts or fromage frais (also quick and easy for you)

• Cereals (just once a day) and do check the salt and sugar content

• Grated cheese or cheese sauce

• Boneless fish andpureed meat, starting with chicken or turkey, mixed with vegetables

• Pureed lentils and hummus

• All fruits and vegetables

At about 7 to 9 months, as solid food becomes a large part of your baby’s diet, introduce them to the concept of biting by offering finger foods that they can pick up and crunch, but avoid salty or sugary snacks. Choose the softer alternatives if they haven’t got teeth yet!

Small pieces of toast, breadsticks, pita bread, rice cakes, breakfast cereal, cooked pasta, cubes of cheese, blueberries, peeled grapes, carrot sticks and slices of banana and peeled apple are all good ‘finger foods’ to experiment with at this stage.

Their main meals can now be served at a thicker consistency and with a lumpier texture. Either chop them finely or blend them for a shorter time, and add peas or sweetcorn kernels whole. Starchy foods such as potatoes, rice, pasta or bread can be served at every meal. High protein foods such as meat, boneless fish, well-cooked egg, tofu or pulses should be served at least once a day. Vegetables and fruit, cooked or raw, should accompany two or three meals.

Simple, nutritious recipes include:

• Potato, carrot and broccoli mixed with grated cheese

• Tuna flakes, rice and tomato sauce

• Lentils, carrot and sweet potato

• Chicken, swede, apple and couscous

• Pasta shapes, butternut squash and tomato sauce

And before you know it, you’ll reach that Holy Grail where they’re finally ready for adult food.

But that needs to be healthy adult food, and if your family tends to consume an abundance of salty, sugary, processed foods, this is the perfect time to clean up the whole household’s diet. Try shepherd’s pie, spaghetti bolognaise, steamed fish and vegetables, pasta with a sauce, a roast dinner or meat pie, or experiment with any number of nutritious recipes combining vegetables, fish, cheese, meat, lentils or beans and a simple sauce. Do be careful with packet or bottled sauces, however, as they are often loaded with salt and/or sugar, so where possible, make your own.

For snacks, experiment with all the different fruits and berries available at the supermarket, and nutritional salad crops. Give cooled boiled water to drink or diluted fresh fruit juice (one part juice to 10 parts water) can be offered with meals.

All this chopping, cooking, mixing and pureeing may seem like a complete waste of time and stress when a huge range of bottled, ready-prepared baby foods are now available.

However, these are incredibly expensive compared with home-cooked versions and vitamins are lost in the sterilising process. Plus they have a different taste and texture from home-made dishes, so it will be harder to move babies onto your family meals if they’ve been raised exclusively on commercial baby foods. Keep some in stock for those mad moments where you’re running late, baby’s screaming and you’ve forgotten to defrost your ice cube purees, or for days or meals out; and offer them on occasions so that your baby gets accustomed to the different taste and feel. The last thing you need is outright food rejection as you’re trying to negotiate spooning chicken surprise into your screaming, ravenous baby’s mouth on your lap in the car after you’ve just completed the weekly shop.

• Salt - salty crisps and snacks, gravy mixes (unless specifically designed for babies)

• Sugar - sweet biscuits, cakes, chocolate, high-sugar cereals and puddings, which will encourage a sweet tooth and fill them up without providing the right nutrients

• Raw or lightly cooked eggs - which can carry the risk of salmonella infection

• Unpasteurised cheese - before 12 months, which carries the risk of listeria infection

• Shellfish - before the age of two, to avoid food poisoning and allergy

• Nuts - before the age of five, to avoid choking and allergy

• Honey - before 12 months, as it can carry a bacteria causing infant botulism

• Cow’s, sheep or goat’s milk as a main drink before 12 months

• Low-fat foods - babies are growing fast so need lots of calories.

• Get involved early on: Feeding newborns is often viewed as Mum’s prerogative, and if breast feeding proves successful for her, you may have been kept out of the picture for the first six months. However, the danger is that babies who’ve been fed exclusively by Mum for half a year, might not feel comfortable with Dad suddenly muscling in on the feeding action. So as the date for weaning approaches, if you haven’t been involved with the milk feeds, make sure you start to get a look in. Breast-feeding mums can express milk for you to bottle feed, and hopefully you’re already helping out if your baby’s formula-fed. Mealtimes should be a time for families to share together, and it’s never too early to start bonding with your infant.

• Keep the quantities small: It may not look much to you, but a couple of teaspoons of baby rice or a cube of stewed apple is plenty for a tiny baby who’s just been used to fluids before this stage. You can gradually increase the amounts you give and you’ll soon spot the signs that show that your baby’s had enough - or wants more.

• Check the temperature: Babies are happy eating food at room temperature, so food that’s been stored in the fridge will need to be served into a bowl which is then placed in another bowl of hot water for a few minutes. Always stir it well, test it to check it’s not too hot - and keep the bowl of hot water well away from the hungry infant. A fabulous new invention are baby spoons that change colour if the food is too hot. Only heat up the amount you think your baby will eat, as uneaten heated food must be thrown away. And don’t refreeze any previously frozen food.

• Use a high chair: There will be odd occasions where you have to feed them on your lap, but use a high chair whenever possible. Always strap your baby in securely and do make sure their fingers are well out of the way as you click the food tray in place. Portable fold-up chairs that can be secured to a table top are a fantastic idea for when you’re out and about.

• Go at your baby’s pace: Getting used to solid food is a big step for your baby. They have to adapt to the feel of it in their mouth and learn the art of swallowing and this may all take time. So try not to hurry them.

• Respect their meal times: Babies soon develop a routine for feeding times and although this is never definitive, you do need to work your lifestyle round to accommodate their needs. It’s one thing telling a five year old that they need to wait 10 minutes for their tea until the end of the match but there’s no negotiating with a baby. And do try to get them seated in the high chair before hunger takes hold or they’ll punish you in one of two ways - either by turning themselves completely rigid or by sending limbs flailing in all directions, inevitably accompanied by bouts of hysterical screaming. The end result is always the same: a prolonged struggle ensues as you try to sit and secure them in the chair, your stress levels will rise to fever pitch and the food you left warming is bound to be over heated. If you’re going out for a meal, pack some healthy snacks and toys to keep them occupied while you’re waiting to be served.

• Take cover: It is incredible how something so small can cause so much destruction with such a tiny quantity of food. So be prepared. Cover baby with a bib (preferably with sleeves), yourself with an apron/overalls/old clothes, put a plastic mat on the floor under the high chair and invest in bowls with suction cups that stick to the highchair tray. This may sound totally over the top but your carefully prepared food may well be spat out, played with, splattered around, smeared over all nearby surfaces and/or the whole bowl will be tossed on the floor. If you survive a meal without emerging with yogurt in your hair, sauce over your shirt and the baby’s outfit ruined, that’s a real achievement. Pay special attention to banana and avocado, which leave permanent black marks on clothing and also tomato or berry-based dishes, which quickly stain pale surfaces and clothes. Once feeding time is over, make an effort to clear up food spills on the high chair seat, tray and legs and other surfaces while they’re soft and easy to wipe off. Otherwise, you’ll need a chisel to remove encrusted cereal and broccoli, plus the smell of rancid yogurt and fish isn’t a good combo.

• Euh, yuck!: While experimenting with foods, there’s likely to be something that turns your baby right off. If you’ve prepared a mixture of foods, try omitting each of the items until you identify the culprit. But similarly, if you’re serving single foods, try mixing them together. For example your baby might reject a sole serving of broccoli, but happily demolish it when it’s combined with chicken and sweet potato. And just because a food has been rejected once, don’t rule it out completely, but try it again in a few days or weeks.The same goes for suspected food allergies. If your baby has a reaction (diarrhoea or rashes) to a meal of mixed foods, omit different elements and keep a lookout for symptoms. If you identify a food that seems to be causing a problem, get the baby checked out at the doctors.

• Let me help: Scary as it may sound, it’s good to get your baby involved with feeding him or herself. Once they show an interest, give them their own spoon to hold while you continue feeding them with another. It will be messy, but eventually they’ll learn to hit the target while keeping the spoon loaded.

• All choked up: As your infant gets to grips with more solid food, they may well choke, so always stay nearby when your baby is eating. If they do start choking, try to stay calm. If they can breathe, cry or cough, the obstruction will probably clear on its own. Offer them cooled, boiled water to drink once it has cleared. For severe cases, lay the baby face down along your forearm and with the heel of your hand give up to five back blows between the shoulder blades. Between each blow check their mouth to see if the obstruction has been dislodged. If this fails, turn the baby on to its back and push two fingers into the middle of the chest, inwards and upwards. Repeat five times. Continue with three cycles of back blows and chest thrusts and call 999 if the obstruction remains. More advice can be found at www.redcross.org.uk.

• Don’t lose heart: Babies are perverse little things when it comes to feeding and soon learn that refusing food is a good way of getting attention, so try not to get exasperated. For instance, if they’re hungry before the food is ready, they might refuse to eat it when it arrives. Or they’ll take one mouthful of the dish they gulped down yesterday but today they spit it out, scream and chuck the bowl on the floor in disgust. And when every other day they have a hearty appetite, this evening they only seem interested in playing with their tea. Don’t despair, don’t stress out, don’t get angry, don’t force feed or punish your baby and don’t omit the savoury course and offer sweet instead. Give it a few minutes and then try again with big smiles, silly voices and train-going-into-the-tunnel games. If that doesn’t work, simply take the baby out of the high chair, clear up and trust that the next mealtime will go better.