Your baby must be nearing the crucial 6 month weaning mark! You're probably also tempting whether to wean early or wait until 6 months.

The World Health organisation suggests weaning at 6 months because babies can hold up their heads and also their little stomachs are more developed to handle the introduction of new food. Having said that babies are also weaned earlier than 6 months because of health conditions such as reflux, or maybe milk isn't sustaining them.

If you decide to wean early please discuss with your health practioner.

With both my girls I weaned them at 5 and half months as they were reaching out for the food. I'll be honest with Zara, I fed her purees and also finger food as I was petrified about her choking, so she was fed with caution. However, with Sofia she was having none of the purees and just wanted whatever we the adults were eating.

So my advice to any parent about to wean their parent, take it slow and let the first few months of weaning be fun. Make sure your baby can hold up their head and can sit up. Continue to breastfeed on demand as this will also help the baby digest solids better and also continue to provide protection against infection. If you are bottle feeding this will gradually be reduced down to 500-600 ml as your baby eats more solid foods. The solid foods at this stage still complements rather than replacing food.

If there are known allergies with the parents, introduce one food at a time to ensure no reaction occurs and also to help pinpoint the possible problematic food, such as egg, fruit etc

So start them off with steamed sticks of vegetables such as carrots, potatoes, brocolli so they get used to this taste rather than a sweet tooth.

In the next blog, I will discuss more of a daily meal plan and don't be surprised to learn that 3 meals a day should not be on the menu in the first couple of months!

Until then happy feeding!