As a mother who has spent enough years in the healthcare sector, the first thing I’d like to tell you all is, don't start weaning too early! Your child's digestive system is not ready for solids foods (even purees) until about 6 months of age. The WHO recommends breastfeeding for the first 6 months of a child's life. Whether you are breast feeding or bottle feeding please know that your baby is getting all the nutrition - micro/macronutrients and calories they need from the milk. As with most parenting topics for weaning too, there is no rule book, just do what feels right for you and your baby. Trust your instinct and watch for signs. Looking for these milestones will help you understand if your little one is ready for weaning: 1. Are they able to sit up with minimal support and is their head stable? 2. Are they ready to chew? Have they lost the tongue-thrust reflex so no longer automatically push solids out of their mouth with the tongue? 3. Are they watching everything that goes into your mouth and reaching out? You can start with purees and organic single grain powders which can be make into porridges (such as super millet porridge) to start. And then slowly introduce texture by changing the way to include fruit and vegetables into their meals. No salt or sugar is needed before they turn 12 months but you can start to introduce spices such as turmeric, cinnamon etc. Source: Slurrp Farm To help mamas think about a when to introduce food textures we suggest you try following: 6-7 months - Smooth purees with no lumps 7-9 months - Thicker purees 9-12 months - Mashed with soft lumps 12 plus months – Finely chopped (your babies gums are pretty strong and can chew textured food). Don’t stress if your baby seems to not like a certain type of food or texture – it can take a while for them to get used to a new texture or flavour so don’t force it. Just keep trying after a few days. Good luck with your child's food journey! About Meghana Narayan, Meghana is passionate about children's nutrition and health. She is committed to make a positive change to childhood malnutrition statictics. Her efforts to feed her daughter healthy, tasty food is what led her to starting this venture. Before starting Slurrp Farm, Meghana led the Public Health practise at McKinsey & Company. She holds an MBA from Harvard Business School, a BA in Computation as a Rhodes Scholar from Oxford University and a BE with Distinction in Computer Engineering from Bangalore University. Meghana was a national level swimmer for India for many years. She has won over 400 gold medals, including at the Asian Games. Her dream is to help bring more golden Olympic medals home!
Sign in to leave a comment.