If you are thinking about weaning your baby, you may be wondering about the best foods to give your child to take the place of breast milk. While there is no perfect weaning food and more than one philosophy about exactly how to wean, you can use the experience of other parents who have gone before you to help decide what foods to offer your baby as he develops his mealtime independence.
Weaning
Weaning is the process of transitioning a baby from breast milk to solid foods. This process is often done gradually, introducing solids slowly and reducing breastfeeding sessions over time. In some cases, such as when a mother must return to work, the process may have a specific date when the mother is aiming to have completed weaning her baby. In other cases, the mother and child wean at their own pace. Many mothers partially wean at first, eliminating daytime breastfeedings while she is at work, for example, while keeping evening or night feedings.
Cereals and Purees
Many mothers introduce baby cereals as the first solid food at the start of the weaning process. Rice cereal is typically used first because it is unlikely to cause an allergic reaction. Cereal can be mixed with some breast milk instead of water to make the taste more familiar to the baby. Another option is to use pureed fruits or vegetables as a weaning food. Once the weaning process has begun, you can introduce pureed meats, whole-milk yogurt and soft finger foods.
Baby-Led Weaning
Some parents use an approach called baby-led weaning, or BLW. In BLW, parents skip purees and baby cereal and start the baby on wholesome whole foods that are appropriate to the baby's ability and interest. Weaning foods in a BLW diet may include chunks of banana, soft, cooked pieces of carrot, mashed sweet potato, chopped baked chicken, whole-grain crackers or pieces of low-sugar dry cereal. The main focus of BLW is to provide a variety of foods with different textures and tastes while holding back on foods that may be potential choking hazards, such as raisins or chunks of hot dog.
Considerations
Weaning begins when the baby first experiences solids, but the entire process can last for years. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends introducing solids at around six months but continuing to provide the majority of the baby's nutrition through breast milk until at least the baby's first birthday. The World Health Organization recommends that at least some of the child's nutrition come from breastfeeding until at least the second birthday. Babies weaned before their first birthday will need formula supplementation, since solid foods are inadequate nutrition before the first birthday.
