When to start weaning

Introducing your baby to solid foods is often called 'weaning'.

You should wait until your baby is around 6 months old. It's the same for both breastfed and formula-fed babies.

Let your baby take the lead. Every baby is different. It can take some babies a little time to get used to solid food.

Signs your baby is ready for solid foods

Signs your baby is ready for solids include:

• being able to stay sitting upright and hold their head steady
• looking at their food, picking it up and putting it in their mouth themselves
• swallowing food instead of spitting it out

When these signs appear together it is a good indication that your baby is ready for solid food.

Eating is a new skill for your baby. It may take some babies a little longer to get used to it than others.

Start with one meal time a day and go at your baby's pace. Remember the first 2 weeks are about learning this new skill and trying a variety of tastes.

False signs

Some behaviours can be mistaken for a baby being ready for solid foods.

These are sometimes called false signs and include:

• chewing fists
• increased fussiness
• wanting extra milk feeds
• waking up in the night more than usual

These are normal baby behaviours. They do not mean your baby is hungry or ready to start solid food.

Starting solid foods will not make your baby any more likely to sleep through the night. Sometimes a little extra milk will help until they are ready for solid food.

Nutrients your baby needs during weaning

Continuing milk feeds

For the first 2 weeks there's no need to worry about how much food your baby is eating. Their main source of nutrition will still be their milk feeds. During these 2 weeks focus on getting your baby used to the experience of eating and enjoying meal times.

If you're breastfeeding, there's no need to move to formula milk when introducing solid foods. You can continue to breastfeed after solid foods are introduced, up to age 2 or beyond.

How long to breastfeed for

Risks of weaning too soon

You should not give your baby solid foods before 17 weeks because:

• breast or formula milk is all your baby needs until they are 6 months old
• introducing other foods or fluid can displace the essential nutrients supplied by breast or formula milk
• their kidneys are not developed enough to handle food and drinks other than milk
• their digestive systems are not developed enough to cope with solid foods
• it can increase the risk of obesity in later life

Risks of weaning too late

You should not wait later than 26 weeks (6 months) to wean your baby because:

• their energy needs are no longer met by milk alone
• they need iron - the store of iron they are born with has already been used up
• it delays their chance to learn important skills, including self-feeding
• introducing different textures stimulates the development of muscles that are used in speech

Iron in your child's diet

Weaning a premature baby

If your baby was born early (before 37 weeks), introduce solid foods when they show signs of being ready.

Your baby may have developed all the skills they need to eat solid foods from a corrected age of about 5 to 6 months.

Corrected age is your baby's age minus the number of weeks or months they were born early. For example, if your 7-month-old baby was born 2 months early, their corrected age is 5 months.

Weaning your premature baby