Playtimes HK Magazine October 2017 Issue | Page 50

W
eaning is an exciting
milestone for you and your
baby and at around the
six month mark you’ll be
starting to try and get your head around
it all. There is so much conflicting advice
out there so I promise you are not
alone if you’re feeling apprehensive
– it’s only natural!
While lots of parents start out
with simple smooth purees, baby-led
weaning has never been more popular
and it’s the hot new weaning trend
to try.
The ethos behind baby-led weaning
is that you let your baby feed themselves
from around six months (or whenever
they are able to pick up food and bring it
to their mouth). Skipping the puree step
altogether can be a scary thing but the
view is that it gives babies the oppor-
tunity to discover lots of different tastes
and textures from the very beginning
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of their weaning journey; encouraging
them to eat a variety of foods and elimi-
nating fussiness later on in life.
Baby-led weaning also encourages
your baby to eat at the table with the
family, making it an enjoyable social
experience. Not only is it more fun
for them, it often means that you can
prepare just the one meal for the whole
family. Whether it’s a comforting cottage
pie, summer vegetable risotto or a
Friday night chicken curry, the idea is
that your baby can eat a small portion of
whatever you’re having – just be sure to
leave out any added sugar or salt.
Regularly offering a variety of family
meals and finger foods encourages
babies to adopt good eating habits from
the very start as they get to experience
a more varied range of tastes and
textures than they might on a spoon-fed
diet. That being said, there is no reason
why you can’t mash or puree certain
family meals if they’re not quite ready for
baby-led weaning. The good news is,
it’s completely up to you and what you
feel comfortable with.
I believe that adopting a flexible
approach is a great way to get started
and is often the most realistic for lots
of families. Giving purees when your
baby is ready for first foods (particularly
if slightly earlier than six months), with
the introduction of finger foods and
family meals from around six months is
a fantastic, flexible option. There is no
right or wrong to weaning – all babies
are different and it’s about what works
for you and your family.
And don’t worry about how much
or how little your baby eats at the
beginning; the best thing you can do is
serve a variety of tastes and textures
and as many different delicious and
nutritious foods to get them off to a
flying start!