Here you will find all the information you need to provide your child with what they need and when, this section is broken down into stages, we make it so easy here at So Baby...


Starting Out  - Stage One (Approximately 4 – 6 months)

Stage one is all about letting your baby get used to eating from a spoon and trying different tastes so don’t worry too much about how much she eats.   You can rest assured that he will be getting most of the nutrients he needs from his milk.

Baby rice is an excellent first food as it is gentle on the digestion and very milk in taste.  Start by offering a few teaspoons of baby rice half way through a milk feed.  Over the next two to three weeks you can gradually build up the amount of times you offer solid foods throughout the day and once your child is used to the new experience of taking food from a spoon you can begin to introduce new tastes in the form of pureed vegetables such as carrots, sweet potato and courgette or fruits such as pureed pear, apple or apricots.

Avoid offering dairy products, meat, fish, eggs, nuts or honey at this stage.


Stage Two (Approximately 7 – 9 months)

During this stage you’ll gradually progress towards offering three mini-meals a day consisting of about 2 – 4 tablespoons per meal.  You can begin to slowly add in more tastes such as beans and pureed meat (both good sources of iron ).  Different textures other than just purees can be introduced too.  Try mashing and mincing foods instead.  Texture is extremely important in the weaning process as lumpier textures encourage your baby to learn how to chew.  Many commercially prepared baby foods don’t provide enough texture which can result in parents having to ‘second wean’ their children.   ‘Second Weaning’ is a term used to describe the process where a child who may readily accept pureed foods rejects anything with more texture and therefore needs to be taught how to eat and chew lumpier foods.   Finger foods such as fingers of toast, carrot sticks, pasta shapes, bread sticks, pieces of fruit and vegetables can be introduced at this stage too.  These will also help to acclimatised your child to different textures.  Dairy foods such as yogurt, cheese and well cooked eggs can be introduced now (avoid blue and unpasteurised cheeses) as can small amounts of fish (avoid shellfish) and well cooked, lean meat and poultry.   Finely grounds nuts and seeds can be mixed into baby foods too provided there is no family history of allergies.  Avoid whole nuts or seeds for risk of choking and steer clear of honey as some can contain a type of bacteria that can produce toxins in the intestines of very young children.


Stage 3 – (Approx 9 – 12 months)

During this stage of the weaning process your baby should gradually become less dependent on milk and begin progressing towards a more adult type of diet consisting of  three main meals of about 3 – 6 tablespoons per meal as well as one or two healthy snacks.  Offer a wide variety of foods and vary their textures by coarsely mashing, mincing, blending and chopping them.  Continue to introduce hard finger foods such as raw fruit and vegetables too but keep a close eye on your child at all times as small pieces can cause choking.  Continue to avoid blue and unpasteurised cheeses and keep processed meats such as sausages, bacon and salami to a minimum as they tend to be too high in salt.


Over 12 months

Keep introducing a wide variety of different tastes and textures such as stronger tasting vegetables (onions, leeks cabbage and peppers).  Revisit foods that have been rejected before as research shows that you will need to present some foods several times before you child develops a taste for them.  Try her with corn on the cob, cherry tomatoes, mashed lentils, avocado, fresh and canned (in natural juice) fruits, bite size pieces of fish, including oily fish such as fresh salmon, trout or tuna which are a great source of essential fatty acids needed for healthy brain development and increase the range of meats you are offering.  Honey can be introduced now too.  You may get a lot of rejections but this doesn’t matter.  The main thing as this stage is that your baby is experiencing different tastes (even if it is just for the few seconds they keep the food in their mouth!).  This will help your baby to develop a varied palette and go a great deal towards ensuring your child grows up to eat and enjoy a wide variety of different foods.