Weaning mother feed to introduce soft foods is a major decision. Ideally, the age that is recommended by health practitioners all over the world is 6 months but if you feel that your baby has a bigger appetite or shows signs that he is ready for the switch then you can start as early as 4 months but not before.

BABY IS READY IF:

👍SITTING WITH SUPPORT : Baby can sit in a high chair with support.

👍CAN HOLD HEAD UPRIGHT: Holds his head and can turn it to both the sides.

👍COORDINATED MOVEMENTS the baby has developed hands, eyes and mouth coordination and can grasp object and take it to his mouth.And can close mouth around a spoon .

👍SHOWS INTEREST IN FOOD : watches you eat the food or gets excited upon the sight of the food

👍CAN SWALLOW : If cant swallow, they will spit it out.

👍STILL HUNGRY AFTER A MILK FEED: It happens when mother feed is not enough and if that’s not the issue then its simply a sign for a growing baby.

🤷HOW TO GET STARTED?

▶️IDEAL TIME: weaning should never be tried when the child is very hungry. It will only make him frustrated and irritated and he will not be a good sport. And it should’nt either be tried when he is too full as then he will have no space for the extra food. So it’s better to give it a try when the baby has had half his milk.

▶️TEXTURE: make a very smooth puree like texture for the baby that is thicker than milk but easy to gulp down. You can begin with apples, pears, sweet potatoes or carrots. Wash them, peel them, cook them, blend them. No sugar, no salt.

▶️NUTRITIONAL CONTENT the baby will drive all his nutrition from the milk. At present this food is just being given to develop his swallowing reflex and let him discover new textures and tastes.

🤷HOW MUCH TO GIVE.

You can begin with one teaspoon of pureed food or one teaspoon iron fortified cereal once a day. (1tsp Cereal mixed with 4-5 tsp breast milk or formula milk).
It can then be increased to one table spoon to once a day and then twice a day gradually.

🙅WHAT NOT TO GIVE !!

HONEY🍯 (not before 1year)
EGG 🥚 (not before 9months; yolk first then white)
COW MILK 🥛(not before 1year)
NUTS 🥜(not before 9months gradually one at a time… paste>chopped> whole. That too while watching them throughout)

HOW TO GIVE ??

💁You need to follow three days rule. That means you must keep a gap of 3 days between two new foods.
In order to let the baby develop taste and also to check out for allergies. As you are just introducing new foods along with breast milk or formula milk. So start with a very small quantity.
💁Always start at lunch time, then breakfast and lunch and lastly dinner.
💁Breast milk and formula milk should not be exposed to heat. So font cook anything in them.
💁No salt, sugar or honey.

🥣WHAT CAN YOU GIVE??

👌Mashed banana
👌Stewed/pureed apple
👌Well steamed and pureed vegetables like carrots, sweet potato, pumpkin , french beans
👌Pulse soup (moong dal ka pani)
👌Rice Water (Chawal ka pani)
👌Iron fortified cereal

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