First Foods for Weaning

By Ashley | January 7, 2010
First Foods For Weaning

Weaning is a process in which babies are introduced to external food, thereby reducing their dependence on mothers’ milk. Weaning can be initiated when the baby is four to six months old.

Weaning is a significant process as it helps provide all the nutrients which are not provided by mothers’ milk to the baby. Mother’s milk is poor in iron content and several other nutrients, and therefore external food supplements the nutrients in the baby’s diet.

Foods for your New Born Baby

The first foods that you can give your baby while weaning are listed below:

  • First of all, an extract of pulses is a good food choice to start the weaning process. You may boil pulses in water, strain the extract, and give it to your baby.
  • You can then start introducing baby food to your baby’s diet. Baby food is easily digestible and contains the nutrients essential for the baby’s growth. Moreover, baby food is generally bland in taste like mother’s milk, and therefore, babies have a much higher tolerance for baby food.
  • You can then begin giving fruit juices to your baby. Fruit juices are rich in vitamins and minerals and are easy to digest. Juices also help in cleansing the bowels. Babies commonly suffer from problems of the digestive system. Fruit juices often help to resolve such disorders.

Tips for Weaning your New Born Baby

There are certain key points which you must keep in mind while weaning your baby. These points are listed below:

  • You should never compel or pressurize your baby to consume a particular type of food. The baby may not like the food or the body might not be tolerant to that food. Hence, you must let the baby eat what he/she likes.
  • If your baby likes a particular type of food, you may continue to give him/her that food for six to seven days, and then introduce a new type of food.
  • You are recommended to introduce a new kind of food every week.
  • You are advised to give just one meal of external food to baby in the initial phase of weaning, and then, subsequently increase the frequency of such food in baby’s diet.
  • You are recommended not to give non-vegetarian food to baby until he/she is seven to eight months old.
  • You must always sterilize the utensils before feeding the baby to maintain hygiene. Babies have weaker immune systems, and are therefore prone to illness.

You are recommended to contact your pediatrician for more tips on first food for weaning.

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