Weaning should begin around 6 months and not before 17 weeks. Choose a time of day when your little one is not too tired or too hungry. And make sure you’ve got plenty of time – you don’t want to rush. This is an overwhelming time for your baby as they learn new tastes, textures.
When you start feeding solid foods to your baby it will be a case of trial and error in order to get your baby familiar with lots of different tastes and textures.
Firstly, you can try a few spoons of pureed vegetables (e.g. carrots, swede, sweet potato, courgette and butternut squash) or fruits (e.g. apple, pear, mango, papaya or mashed bananas.)
Carrots and butternut squash are a really great way of introducing babies to vegetables as they don't have as strong a taste as other vegetables.
Banana and papaya are great fruits to start off with as they don’t need to be cooked and providing they are ripe enough can be easily puréed or mashed. In the beginning to get your baby used to new flavours and textures you can add a little of their usual milk.
Baby cereals such as baby rice can also be used as they are mixed with your baby's usual milk which is a taste your baby will recognise. In the early stage of weaning it’s a good idea to feed your baby a little milk first so they are not overly hungry and will be more willing to try new foods.
Introduce one food at a time so you can monitor for any potential reactions or allergies. Once your baby is used to fruit, vegetables and cereals; you can then progress on to meals containing lean meat or poultry, fish (no bones) and well-cooked eggs, making sure you blend them to the required consistency.
Introducing a wide range of foods, tastes and textures is important to avoid future fussy eaters.
If you’re looking for recipe inspo - these are two of our favourite weaning recipes perfect for your little one.
Makes 12 Pops / Suitable from 6 MONTHS+
Ingredients
• 200g fresh strawberries
• 125g fresh raspberries
• 100g frozen summer berries
• Juice 1/2 lemon
• 250ml (1 cup) whole milk
• 125ml (1/2 cup) Greek yogurt
• 1 banana
Method
1. Hull the strawberries, and then add to a pan along with the raspberries and frozen summer berries. Squeeze in the juice of the lemon.
2. Heat gently making sure not to boil. This is to ensure all the vitamins are kept to the maximum! Once the frozen fruit has softened remove from the heat, then take a fork and gently mash the fruit until it is broken down a little enough to still see pieces of the various berries. Remove from the heat and leave aside to cool.
3. Add the milk, yogurt and banana to a blender and blend until smooth.
4. Pour a little of the milk mixture into an ice pop mould filling 1/3 of the way up, add a tablespoon of the fruit mixture, then finish with the milk mixture.
5. Freeze for at least 4 hours until fully set.
Pick up all the ingredients for this delicious weaning recipe at Dunnes Stores
Makes 30 Bites / Suitable from 6 MONTHS+
Ingredients
• 60ml water
• 4 tbsp butter
• 100g cheddar cheese
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 70g plain flour
• 2 eggs
• 600g cooked sweet potato (pureed)
• 1 tsp baking powder
Method
1. Preheat oven to 220ºC.
2. Combine the water and butter in a pan over a medium heat. Once the butter has started
to melt, sprinkle in the cheese and stir until the cheese has fully melted into the sauce.
3. Add the garlic powder and plain flour and stir until the flour is fully incorporated and sticks together like a dough. Stir over the heat for about one minute to allow the flour to cook. Remove from the heat and allow it to cool for about 5 minutes before beating in the eggs.
4. Stir in the sweet potato and baking powder until the mixture is smooth and silky.
5. Take a baking tray lined with parchment paper, then using a spoon or small ice cream scoop, divide the mixture into baby sized portions, roughly 1 tablespoon per portion.
6. Bake for 25 minutes until golden brown, then leave to cool fully before serving.
7. Store in an airtight container in the fridge for 5 days, or freeze for a quick handy finger food.
Pick up all the ingredients for this delicious weaning recipe at Dunnes Stores
There are tonnes of brilliant offers at the Dunnes Stores baby event – check out the full details here, offers run from 13th July - 9th August.
