Do a little reading around the subject before you begin. This can simply help to give you confidence about what, where and how of weaning. It can seem so overwhelming and there is a LOT of information out there, so you don’t to read it all. Just enough for you to feel confident as, in my experience, confidence is everything when it comes to weaning!- Try to have fun with it. This is easier said than done, but quite often parents get very nervous about weaning and forget to embrace it for the messy, up and down time that it really is. The more relaxed you can be about weaning and the more you have fun with it, the more likely your baby will enjoy their mealtimes and the food you’re offering!
- Avoid lots of “expectations”. It can be hard when we go into weaning not to have expectations about how it’s going to go. But babies are all SO very different and take to weaning in such different ways and at different paces and this can be perfectly normal. Try to let your baby lead the journey – you can set up a routine and be present for mealtimes, but let them be the ones who decide what and how much they are going to eat.
- Involve baby in YOUR mealtimes. Even before they start weaning it’s a good idea to get baby used to the idea of sitting together as a family and let baby see you eating. They’ll learn so much about food, the enjoyment of eating and even how and what to eat from observation. This is one of the reasons why I love the Stokke Tripp Trapp and the baby set it comes with; it allows you to bring them to the table right from the start.
- Kick off with veggies. I love the idea of starting with veggies and letting baby try something totally new to them. Babies are born preferring sweet foods, so it’s good to help introduce them to completely new flavours and tastes at the start of weaning. They can be more willing to explore when they are young and so savoury, bitter and neutral flavoured single veggies for the first few days is a great idea. Don’t worry if your baby doesn’t take to this either, it’s very new. Variety is really key when weaning.
Charlotte is working in association with Stokke and their iconic Tripp Trapp chair (www.stokke.com), the chair that grows with the child. Together, they are running a free webinar giving advice on how to feed your family on Monday 17th July from 8pm – 9pm. To find out more and register, click: How To Feed Your FAMILY Webinar with STOKKE – SR Nutrition
And, you can pre order her new book, How to Feed Your Family now. Out 20th July 2023 and she has lots of helpful downloadable resources for Family Feeding on her website.