Catherine Atkinson - Start Right Baby and Toddler Meal Planner Essentials

Weaning is the gradual process of introducing solid food to a baby who has relied entirely on breast or formula milk. It's an important and rewarding stage in your baby's development, but can also be a frustrating and confusing time: when it comes to feeding babies, the world seems to be full of people giving conflicting advice on what, when and how!

In this book you'll find plenty of help to guide you through the next 12 months or so, from those first few spoonfuls to the point when your child will be joining in family meals. Your baby's progress will be gradual, starting with baby rice with a consistency only slightly thicker than milk, moving on to thin, smooth pures. As your baby grows, you will find you no longer need to pure the food and can mash it with a fork, then later simply chop it into small pieces. The chapters reflect this and are divided into the different stages of weaning, so you can take it step by step. Most of the recipes are quick and simple to prepare and can be made in larger quantities so that several portions can be frozen for future use.

Cooking for a baby can be fun, as well as being a healthier and cost-effective alternative to bland, processed meals from jars or packets. By serving a wide range of fresh, home-made food, you can help develop your baby's tastebuds to appreciate a variety of foods, flavours and textures throughout childhood and beyond. Remember that first impressions are lasting and that applies to first foods too!

Throughout the book you will find I have referred to the baby as 'she' - simply because all the recipes have been tried and tested over the years by my daughters, Harriet and Liz.

Babies have very different nutritional needs from adults. Their need for energy and protein is high in relation to their size during this stage of rapid growth and development. Forget about low-fat, high-fibre foods; they're great for adults but are not suitable for babies as they may fill up their stomachs before they can absorb all the nutrients they need.

Babies need as varied a diet as possible. Give your baby plenty of carbohydrate foods such as potatoes, rice, pasta, bread and cereals (but not the high-fibre varieties), vitamin-rich fruit and vegetables and a good helping of protein-rich foods such as meat, fish, eggs and dairy produce. Although fats and oils contain the essential fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E and K, don't add more than is necessary when preparing foods as your baby will get enough of these from foods such as meat and dairy produce. Most babies and children (and adults!) have a sweet tooth, but try to avoid sugary foods where possible, as these have little nutritional value, and never add salt to baby food as their kidneys are too immature to cope with it.

Although most babies are born with adequate stores of iron, these are used up by the age of about six months, so it's important to provide some iron-rich foods in the diet. Iron is found in concentrated amounts in meat and other foods, including egg yolks and, to a lesser extent, in pulses. Breakfast cereals and follow-on milk formula are also good sources as most are fortified with iron. Vitamin C helps the body to absorb iron, so offer vitamin-rich fruit and vegetables with or immediately after your baby's meals.

Vitamin drops are sometimes recommended for breast-fed babies and bottle-fed babies who are having less than 500 ml/17 fl oz/21/4 cups of milk formula daily. Ask your health visitor for advice on this.

Weaning from milk feeds to solids
During the first few months, breast or formula milk has provided all the nutrients babies need to grow and develop. But between four and six months they need more iron and other nutrients than can be provided by milk alone and may be ready to start on solids.

Signs that show your baby is ready for solids:

• Your baby still seems hungry after a milk feed and you've tried giving more milk.
• Your baby starts to demand feeds more frequently.
• Having started to sleep through the night, your baby starts waking again for a feed.
• Your baby seems interested in the food that you're eating and puts objects into her mouth to feel and chew.

Be guided by your own baby; if she's showing some or all of these signs, it's probably time to start giving solids. Babies progress at different rates and large babies occasionally need to start earlier than four months, though this is unusual. Check with your health visitor if you have any worries about when to start. Don't be pressurised by friends or relatives into starting sooner; you'll meet other parents who see weaning as a competition and believe that the sooner the better. Remember that a baby's digestive system is not fully matured in the first few months and that giving solids too early increases the chances of allergies later on. On the other hand, babies begin to learn how to chew at around six months, so don't delay starting solids after this age, or your baby may find it difficult to learn this skill.

Getting started
When you start giving your baby solid food you are simply introducing different tastes and textures and getting her used to feeding from a spoon. She still relies on her milk feeds for nourishment.

At first, offer food only once a day and introduce just one taste at a time. Baby rice cereal is an ideal first food as it's easy to digest. When mixed with breast or formula milk, the familiar taste and smell will help your baby relate to this new food. After a week or so, you can move on to fruit and mild-tasting vegetable pures. Apart from ripe bananas, these should always be cooked until very tender. At the beginning of weaning, food should have a very smooth, runny consistency, so you may need to thin pures with baby milk (breast or formula) or cooled, boiled water to achieve this.

When you introduce solids for the first time, choose a feed when your baby is alert and hungry but without being frantic; towards midday after a morning nap is usually a good choice. Give her a small milk feed to settle her and just take the edge off her hunger, then offer the solid food. Finish with the rest of the milk feed. Alternatively, you can try at the end of the milk feed if this works better.

At the beginning, the quantity of solids needed is minute - don't expect your baby to take more than a teaspoonful as her digestive system is still very immature. Remember, though, that you'll need to prepare at least double this amount as a lot of food will be dribbled straight back out rather than swallowed. Gradually build up the amount to 10-15 ml/2-3 tsp of food and when your baby happily takes one meal a day, you can move on to two meals a day.

Introducing solid food
Before starting to feed your baby, check that the food is at the right temperature. It should be just lukewarm; if it's too hot, you could put her off eating before she's tried her first spoonful! Next, protect your baby with a bib and have a damp flannel or kitchen paper (paper towels) to hand. Sit your baby upright in your lap, cradling her in your arm, so that she feels safe and secure. Later, when she's used to feeding, you may find it easier to feed her in a portable car seat or a bouncy baby chair on the floor. When she can sit up at about six or seven months, you can strap her into a highchair.

Weaning tips