For most families, the beginning of weaning a baby from a full milk diet, is the introduction of solid food.
Many parents find the transition from fully milk feeding to offering solids, a bit of a worry; additionally for a breastfeeding mother, moving from being the sole provider of the baby’s nutrition, to food now providing some of their nutrition can cause some mixed emotions. Many feel like it is the beginning of the end of their breastfeeding journey, but most babies continue to enjoy breastfeeding and still like to feed a lot even once food is well introduced.
How do I know when to start weaning?
Somewhere around the middle of baby’s first year, and when baby is showing signs of developmental readiness (by sitting up unaided, being able to reach out and grab objects with their hand and bring them to their mouth) is the time to start introducing offering simple family foods.
When you are first introducing foods, breastfeeding / milk feeds remain the main source of nutrition. Solids are generally just tastes and exploration and are more about learning than about intake. Baby can continue to be breastfed responsively, just as they have been up to now, and you might well find that baby still wants to breastfeed just as much as before.
If your baby takes to food quickly and becomes less interested in breastfeeding, in the early stages it is a good idea to prioritise breastfeeding, so you can offer a breastfeed before solid foods to be sure baby is getting the amount of milk they need.
There are lots more tips about the ages and stages of feeding and weaning that might be helpful, in the articles, webinars and AI content in the Anya app.
