Weaning is a slow and steady process that helps your child to move from breastmilk to solid food. Often, mums find themselves baffled how to go about it. At M&B, we take a closer look at this essential process in child-rearing to help you make the transition smoother, so that your baby eats right and enjoys every morsel you feed her...

There is a reason why it is said that breastmilk is the best food for your baby after her birth. Because breastmilk is not just food but much much more. It is a rich source of vitamins, white blood cells, antibodies, water, hormones and other nutrients that initiate growth and help your baby to develop physically and neurologically. Additionally, breastmilk also contains certain elements that kill bacteria and viruses, thereby helping build the baby’s immunity and other internals.

But as your baby grows, she will soon require nourishment from other food sources too, to hasten the growth process. The early years of your child’s life are crucial, as the most important part of brain development happens in the first few years. This depends on various factors but also largely depends on what the baby eats. Hence, once your baby has been exclusively breastfed for at least the six months, it’s essential to start to introduce other foods after that.

This is when you start weaning your child. “To start with, you should be armed with enormous amounts of patience. Your baby may not take to new foods initially as her sense of taste is still developing. Also, at times the baby may cry until she is breastfed,” says Deepshikha Agarwal, a Mumbai-based dietitian and sports nutritionist. Meal times can turn to an hour-long affair even to finish a few spoonfuls and will depend largely on your baby’s mood. This, in fact, is time-consuming and tedious for most mums, but essential for the child.

GET STARTED
There is no perfect time as such to start weaning, but ideally after six months you can start to start your baby on semi-solid foods. “Do not rush. Go slow, start offering semi-solids to your baby once a week and gradually make it a daily affair, knocking off one of her feeds during the day. Ideally, you can first stop the mid-day feed, as it is the shortest meal,” says Deepshikha. Increase the frequency of weaning as your baby gets comfortable with the food and develops a liking for different tastes other than breastmilk. Many mums choose to wean their baby during the day and breastfeed during the night. The time to wean is an individual choice and depends on the your and your child’s comfort level. Also, many working mums or those with insufficient milk prefer to start the process of weaning earlier, but this should be done only after a consultation with the paediatrician or a member of the breastfeeding support group, La Leche League, as breastfeeding the baby for as long as possible is the ideal situation

TITILLATE THE TASTEBUDS
Weaning is not only necessary to initiate the process of taking in solid foods gradually, but is also done to help your child develop a wide range of tastes to develop her sense of taste. Since your baby would be familiar with the bland taste of milk, it is advisable to start with foods which have a bland taste. Give spoonfuls of moong daal water (not the daal, but only the liquid) to start weaning. “By the seventh month, you can give your baby diluted porridge made of mashed rice, moong daal, mix of other pulses and pureed vegetables. Thereafter, offer fruit juices and soups of leafy vegetables, which would go down well with your baby. Limit it to one variety of food at a time,” says Deepshikha. Once the baby gets familiar with one type of food, try other variations. Increase the portion and consistency of the foods as you go along. By the eleventh month or after a year, the child can have solid foods in small portions like minced meat, chapatis, boiled potatoes and other vegetables. “By one year of age, she should be able to eat food cooked for the family, minus the spices though,” says Deepshikha.