Weaning. When to start and what with

Breast milk or infant formula. ‘Follow-on’ formula is not suitable for babies under six months, you don’t need to introduce it after six months either.

Introducing solid foods before six months: if after checking with your health visitor or doctor, you decide to introduce solid foods before six months, you should avoid giving your baby certain foods as they may cause food allergies or make your baby ill. These include foods that contain wheat, gluten, nuts, peanuts, peanut products, seeds, liver, eggs, fish, shellfish, cows’ milk and soft or unpasteurised cheese.

First foods: your baby’s first foods can include mashed or soft cooked fruit and vegetables like parsnip, potato, yam, sweet potato, carrot, apple or pear, all cooled before eating. Or soft fruit like peach, melon, soft ripe banana or avocado as finger foods or mashed. Or baby rice or baby cereal mixed with your baby’s usual milk. Keep feeding them breast milk or infant formula as well but don’t give them whole cows’ milk as a drink until they are a year old.

Next foods: soft cooked meat such as chicken, mashed fish (check very carefully for any bones), pasta, noodles, toast, pieces of chapatti, lentils, rice and mashed hard boiled eggs. Also full-fat dairy products such as yoghurt, fromage frais or custard (choose products with no added sugar or less sugar). Whole cows’ milk can be used in cooking or mixed with food from six months.

Cups: introduce a cup from around six months and offer sips of water with meals. Using an open cup or a free flow cup without a valve will help your baby learn to sip and is better for your baby’s teeth.

Gradually, in this time your baby will move toward eating three meals a day. It will be a mixture of soft finger foods, mashed and chopped foods.

Your baby’s diet should consist of a variety of the following types of food: fruit and vegetables; bread, rice, pasta, potatoes and other starchy foods; meat, fish, eggs, beans and other non dairy sources of protein and milk and dairy products.

Your baby will now be eating three meals a day, chopped if required, plus breast milk or whole cows’ milk and healthier snacks like fruit, vegetable sticks, toast and rice cakes.

They can now drink whole cows’ milk. Choose full-fat dairy products because children under two need the extra fat and vitamins found in them. From two years old if they are a good eater and growing well they can have semi-skimmed milk. From five years old 1% fat and skimmed milk is OK.

You can give your baby:

For around the first six months you should feed your baby only breast milk or infant formula. Only use soya-based infant formula if your GP has advised you to. Follow-on milks are available for babies over six months but there is no need to change over to these. Cows’ milk can be mixed with food from six months and whole cows’ milk can be given as a drink from one year.  

Infant formula, follow-on formula or growing-up milks are not needed once your baby is 12 months old. Goats' and sheep’s milk are not suitable as a drink for babies under one year and rice drink is not suitable as a drink for children under the age of five.