Weaning

Weaning

Introducing a healthy, varied weaning diet will improve your little one’s eating habits for life. Have a read of the articles in this section to find out how to begin weaning, which foods you should include and avoid and try out some tasty weaning recipes.

Cooking family meals

Once you start weaning your baby, you can very soon start to give them the same meals as the rest of the family.  There are just a few things to bear in mind but it will certainly save you time (and money!) if all the family are eating the same main meal.

Weaning: Stage 3 (9-12 months)

At this stage, your baby should be able for a wider variety of foods in greater textures, and should be able to manage more than 2 textures in one meal.  You should base your baby’s meals and snacks around normal family foods and mealtimes.

Weaning: Stage 2 (6-9 months)

Once your baby has been introduced to solids, it is important to continue to progress through the weaning stages. When you and your baby are ready, you can start to increase the amount of solid food your baby is getting. At this stage you should try offering approx. 3 meals a day of about 2-4 tablespoons per meal.

Weaning: Stage 1

The very early stage of weaning is about exploration. During this stage it is important that your baby becomes familiar with taking foods from a spoon.  You expect both a mess and some food waste as your baby gets used to this new experience of eating! Stage 1 represents the first 1-2 weeks of introducing … read more >

Exercise classes for babies & toddlers

Physical activity at any age can help build muscle strength and fitness, and in children young and old develop skills of balance and co-ordination. Getting your little one involved in a form of exercise from an early age will help establish healthy lifestyle behaviours, which can last a lifetime. Active children are more likely to … read more >

What is the First 1000 Days?

1000 days. Doesn’t sound like an awful lot does it? But the fact is that the first 1000 days of your little one’s life are a uniquely special time that can have a very real influence on how they develop, grow and learn — not just now, but for his or her whole life. Watch … read more >

Swimming with baby

There is no hard fast rule to this, it really is a case of whenever you the parent is ready to start. It is never too early or late to take swim lessons as you can begin from only a few weeks old in a hydrotherapy pool. Very young babies can get cold quickly as they do not have enough body fat so make sure that the pool is heated to a suitable temperature. The pool temperature should be a minimum of 32 degrees for babies under 3 months old or 30 degrees for babies over 12lbs.

When to wean a premature baby

For healthy preterm infants, weaning can safely begin somewhere between the ages of 5 and 8 months from the actual date of birth (i.e. uncorrected age). The exact age will vary from one baby to another but as preterm babies are all different, their readiness for solids should be assessed individually, taking into account their skills and developmental readiness.