Weaning babies & Solids Timeline

Starting solids:

Start in the MORNING!!

Rice cereal. start with one tablespoon when you first start….baby may only eat half.

example:

if she wakes up at 7am & feeds every 4 hours: (Approximate timings)
7am milk bottle / Boob feed
8am Breakfast: rice cereal
830-11am morning play & nap (30-60min)
11am. Milk
midday Nap (2hours)
3.30-4pm: Milk
cat nap (30-45min)5-530pm
Play & bath & bedtime routine
7pm: milk just before sleep
11pm: dream feed Milk

 cross your fingers baby Sleeps through the night??

If they wake hungry before 3am, then give a full feed. If they wake between 3-6am, then try a watered down feed..just to get them to morning so you can start the day around 7am..

 

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Introduce each new food for 3 days. (eg: food A)

New food should only be given in the mornings so that if there is any reactions, you'll see it manifest during the day, rather than in the middle of the night if you give it in the evening.

After three days, if Baby is ok with Food A (ie: no change in poops/pees. no throwing up or skin reactions) then you can add a new item (food B).

 

Example:

Day 1,2,3 (Food A only- rice cereal)

Day 4,5,6 intro Food B (puree pear) in the mornings,
A&B can be combined or given separately.
Day 7,8,9 intro Food C ( mash bananas) in the mornings,.
A&B&C can be combined in any combination A&B, A&C, B&C

If she likes the solids, then you can increase the amount for breakfast.

When you increase the quantity of solids, you can cut back on the amount of milk.
Ie: reduce the 7am milk so that she'll eat more solids at 8am.

 If she doesn't like the solids, just persist to give it to her, even if it’s just one or two spoonfuls

She's learning to sit up right to eat and also to eat from a spoon, so it's a lot to learn and get used to.

If the rejection of solids goes on for more than 3-4days, then cut back the 7am milk so she's hungry and more motivated to eat, and you can feed her breakfast earlier.

You’ll know when baby is full when she starts turning her head and avoiding the spoon.

 **Babies who are very used to drinking only milk can become lazy to eat and if they know you are going to give them the bottle then there is no motivation to eat...which becomes an issue the older they get, so best to start early (ie: from 5-6mths) and persist.

Eating & chewing also helps develop tongue and mouth muscles which affects speech later on if they don’t get those muscles moving.

 Mostly I think, babies like solids because it's a new experience, especially if you are excited about it and give lots of encouragement and smiles.

It’ll get messy though!

You can also give baby a spoon to hold whilsts you feed so she feels she is participating. 

Later on, you can give them a small bowl (with suction base!) so they can start to self feed, even as you do the bulk of the feeding.

 

When you introduce lunch,

7am milk bottle (reduced)

730-8am Breakfast (usually about 3TBs by this point)
Morning play & nap
11am. Lunch
Play (&washup)
12pm: Milk (reduced – just before sleep)
Nap (2hours)
3pm: Milk
Play
Cat nap (30-45min)
Bath & bedtime routine
7pm: milk
Sleep
11pm:Milk (dream feed)

 

When you introduce Dinner:

7am milk bottle (reduced)
730-8am breaksfast
morning play & nap
11-11.30am. Lunch
1pm: Milk (reduced) just before nap
Midday Nap(2hrs)
3-4pm: Small snack (solids) or Small amount milk or just water -- eventually drop this meal entirely so baby gets a good dinner
5.30/6pm: Dinner (solids)
Play & Bath & bedtime routine
7pm: milk (just before bed)
Sleep
11pm: Milk – dream feed

 

Homemade baby food/ Food Cubes:

It's handy & easy to make food cubes -- use the ice cube trays with the lids.

Ice Cube trays with Lids are available from Takashimaya or Isetan, And I think Daiso.

In Singapore, these covered ice-cube trays are also available at HDB 'hardware/convenience" shops. 

Daiso also has lots of small Tupperware containers which are good for carrying around snacks and small meals for baby.

 

Get a hand held food processor for this. Braun/Kenwood/Tefal/ Philips all have them.

I like Philips because the customer service is very good and they can fix it without much hassle if it breaks.

You don't need to buy a baby specific food maker. You can just steam/cook in your regular pots/ rice cooker /steamer.

Cook and puree whatever fruit or veg, then freeze them in the ice cube trays. If you plan ahead, you can usually cook a few types of fruit and veg in an hour or two and have enough to last the week.

The ice cube trays are usually 1TB or 2TB worth of food depending on the size of each cube. A variety of sizes is good.

Then when you start combining foods, you can take 1 cube of Food A, one cube of b, one of C and mix it up with endless new combinations, depending on the quantity baby can eat.

When you start to get more types of foods than you have trays, you just transfer the cubes into labelled ziploc bags,so you can use the trays again.

 

**Annabel Karmel Baby Foods is a good book if you need some recipes/guidance.

 

The older baby gets, the less fine/smooth you have to puree.

By 9-11mths the food can start to be a bit chunky.

 

Rice cereal is instant so you can just add that in at the last minute to thicken or bulk.

Rice cereal can be mixed with breastmilk, formula or water, or put directly into the pureed foods.
The more commercial brands of rice cereals have much more added sugar so try to stay away from those  eg: Nestle.
The organic rice cereals tend to be better/more “pure”

 

Water: give water during mealtimes and anytime during the day. Avoid juices if possible otherwise they get a sweet tooth. If baby won't take water from a bottle or sippy cup, feed it on the spoon.

 

BIBS: the Baby Bjorn bib is the best one I've used so far. It's a sturdy plastic with a lip to catch the food. Stays on securely and easy to clean. Start early with using one otherwise they might reject it. Some babies just don’t like having anything around their neck

 

I think that covers everything.

Below is a chart which I compiled based on a couple of books I looked at.
Its a general guideline as to when to introduce foods based on their allergen indications and ease for digestion.

	Solids Timeline	Age (mths)		Fruits	all cooked and blended unless stated	Age (mths)
					Apple	4	8raw
Vegetables (cooked)					Banana (raw)	4
	Avocado	4	raw		Nectarine	5	7raw
	Sweet Potato	4			Peach	5	7 raw
	Butternut Squash	6			Pear	5
	Pumpkin	6			Mango	6
	Asparagus	7			Papaya	6	(raw)
	Carrots	7			Apricot	8
	celery	7			Cantaloupe	8	(raw)
	Green Beans	7	10 raw		Grapes	8	(raw)
	Peas	7	10 raw		Honeydew	8	(raw)
	Potato	7			Kiwi	8
	Zucchini	7			Plum	8
	Broccoli	8			Prunes	8
	okra	8			WaterMelon	8	(raw)
	Beets	9			Berries	9
	Brussel sprouts	9			Cherries	9	(raw)
	Cauliflower	9			pineapple	9
	Eggplant	9			Orange	12
	mushrooms	9
	Spinach	9		Meat/Dairy/Protein
	Tomato	9			Cottage Cheese	6
	Sweet Peppers	10			Yoghurt	6
	Cabbage	18			Beef	7
	corn	18			Chicken	7
	cucumber	18	raw		EggYolk	7
					hard Cheese	7
Grains					Lamb	7
	Rice Cereal	4			Tofu	7
	White Rice	6			Turkey	7
	Oatmeal	6			Veal	7
	Barley	6			White fish	8
	Millet	6			Fatty Fish	9
	Brown Rice	6			Pork	9
	Pasta	10			Nut Butters	10
	Quinoa	8			Egg White	12
	polenta	8			shellfish	12
>	No Honey or Nuts before age 1yr
>	introduce foods one at a time for 3-4 days.
>	observe any changes in poo/pee/excessive gas, sleep/mood, skin rash or throwing up
>	once a food has been "approved", you can mix in combination with any other approved food!