Weaning your baby 2, the next stage.

Finger Foods, are they a good idea?

What are 'finger foods' and when should I give them to my baby?

For smaller babies see Weaning Part 1

Finger foods are the foods in the weaning process, In weaning baby onto solid foods and they also encourage babies to actually begin feeding themselves. They should be introduced to your infant gradually, from the age of between 7 to 8 months, it is important to take care that the pieces aren't too small, and could pose a threat of any possibility that they could choke your baby. You must not at the start of the introduction of baby finger foods leave baby unattended. Keep very close watch on the baby.

Some good examples of 'finger foods' include banana, peeled apple, pear, pieces of toast, pitta bread or chapatti, breadsticks, pieces of cheese, cut and peeled cucumber.

These are the first 'real solid foods', your baby will experience, and it is possible that they may put him off at first, until he gets used to the feel and texture, but it is important that you persist and you will soon succeed. to yours and his, obvious delight.

How do I wean my baby onto solid foods?

How much milk should my baby be drinking during the weaning?

Continue to breast feed throughout weaning your baby, or if you are feeding baby 'formula' give him 500-600ml, that's about a pint per day of 'infant milk' or 'follow-on milk'.

Arrange the pattern of feeding to give your baby a milk feed, first thing in the morning and another at bedtime, and fit in some other milk feeds during the day. The timing of these milk feeds will of course depend on what stage of weaning your baby onto solid foods you have reached, but it is best to try to give milk feeds, after meals, and amount of milk, should be limited, taken between meals.

If you are bottle feeding, from the age of 12 months onwards, you can start to give baby whole cows milk as your babies main drink, (but not or skimmed or semi skimmed milk).

By this stage, baby's solid food intake should be good, so you can begin to decrease the amount of milk to about 350ml (12oz) per day. You should try not let your child drink large volumes of milk after 1 year (i.e. more than 600ml per day) as it can reduce the appetite for other foods and hinder the progress of the baby weaning.

You can successfully wean your baby from milk to solid food!