New website to support weaning - Public Health Dorset
New website to support weaning
A new support tool is available if you are looking to start weaning your baby.
Knowing when to introduce solid foods to your baby can be a confusing time. Therefore a weaning hub is here to help.
The new Start4Life website is full with NHS-approved advice and tips for each weaning stage, plus simple, healthy weaning recipes, it puts everything parents need to know in one place.
Official advice is that most babies should not start solid foods until they are around six months old. By this point their bodies are better able to cope with solid foods and they are more able feed themselves. They are also better at moving food around their mouth, chewing and swallowing.
The last UK Infant Feeding Survey showed that three-quarters of parents had introduced solid foods by the time their baby is five months old.
A new survey of 1,000 mothers of young children conducted for Public Health England found that common misconceptions persist about the signs a baby is ready for their first solid foods. Just under half of mums (46 per cent) mistake wanting extra milk feeds as a sign that their baby is ready for solid foods. Chewing fists (32 per cent) and waking up in the night (24 per cent) were also incorrectly identified as signs a baby is ready.