{"id":12424,"date":"2023-06-06T12:24:30","date_gmt":"2023-06-06T12:24:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.babyledfeeding.com\/?p=12424"},"modified":"2024-01-20T08:01:32","modified_gmt":"2024-01-20T08:01:32","slug":"introducing-new-foods-to-6-month-old","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.babyledfeeding.com\/introducing-new-foods-to-6-month-old\/","title":{"rendered":"Guide to Introducing New Foods to 6-Month-Old Baby"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
Introducing solid foods to your 6-month-old baby is an exciting milestone, but it can also be overwhelming. While spoon-feeding purees has been the traditional approach, baby-led weaning is becoming increasingly popular as a method for introducing new foods to infants. This post will guide you through the process of introducing solid foods to your baby using baby-led weaning, including the benefits of baby led weaning, how to start baby led weaning, a step-by-step guide to introducing new foods.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
From the time your baby is born until they are the full 6 months, 100% of all of their nutrition comes from milk. They get every single nutrient they need, with the exception of vitamin D which you are hopefully giving daily as drops. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
At 6 months, your babies iron and nutrient stores have depleted and milk can no longer give your baby everything they need to thrive. This is the main reason we start weaning. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
It is also really important to know that from 6 months to 12 months, your baby is getting 75% of all their nutrition from milk. So think of food as topping up the milk and not the other way around. Your babies tummy is also the size of their fist, so they don’t need much, but the food you do give them should be nutrient dense (packed full of iron and vitamins). <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Baby-led weaning is a method of introducing solid foods that allows babies to self-feed rather than being spoon-fed purees. Research has shown that there are several benefits to this approach, including:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Before you begin, it’s essential to prepare for messy eating. Baby-led weaning can be messy, but it’s part of the process. Use a bib and place a mat under your baby’s high chair to make clean-up easier. Also, ensure you have a high chair that allows your baby to sit up straight and reach the food.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When choosing foods to start with, opt for soft foods that are easy for your baby to pick up, such as cooked spears of vegetables, slow cooked meat that has been back forked, salmon or bean burgers. Cut them into manageable pieces that your baby can hold and bring to their mouth. Spears are a great shape as they are so easy for babies to manage. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Here’s a step-by-step guide to introducing solid foods to your baby using baby-led weaning:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Absolutely not! You can start by giving your baby the same dinner or lunch the family are eating. Once you can squash it between your finger and thumb, then it is really safe for your baby to eat. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
There is one caveat to this though and that is the introduction of allergens. These should be introduced on a week by week basis. This way it will be really easy for you to identify if there are issues. Start on a Monday and introduce gluten as the first allergen. This way, if you baby doesn’t show any signs of a reaction, you can make foods like fritters, egg free muffins etc. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Here are some additional tips for success with baby-led weaning:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Introducing solid foods to your 6-month-old baby using baby-led weaning can be a fun and rewarding experience for both you and your baby. It promotes self-regulation, a healthy relationship with food, and supports developmental milestones. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Remember to start with soft foods, offer a variety of textures and tastes, and be patient. With time, your baby will learn to enjoy different foods and develop a healthy relationship with food. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you have any concerns or questions, don’t hesitate to contact your paediatrician.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Introducing solid foods to your 6-month-old baby is an exciting milestone, but it can also be overwhelming. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":12434,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"wprm-recipe-roundup-name":"","wprm-recipe-roundup-description":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3930],"tags":[],"acf":{"top_image":{"ID":12434,"id":12434,"title":"Introducing new foods","filename":"Introducing-new-foods-2.png","filesize":49250,"url":"https:\/\/www.babyledfeeding.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/Introducing-new-foods-2.png","link":"https:\/\/www.babyledfeeding.com\/introducing-new-foods-to-6-month-old\/introducing-new-foods-3\/","alt":"","author":"3","description":"","caption":"","name":"introducing-new-foods-3","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":12424,"date":"2023-06-06 19:19:05","modified":"2023-06-06 19:19:05","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/png","type":"image","subtype":"png","icon":"https:\/\/www.babyledfeeding.com\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":1080,"height":1080,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/www.babyledfeeding.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/Introducing-new-foods-2-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/www.babyledfeeding.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/Introducing-new-foods-2-300x300.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/www.babyledfeeding.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/Introducing-new-foods-2-768x768.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":768,"large":"https:\/\/www.babyledfeeding.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/Introducing-new-foods-2-1024x1024.png","large-width":1024,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/www.babyledfeeding.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/Introducing-new-foods-2.png","1536x1536-width":1080,"1536x1536-height":1080,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/www.babyledfeeding.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/Introducing-new-foods-2.png","2048x2048-width":1080,"2048x2048-height":1080,"wprm-metadata-1_1":"https:\/\/www.babyledfeeding.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/Introducing-new-foods-2-500x500.png","wprm-metadata-1_1-width":500,"wprm-metadata-1_1-height":500,"wprm-metadata-4_3":"https:\/\/www.babyledfeeding.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/Introducing-new-foods-2-500x375.png","wprm-metadata-4_3-width":500,"wprm-metadata-4_3-height":375,"wprm-metadata-16_9":"https:\/\/www.babyledfeeding.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/Introducing-new-foods-2-480x270.png","wprm-metadata-16_9-width":480,"wprm-metadata-16_9-height":270,"square-image":"https:\/\/www.babyledfeeding.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/Introducing-new-foods-2-600x600.png","square-image-width":600,"square-image-height":600}},"post_page_videos":{"videos":false,"videos_autocomplete":true},"post_page_books":{"title":"","books_autocomplete":true,"book":false}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.babyledfeeding.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12424"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.babyledfeeding.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.babyledfeeding.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.babyledfeeding.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.babyledfeeding.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12424"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/www.babyledfeeding.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12424\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12554,"href":"https:\/\/www.babyledfeeding.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12424\/revisions\/12554"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.babyledfeeding.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12434"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.babyledfeeding.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12424"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.babyledfeeding.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12424"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.babyledfeeding.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12424"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}