Ask the expert: Weaning your baby - £100 voucher to be won

[LibbyMumsnet]

Weaning can be an exciting milestone, but it can also bring lots of questions - from when to start, what foods to offer first, and how to manage worries around allergies, gagging or fussy eating.

We’ve invited Paediatric Dietitian Lucy Upton to answer your questions on all things weaning and early feeding. Lucy will be posting answers throughout February.

Share your question by 2nd March for your chance to win a £100 VEX voucher (T&Cs apply).

About Lucy:
Lucy is a qualified Paediatric Dietitian and Feeding Therapist with over 15 years’ experience supporting children’s nutrition from birth through adolescence. She has worked across both the NHS and private practice, is author to 'The Ultimate Guide to Children's Nutrition - How to nurture healthy happy eaters in the first 5 years', and is a Media Dietitian. Lucy specialises in early years nutrition, weaning, food allergies, fussy eating, feeding difficulties, gut health and children’s growth, and is passionate about providing clear, practical and evidence-based advice to parents. She’s also mum to three-year-old Aurelia.

Alongside Lucy’s answers, you may also find the Best Start in Life weaning hub helpful for clear, NHS-approved guidance at each stage of weaning.

Hi @CopperPan, I love these questions as the practicalities of weaning second (or more) babies around life with your first is often overlooked. My favourite options for weaning on the go would include ripe fruit (pear, mango, avocado, berries), which can be easily offered as finger foods, precooked pasta pieces, yoghurt (can freeze and allow to defrost whilst out and about so it stays cold), or even options like pre-prepared pancakes or omelette fingers. If you have a thermos, these can be used to keep foods warm (safest if these are saucey/wet foods), too.

How strict do we need to be with the weaning at 6 months guidance?

At how many months old should you be concerned enough to seek advice if a baby doesn’t take to weaning? My baby was slow and was 10 months before they showed any interest in finger foods and I was starting to feel a bit worried by then.

Worried that when I start weaning the baby won't like it and I may give in and go back to just breastfeeding, would that be a problem? Would I just wait a while then start the process again?

Hi @JacCharlton, thanks so much for this question. Taste recognition actually begins before birth, and we know that unborn babies can detect flavours in amniotic fluid by the second trimester. Newborns have a preference for sweetness but can detect sourness and bitterness. Preferences and familiarity of different flavours then develop gradually during weaning through repeated exposure and experience with different foods

Hi @duadonka thanks for this great question - it's one many parents share. So, in the second year of life, we often recommend regular opportunities to eat (as young children have high energy/nutrient requirements but small stomachs), which can typically look like 5-6 eating opportunities per day (e.g., three meals, two snacks). The way I recommend parents view snacks is as a golden opportunity for nutrition, rather than specific 'snack' foods, so almost mini meals with nutrient-dense options, e.g. oatcakes with cheese and sliced apple, half a slice of toast with peanut butter and banana, hummus with vegetables, yoghurt with some berries and oats. Hope this helps!

Hi @Britanniahouse, many thanks for this considered question. As a general rule, we don't recommend allergy testing for children before introducing foods during weaning. This is because they do not diagnose allergies 'alone'; we usually use these tests alongside a history, e.g., if a child has had a reaction to a food. Babies can have food allergies, and I often recommend that parents familiarise themselves with the symptoms of food allergy (The NHS and Allergy UK have good resources) before introducing common allergens like egg, milk, wheat, and peanut.

Hi @Hannahpod, I really appreciate this question, thank you (as you won't be alone). So for premature babies, BLISS (The charity for babies born premature or sick) states that by around six months corrected age, many babies are ready to begin solid foods. The recommend going by your baby’s cues, and if they are not ready by this time, it’s OK to leave it another week or two. I would therefore encourage you to look for the developmental signs of readiness we recommend for all babies, which includes; you baby can sit upright by themselves with minimal support, they can hold their head upright steadily, they can pick up objects, explore them and move them towards their mouth (and will open their mouth for them), and ideally their natural tongue thrust reflex has started to diminish e.g. they are able to swallow some food, not spit it all back out.

Hi @MrsLindaBelcher, thanks for sharing your honest thoughts and I'd be happy to provide some support. For first finger foods I'd recommend that you think about size and texture. Babies will pick up food around 6+ months of age with a palmar grasp, so finger foods that are 1-2 adult finger widths are ideal. You also want whatever you're offering initially to pass the 'squish' test, which basically means that when you apply pressure to it between your thumb and forefinger, it starts to collapse/mash and fall apart. Ideal first finger foods include: batons of well-cooked root vegetables e.g carrot, parsnip, well-cooked florets of broccoli or cauliflower, ripe avocado or banana or very ripe pear (no skin), steamed apple.

Hi @Moon22Rose, thanks so much for your question, and I'm sorry you've not been offered more clarity so far. When it comes to introducing allergenic foods, even in high-risk infants, NHS allergy services (dietitian and/or allergist) rarely offer a service to introduce foods for the first time/during weaning in a controlled environment. They can provide support on how to introduce these safely and methodically at home, but, pragmatically, there can be delays in referral and in time to be seen by these specialists. For babies with eczema, we don't recommend delaying allergen introduction whilst waiting for possible medical appointments. Allergy UK have a fantastic guide for supporting allergen introduction in higher-risk babies, as does BSACI.

My 9 month old seems to be going backwards. He just isn’t interested in putting food in his mouth, just playing with it. Previously he would put some in his mouth or allow me to put some in his mouth using my finger. Now he will not alllow me to feed him with a spoon or my finger and is not really putting anything in his mouth himself (beyond a mostly-empty spoon as he’ll remove the food from the spoon first). Do I pause or carry on? Is there a magic food that seems to be universally loved that I could try? With all the mess it is getting very disheartening especially as his peers seem to be taking to food very well (interestingly they are all bottle fed while he is EBF and a bottle refuser - does that make a difference?).

Hi @Summergarden, thanks for your question. I tend to recommend that parents feel confident reaching out about their baby's weaning progress at any time throughout the process. If parents feel their baby is progressing as expected, around 10 months is a good time to seek additional support, as the first few months of weaning include a lot of time where a baby is developing the skills they need to eat.

Hi @prettypeace, Thanks for your question. The first general recommendation I'd make is to consider how you view the first few weeks and months of weaning. Your baby is learning a new skill (with no experience), and it will likely take some time to become accustomed to different tastes, mealtimes, and the process of eating. Many babies, when they start weaning, will pull faces, grimace, spit food out or spend lots of time exploring food (with minimal amounts eaten), and this is completely normal. If you're happy your baby is developmentally ready to start solids, I would recommend once you've started continuing with this (learning) journey, rather than necessarily starting and stopping.

Hi there, @TheGirlInTheGreenDress, Thank you so much for your questions, and please know you are absolutely not alone. I hear very similar queries and worries from many parents at this stage, and it’s completely understandable to wonder if things are “on track" or why they may feel like they are moving backwards. When it comes to progress with weaning, I often remind families that progress is rarely linear. It’s very common to have periods where your baby doesn’t seem (at face value) to be moving forward. In my experience, these phases often coincide with illness, teething, travel, disrupted sleep, or big developmental leaps - when so much is happening elsewhere, eating can temporarily take a back seat. I would really encourage you to keep going. Many parents find it helpful to reframe weaning as learning rather than just eating. Learning includes messy exploration, playing with food, dropping it on the floor, tasting and rejecting, and coming back to it another day. All of these experiences build familiarity, confidence, and long-term acceptance, even when it doesn’t look like “progress” in the moment. In terms of food, I’d focus on adapting family meals where you can, so your little one can share in the same foods. Eating together, where they can see you modelling how to bite, chew, and enjoy food, can make a big difference. Simple versions of what you’re having with appropriate textures and safe preparation can often be helpful and reduce prep time. Most importantly, try to be gentle with yourself. You’re supporting your baby through a demanding process, and that takes time. Consistency, low pressure, and maintaining trust go a long way.

🎉 Huge congratulations to @Britanniahouse, who is the winner of our prize draw - we’ll be in touch shortly!

A big thank you as well to @LucyUptonDietitian for sharing such thoughtful, expert answers. We hope her advice has been helpful for everyone navigating the weaning journey.

If you’d like to read more about introducing solid foods, you can find plenty of helpful information here: https://www.mumsnet.com/articles/introducing-solid-foods