Weaning is the very first time you feed your baby something other than milk. First tastes are more of a learning experience than a nutritional necessity, so try to relax and have fun with it. We hope our simple tips will take the worry out of weaning and make it a positive experience for you and your baby.

It’s not about a text book answer, it’s about trusting your instinct as a mum. Sometimes trusting our judgement is one of the hardest things we have to do as a parent, especially with advice coming at us from all sides, but particularly with food, it really is a case of you and your baby know best.

There are some feeding cues you can look for which might help you decide when it’s appropriate to prepare a gentle first taste. If your baby can sit up with or without support, hold their heads, are showing an interest in others eating and are chewing (hands, toys or other objects) then it could be time to arm yourself with some muslins and prepare to get messy!

A clear sign that they are developmentally ready for solid foods is if they can hold for example a slice of apple and manoeuvre it to their mouth, or crush it and has the reflexes necessary to move the food to the back of their mouth and swallow it. Before this stage if your baby appears hungry it is best to give them more milk or more frequent milk feeds.

First tastes should be easy to digest and unlikely to provoke an allergic reaction. Root vegetables such as steamed carrot, parsnip and sweet potato have a naturally sweet flavour and make a smooth puree. Good first fruits include ripe, mashed banana, avocado, cooked apple or pear.

This is a good time to introduce our baby’s first four grain porridge which is easy to digest, gluten-free, and our alternative to baby rice. It contains quinoa (a high protein grain) which by adding to our Stage 1 products, we are offering additional proteins into babies’ diets that is ‘lost’ when babies drop a feed when first weaning. You can find out quinoa and why we use it in our recipes here

Once you have successfully introduced these single foods, and you are confident that your baby is enjoying them, then the fun begins! Start mixing it up a bit. Apple and parsnip for example, banana and avocado. Don’t be afraid to try bolder flavours.

If you are pushed for time or just fancy a change, why not try one of our many pots or pouches. Our blueberry, banana & vanilla puree is one of our most popular, and babies love our parsnip, apple & pea recipe!

No-no’s for babies under one include: salt, sugar, artificial additives, honey, unpasteurised cheeses and whole nuts (due to the risk of choking). Fruit, vegetables and our baby’s first four grain porridge or baby rice are perfectly adequate weaning foods at this early stage, there is no need to increase their range of foods too quickly. Plum’s health visitor doesn’t advise introducing dairy until after six months if you are exclusively breastfeeding. Certainly avoid peanuts and other nuts, wheat or gluten, eggs, meat, soya, fish or shellfish, which could trigger a food allergy.

• Use a first weaning spoon. i.e soft & tiny.
  

  

• Start at home or in a familiar environment & choose a time when baby is alert.
• Take your time, don’t be distracted – smile & connect with your baby.
• Start by offering just a couple of spoons once a day.
• Don’t be discourage if your baby doesn’t seem interested, try again in a day or two.
• Build up to offering food twice, then three times a day, over a few weeks.
• Don’t worry about how much they’re eating at this stage, they are getting used to unfamiliar tastes & textures.

View the full Plum Stage 1 range – savoury and sweet recipes

Visit here for some Stage 1 – First Weaning recipes to cook at home with your little one