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Baby weaning marks a crucial milestone in any child's life, not only providing essential nutrient supplementation but also shaping their future eating habits and skills. Nowadays, various weaning methods like traditional weaning, Japanese-style weaning, BLW, are prevalent. Whichever method parents choose, it's essential to equip themselves with fundamental knowledge about what baby weaning entails to support their child during this phase.
What is Baby Weaning?
Baby weaning signifies the transition from exclusively breastfeeding or formula feeding (liquid diet) to incorporating solid foods, progressing from purees to chunky textures and eventually solids.
When to Start Baby Weaning? Typically, babies can start weaning between 6 months to 1 year of age. Around 4 to 6 months old, babies enter a developmental stage where breast milk alone cannot fully meet their nutritional needs. Hence, they require additional foods like baby cereal, porridge, vegetables, fruits... (weaning means adding alongside breast milk for the baby).
Things to Consider When Starting Baby Weaning
Avoid Introducing Solid Foods to Your Baby Before 4 Months Old
By the time your baby reaches 4 months old, their digestive system has matured, and their stomach can now produce amylase enzymes to digest starch. However, according to experts, babies should exclusively breastfeed for the first 6 months, and the most suitable time for introducing solid foods is at 6 months old.
Introducing Solid Foods to Your Child in Stages
Initial Stage (4-6 Months Old):
This is the stage where you start acquainting your baby with solid foods, aiming for them to swallow food down their throat using their tongue. So, how should you start introducing solid foods to your child? Mothers should prepare easily swallowable liquid-like foods such as pureed porridge, strained porridge, finely mashed and cooked vegetables like potatoes, sweet potatoes, carrots... At this stage, your baby's stomach is still tender, so avoid feeding solid meats like fish and start with soft tofu to ensure safety.
In the following weeks, you can introduce soft, easily digestible vegetables like spinach. During this stage, your baby is just getting used to solid foods, so never force-feed if your baby isn't cooperating, Mom!
Phase 2 (6-8 Months Old):
At this stage, your baby's tongue becomes more flexible, and they start learning to crush food with their tongue and gums. You can introduce finely mashed foods like tofu, minced meat, shrimp, and finger foods like fruits, vegetables, bread, noodles...
Phase 3 (9-11 Months Old):
Now, your baby's tongue movements are more agile, and they can crush food with their gums. Foods at this stage should be as firm as a banana. You can feed your baby unstrained porridge, chicken eggs. Your baby may also start reaching out for food and their grasping skills become more refined.
Phase 4 (12-18 Months Old):
By this stage, your child may have weaned off breast milk, so meals can be divided into 3 main meals with accompanying snacks. You should introduce your child to family foods, accompanied by snacks and milk, yogurt, etc.
Ensure Your Baby Gets a Variety of Nutrient Groups
When introducing solid foods to your child, it's essential to ensure they receive a balanced intake of various nutrients.
– Protein Group: Animal sources such as meat, fish, eggs, milk, shrimp, eel...; Plant sources like soybeans, soy-based products, and other types of beans.
– Fat Group: Oil, fat, butter, oil-rich seeds.
– Carbohydrate Group: Brown rice, white rice, wheat flour, bread, pasta, noodles, rice vermicelli, potatoes, corn.
– Vitamin and Mineral Group: Various vegetables and fruits.
Avoid Adding Salt and Seasonings to Your Baby's Food
Some mothers may think that adding a bit of fish sauce or salt to baby food will enhance its flavor and stimulate the child's taste buds, but they are making a significant mistake. Leading experts in child health always advise mothers not to feed their children salt or fish sauce because the child's kidney function is still weak. Adding salt or fish sauce to a child's food will strain their kidneys.
Monitor Post-Meal Reactions and 'Output'
When starting your baby on a new type of food, mothers need to observe the child's attitude as well as their 'output' on that day to see if the child is allergic to any food group.
Patience! Slow and Steady Wins the Race!
When starting your baby on solid foods, they may be uncooperative or playful, but parents should not worry or stress too much. It's important to understand that feeding your baby solid foods is to help them develop eating skills (grasping, swallowing) and recognize the taste of food. When feeding your baby, mothers can observe their baby's attitude to identify which foods they like or dislike.
Furthermore, parents should not force-feed their babies. The baby may reject a food because they are not accustomed to its taste, so parents need to patiently retry many times. Forcing the baby to eat can lead to a fear of food, making the weaning process even more challenging!
Common Baby Weaning Methods Nowadays
Currently, there are 3 popular baby weaning methods commonly chosen and applied by Vietnamese mothers for their beloved babies: the Japanese-style weaning method, Baby-Led Weaning (BLW), and the traditional weaning method.
Traditional Weaning Method
Traditional weaning is not unfamiliar to Vietnamese mothers. To make baby porridge, mothers grind various foods such as meat, vegetables, and fish together. This weaning method is suitable for babies from 6 months old and above. When the child has teeth, they will eat porridge along with finely ground food.
Advantages:
- If mothers adopt the traditional weaning method, babies can consume large amounts right from the beginning, thus promoting good weight gain.
- Foods that are finely ground are safe for digestion.
- Because it is a traditional method, it is easier to gain family support.
Disadvantages:
- Consuming a lot of finely ground foods may affect the ability to eat solid foods later on.
- Grinding multiple foods together makes it difficult for mothers to detect which food the baby is allergic to if an allergy occurs.
- The abundance of finely ground foods may make it challenging for babies to distinguish between different ingredients.
Introducing Baby-Led Weaning (BLW)
This method is widely used in Western countries. Baby-Led Weaning (BLW) involves not pureeing food and not spoon-feeding babies. Instead, mothers sit with their babies, guiding them to feed themselves. The rest is up to the baby.
Advantages:
- Babies can develop chewing skills and food control.
- Babies are actively 'in charge' of controlling their food, allowing them the freedom to explore flavors they like.
- Babies can easily join the family at meal times.
Disadvantages:
- Since babies feed themselves, the amount of food entering their bodies is not controlled, leading to potential weight loss or gain.
- As babies start eating solid foods from the beginning, there is a risk of choking.
- Mothers spend time cleaning up the 'battlefield' after the baby finishes eating.
Introducing Japanese Weaning Method
Introducing the Japanese weaning method involves mixing thin porridge through a sieve at a ratio of 1:10 instead of making it into a paste. Vegetables and meats are also processed separately to the appropriate coarseness.
Advantages:
- Babies become familiar with various types of foods, aiding in the development of their ability to recognize food flavors.
- This method is beneficial for the baby's kidneys.
- Babies do not feel pressured, creating a comfortable eating environment while also fostering the habit of sitting and eating quickly and attentively.
Disadvantages:
- Mothers will spend a lot of time teaching the baby to sit and hold a spoon.
- Preparing separate types of food also takes a lot of time.
Above are the most detailed information to help mothers understand what weaning is? When to start weaning and the most common weaning methods today for reference. Hopefully, it will assist mothers in their baby's weaning journey.
