Description
Weaning is often misunderstood. Many parents think of it as the process of stopping breast milk or formula, as if it’s a habit that needs to be kicked. A better and more accurate way to think about it is “complementary feeding.” You aren’t taking something away; you are starting something new and wonderful. The goal is not to stop milk, but to begin a lifelong, healthy relationship with food. This process is about adding to your baby’s diet, exploring new things, and building positive habits.
This journey is about helping your baby develop new skills and a curious palate. Physically, they need to learn to chew, swallow, handle food with their fingers, and eventually use utensils. But just as importantly, they need to go on a sensory adventure. They must learn to move beyond the one sweet, smooth taste of milk and explore a whole world of different textures and flavors—from the bitterness of kale to the lumpiness of a bean mash. Weaning is a journey of discovery, not a race to an endpoint.
The most important rule on this journey is to let your baby be the guide. Every child is completely unique. There is no one-size-fits-all timeline. Some babies may be ready for solids at six months and naturally stop drinking milk around their first birthday. Many others will continue to nurse until age two or even longer, which is perfectly healthy and recommended by the World Health Organization. Do not compare your baby’s progress to any other child’s.
Instead of comparing, practice “responsive feeding.” This is the simple, powerful act of watching your baby for their signals and responding to them. Don’t try to force them to eat a certain amount or try a food they are clearly rejecting. Your job is to be a supportive guide, not a strict boss. They will show you what they need and what they are ready for.
So, how do you know when they are truly ready? The calendar date is not the most important signal. While many babies are ready around six months old, you must look for three specific developmental signs. First, can your baby sit up on their own and hold their head and neck steady? This is essential for eating safely. Second, do they have the hand-eye coordination to see a piece of food, pick it up, and bring it to their mouth? Third, have they lost their “tongue-thrust reflex”? This is an infant reflex that causes them to push things out of their mouth. If they still do this, they aren’t ready to swallow. If all three signs are present, you are good to go. If not, they need more time, even if they seem fussy, are chewing their hands, or waking up at night. Those are just normal baby behaviors, not signs of readiness.
The first month of solid food is not about nutrition. Your baby will continue to get virtually all of their calories and nutrients from their milk. The mission of this first month is simple: exposure. You are a flavor tour guide. This is where the strategy of “vegetable-led weaning” is so important. It’s tempting to start with sweet foods like fruit puree or baby rice. Babies will always accept these because they already love the sweet taste of milk. But starting sweet can encourage a sweet tooth and make them more likely to reject healthy vegetables later.
To prevent fussy eating, start with vegetables first, especially the more bitter ones like broccoli, spinach, kale, and green beans. This early stage is when a baby’s palate is most open to new things. Exposing them to these flavors now makes it much more likely they will enjoy vegetables for the rest of their life. You can start very simply by offering a single, smooth, single-vegetable puree each day. Just boil or steam the veggie until it’s very soft, then blend it with a little of their usual milk or water.
When it comes to the “how,” you have options. You can use traditional spoon-feeding, giving your baby the puree yourself. This is great for ensuring they taste the new flavors and get used to cutlery. You can also try baby-led weaning, where you provide soft, safely-cut, graspable pieces of food (like a steamed broccoli floret or a soft carrot stick) and let the baby feed themselves. This is fantastic for building independence and motor skills. Many parents find success with a hybrid approach, offering a puree on a spoon while also putting a few soft finger foods on the tray to explore.
After the first two weeks of single flavors, you can start to get more creative. Begin combining flavors, like a puree of zucchini, pea, and mint. You also want to start progressing the textures. Your baby needs to learn how to handle more than just a thin liquid. Move from a watery puree to a thicker puree. Then, graduate to a mash by using a fork instead of a blender. This introduces a bit of lumpiness. You can mash up avocado and lima beans, or even a bit of soft-cooked white fish with sweet potato.
As for how much to feed, the answer, once again, is “responsive feeding.” There is no magic portion size. Your baby’s appetite will change from day to day. Offer a small amount, and if they eat it and seem interested in more, offer more. The moment they turn their head, push the spoon away, or get distracted, they are done. Stop immediately. Forcing a baby to “finish” teaches them to override their own natural fullness cues. Remember, milk is still the primary source of nutrition, so don’t let it spoil their appetite for solids. Try to offer milk at least an hour before a solid meal, or right after it, rather than right before.
After the first month, you just continue to gradually turn up the dials on taste, texture, and portion size. Introduce more complex finger foods, like soft vegetable scones or kale chips. Start offering mashed-up versions of family meals, like a mild chickpea and cauliflower curry (just make sure to squash the chickpeas and use very little spice). Over time, you will move from mashing their food to mincing it, and then to simply chopping it into small, manageable pieces.
As your baby eats more solids, it becomes important to ensure their diet is balanced across the four main food groups: 1) Fruits and vegetables; 2) Carbohydrates (like potatoes, pasta, and rice); 3) Proteins (like beans, eggs, fish, and meat); and 4) Full-fat cow’s milk. You can add cow’s milk to their food (like in a mash) from six months, but it should not become their main drink until they are 12 months old. At that point, you can switch from formula to full-fat cow’s milk, or just offer it in a cup alongside breastfeeding.
Finally, be patient. Your baby will reject new foods. It is a normal and expected part of the process. Don’t be discouraged if they spit out the broccoli. It can take 10, 15, or even 20 exposures for a baby to accept a new flavor. Don’t make a big deal out of it. Just stay calm, positive, and try again another day.
