Essence of weaning guide from my PD, Dr Ek Ong from SBCC (TMC):
1. By 6 months, most babies will be ready for solids
2. Don't over feed or under feed, let baby's appetite be your guide
3. Do not give baby foods, such as cereal thinned with milk, from a bottle
- The first feed
1. Rice cereal is a good first food
2. mix 1 teaspoon of cereal with 3-4 teaspoons of liquid (EBM, FM or water)
3. introduce at breakfast or lunch time
4. initially, can give some milk before first spoon feeding
5. start with little food on baby-sized spoon. put spoon between baby's lips, so he can suck. don't force spoon down his throat.
6. baby only needs about 1-2 teaspoons before you resume the rest of his milk feed
- Full 6 months
1. food should be bland, smooth and easy to swallow
2. make rice cereal thin for the first few feeds
3. once baby i used to spoon feeding, may thicken cereal and increase amount gradually over the next 2 weeks until it replaced a milk feed
4. 3-4 tablespoon of cereal to 150ml of milk is sufficient for most babies. you may use other cereals for variety
5. next, intro fruits and veges one at a time
6. start with tablespoon of soft scrapped fruits (papaya, apple, banana) or pureed veges (carrot, spinach, pumpkin, potato). Don't steam the fruits as this can destroy Vit C. Add these to cereal of serve separately.
7. inrto fruit juices 1-2 oz diluted with equal amount of water. Barley water is ok too.
8. end of the month, baby will be on 1 cereal feed, one fruit/vege dessert and 3-5 bottles of milk
- Full 7 months
1. baby is ready for home-cooked porridge
2. porridge must contain a vege and a protein food
3. Nvr use chicken/beefk broth to make porridge. they are only good for taste, the nutrient is in the meat itself.
4. vege such as carrot/pumpkin may be minced and cooked with porridge. greens such as spinach have to be pre-cooked, pureed and added to the porridge
5. steam a small piece of fish or 1 tablespoon of minced meat separately and mash or sieve into the porridge when ready to eat
6. do not add meat or fish into porridge and cook for long time. Overcooked meat/fish are tough and tasteless
7. end of the month, baby will have 1 cereal meal in the morning, 1 porridge meal in the evening, 1-2 servings of fruits for dessert and 2-3 milk feeds.
- Full 8 months
1. increase solid meals gradually to 3 times a day. he'll continue with 1-3 milk feeds
2. a greater variety of food can be intro. fully cooked egg yolk can be used.
3. instead of pureed foods, you can give soft foods, either mashed or finely minced
4. it is not necc to mix all foods into the cereal or sice porridge. give some foods indiv, this helps baby develop taste for the different foods
5. finger food, such as toasted bread or teething rusks should be given only after 8 months when teething comes on. Keep an eye on them in case they choke
Ok that's the summary, hope it helps for those mommies who are clueless when it comes to weaning