Baby Weaning -
Frequently Asked Questions

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• I Am a New Mum and Need Some Basic Advice on Weaning My Baby
• When Do I Give the First Baby Porridge?

I Am a New Mum and Need Some Basic Advice on Weaning My Baby

Weaning a baby can be a stressful time for a new mum as she often doesn't know what to give and when and whether her baby gets enough nutrition and energy. Without knowing your particular baby, I can only give some general guidance. Please do watch your baby closely, see his reactions and take the lead from him.

Start with some freshly grated apple puree each day (using a glass grater). Your baby will not take a lot in the beginning. A few days later you can add 1 tablespoon Holle Organic Rice Baby Porridge to the puree.

Once your baby is used to the puree you could either start making rice or Holle Organic Millet Baby Porridge with breastmilk (if you can't express use the formula your baby is used to).

Again after a week or two you can start giving your baby one or two teaspoons of carrot puree. Gradually increase the amount of solid foods, including different baby porridge varieties, according to your baby's appetite.

I do not recommend a huge variety of fruit or vegetables as this can confuse babies and there is even discussion about developing a risk of allergy when too many different foods are given. You baby needs security and can be happy with little.

If your baby is a good eater you can change/add vegetables over the coming weeks. Take your baby's pace. There aren't any "must gives".

Soon your baby will be eating, for example:

• a porridge for breakfast (with fruit puree);
• a sugar free rusk (Holle Organic Baby Spelt Rusks) and/or a breastfeed in the later morning;
• a vegetable/grain based lunch;
• milk free porridge in the afternoon;
• a milk based porridge in the evening.

I usually send out a Holle Baby Food Advisor booklet with any first order. There are lots of useful weaning tips in it. You can also download the advisor from the Ulula baby weaning page

When Do I Give the First Baby Porridge?

After 4 - 6 months, the demand for nutrients cannot be met from breast milk or formula alone. Therefore, at this point, one can start with supplementary food. The first porridge meal should be introduced step by step. The first attempts at feeding porridges and solid food is new and possibly difficult for your child. At first, a child may try to make the porridge come out of its mouth, rather than feed from the porridge. This is due to a extrusion reflex which an infant has. This disappears at approximately 4 or 5 months or age. Therefore, have patience and continue to try and feed your child porridge if he/she seem to need it.

A small tip: try using a plastic spoon as it is not as cold as a metal spoon and this will be more pleasant for your child.

The first solid food should be a vegetable meal. This replaces the lunchtime breastfeeding or bottle feed. As carrots are mild and very digestible, it is recommended to feed your baby a warm carrot meal for the first solid meal. The sweetness of carrots eases the unfamiliarity of solid food for infants. Begin in the first two weeks of feeding spoonfuls of pureed carrots. Use a glass grater to produce the best puree We recommend adding 2 teaspoons of sunflower oil to approximately 190 - 200 g of vegetable in the form of a baby food jar or freshly prepared meal. Start by feeding less spoonfuls and increase the amount to that of a baby food jar (approximately 190 g).

The Next Vegetable Baby Meal

Should the carrot meals agree well with your baby during the first 2 weeks, the pure carrot meal should be replaced with a carrot-potato mix. In turn, two weeks later, we recommend adding meat (approximately 20 g) to the pure carrot-potato mix. Meat contains important nutrients and assists the absorption of vital iron. Lean beef, veal or turkey should be used. Another option is to use vegetable-meat baby food jars from organic agriculture. As of 6 months, instead of carrots, other vitamin-rich vegetables or vegetable baby food jars such as broccoli, fennel, spinach or cauliflower may be used.

These lunchtime vegetable meals can be complemented with the use of a Holle grain porridge to create a wholesome meal. Just mix 2 tablespoons of Holle Porridge and 3 teaspoons of sunflower oil with the hot vegetables. Once cooled it's ready to eat!

Non-dairy Fruit Meals From 5 or 6 Months

The fruit meal is a further meal which should be introduced. This replaces the afternoon breastfeed or bottled formula meal. In this case, simple, traditional fruits should be used such as apple, pear, bananas or peaches. We recommend introducing exotic fruits or a mix of several fruits only after having fed your child the traditional fruit porridge for a period of time. The preparation follows in combination with the Holle Organic Grain porridges. Just mix porridge with previously boiled water, add pureed fruit or fruit from a baby food jar and it's ready to eat! Details for further recipes can be found on the packaging of all Holle Grain Porridges.

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