Sally Preston's top tips for baby weaning

Mumii have been in touch with Sally Preston, expert in food science, and founder of the company Kidilicious. She has shared with us her expert advice on weaning your baby...

What are your tips for baby weaning?

I think the most important thing for weaning of small children is to be relaxed and not be stressed about it. What is important to remember about weaning is that it is introducing tastes, textures and a new style of feeding from the milk. So it doesn’t really matter if they spit it out if they don’t like it because from a nutritional point of view it’s adding very little value at that very early stage.

I think if the mother is relaxed and is happy to try new things, then the child will be happy to pick up on those positive messages. So don’t be too anxious about nutrition or if they don’t like something, if they don’t like it- it’s all part of their journey of trying new things. If you experience the joy with them you will get on a lot better.

Best foods for weaning

I think good foods for weaning are things that they can hold in their hands, things like carrot and cucumber sticks are good, they are chunky they can hold them and put them to their gums.  They are cool as well.  Any finger food encourages hand to mouth coordination. Any slices of fruit or vegetables for them to gnaw on, pick at, move around the tray- different colours, flavours and textures are all part of their experimental journey.

How can mums encourage healthy, non-fussy eating in your opinion?

I think one of the most important things to recognise is that when a child tries new things, they may not like it at first. This does not mean they will not like it forever; it’s just a new experience for them and they are unsure. Research shows that you must expose that child to the flavour many many times so if he doesn’t like parsnip today, try next week and the week after but just don’t worry that they don’t like parsnip now. Keep trying and be relaxed. If after about twenty attempts they don’t like it then perhaps it isn’t for them but up until that point introduce it in different formats and flavour combinations.

Wafers have a great gap to fill for mums not wanting the mess of a rusk, tell me about them

Well, I remember feeding my children rusks when they were little and they were incredibly messy. My children would hold them in their hands and they would go everywhere; all over their face, hands, hair, clothes, all over where they are sitting. It would the set rock solid and you’d have to literally chip it away from where they are sitting. So clearly there is a market for things to be held in the hand which are soft and dissolve, which introduce flavours and textures in a very subtle way but I think the mess is a really big issue here. Mothers don’t want to be giving their child a rusk or wafer and then spending the next half an hour scrubbing them down. They want to pick them up and move them on. It’s about convenience, quality and has the added value that it is gluten free for those mothers who want to ensure they are giving their children things that are allergen free.

We hope this advice is helpful for you in your weaning journey, good luck!