Feeding FAQ: 4-6 months – Weaning

How do we introduce protein to our baby when she is six months but only recently started to wean?

My wife and I have started to introduce solids with our baby at 5.5mths. She will be 6 months in a week; however, we’re still introducing new vegetables and fruits. Our query is mainly that in the book of Weaning, it says to give 3 days before introducing any new fruit or vegetable, and at the same time at 6 months she’ll need protein. However, our daughter is still taking max 1 cube of puree as she is still being introduced. Can you please tell us what stage we should follow? She is quite a small baby but is gaining weight, which her doctor tells us is the most important thing.

Our other question is with regards to the 4.30 pm drink of cool boiled water or well diluted juice; we have never really followed this as her milk intake wasn’t so high, so we were concerned that it would affect her milk intake.

Basically, we’ve introduced baby rice (which she still hates) for 1 week; carrots for 3 days; pear for 3 days; courgette for 3 days; now on apple.

At present she feeds at 7am, 150-180mls, 11am, 120-150mls and 2-3tsps puree, 2.30pm 140-180mls, 6pm 240-280mls 4-6tsps baby rice, sometimes mixed with 1 cube of fruit. She weighs 6.05kg.

Since the Weaning book was written the official suggested age for weaning has been changed and many parents such as yourselves are choosing not to wean until nearer 6 months. As the guide was written addressing parents who would be weaning from around 17 weeks the introduction of all the different fruit and vegetable groups was very slow.

As you rightly say, your daughter will need protein introduced in a week or so but, as yet, is still in the early stages of weaning onto vegetables and fruit.

Take a look at Gina’s Guidelines to Weaning, where she addresses this problem. You will need to speed up the process a little now, introducing new tastes every two days. In another week or so she will be able to take a simple chicken casserole made with the vegetables already accepted. You will need to increase the amounts of solids she is given as well, especially at 11am as the milk feed at this time will be dropped once she has accepted a full protein meal.

Continue to offer her new tastes of fruit and vegetables but, alongside those, also begin to offer the simpler protein dishes made with chicken, beans and pulses.

Watch for reactions from her and also be guided by her needs as to the amounts you give her. She may need slightly less than the amounts suggested in the guide.

When offering her baby rice at 6pm mix it with fruit puree to make it more palatable. Fruit added to it should also prevent any constipation which can occur when too much rice is given on its own.