When is the best time to start weaning my baby onto solid foods?.

A The current government recommendations are you should start giving your baby solid foods when he or she is around six months old. This is because your babies immune and digestive systems are not ready to cope with solid foods until this time and introducing solid foods can increase the risk of gastrointestinal infections and allergies. This evidence comes from a research study that found that infants under 6 months old could not cope with the pathogens that are commonly present in food. This is due to the immaturities in the digestive, absorption and immunity systems and many of the babies studies had frequent periods of gastrointestinal illness during the first six months of life.

So at 6 months your baby will be ready developmentally to take solid food. For example at 6 months old children are able to sit up with support which makes weaning safer and easier. They have also developed the muscles move the food from the front to the back of the mouth and to chew and swallow food. At this stage they are also curious about other tastes and textures and have developed their eye-hand co-ordination, so they can have finger foods. Weaning at this age then becomes much more fun for your child.

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