#starting solids

[baby360degrees]

When to Start Weaning: Signs Your Baby Is Ready for Solid Foods

Introducing solid foods is an exciting milestone in your baby’s development, but it can also be a source of uncertainty for many parents. With the grand parents giving traditional pearls of wisdom and friends offering tips and suggestions it can get very over-whelming. Knowing when to start weaning and how to identify the signs that your baby is ready for solid foods can make this transition smoother for both you and your little one.

As a pregnancy and parenting consultant with over 20 years of experience, I’ve had the pleasure of guiding countless parents through the weaning process. In this article, I’ll share my tried and tested insights on when to start weaning and what signs to look for to determine if your baby is ready to begin their journey with solid foods.

Understanding Weaning and Starting Solids

Weaning is the gradual process of introducing solid foods to your baby’s diet while still continuing breastfeeding or formula feeding. The goal of weaning is to ensure your baby gets all the necessary nutrients to grow and develop healthily while gradually transitioning to eating a more varied diet. The term “starting solids” refers to the beginning of this process, where you introduce your baby to foods other than breast milk or formula.

When to Start Weaning: The Ideal Age

According to health authorities like the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Indian Academy of Pediatrics (IAP), the ideal time to start weaning your baby and introducing solid foods is around six months. At this age, most babies are developmentally ready for solids and have started to require additional nutrients, such as iron and zinc, which are crucial for growth and development.

While six months is a general guideline, it’s essential to remember that every baby is unique, and some may show signs of readiness a little earlier or later. Instead of strictly adhering to a specific age, it’s important to observe your baby’s cues and readiness to start solids. A good benchmark to follow is “somewhere in the middle of the first year”.

Signs Your Baby Is Ready for Weaning

Here are the key signs to watch for that indicate your baby is ready to begin weaning:

1. Good Head and Neck Control

One of the most important signs that your baby is ready to start solids is their ability to hold their head up steadily and sit with minimal support. This control is crucial for swallowing food safely and is a developmental milestone typically reached around six months of age.

2. Interest in Food

If your baby starts watching you eat with curiosity, reaches out for food, or opens their mouth when food is near, these are clear signs they are interested in what you’re eating. This interest in food usually develops around six months and is a great indicator that your baby may be ready to start weaning.

3. Loss of the Tongue-Thrust Reflex

The tongue-thrust reflex is a natural instinct that helps protect infants from choking. When babies are younger, they will push solid objects out of their mouths with their tongues. As they approach six months, this reflex begins to diminish, allowing them to accept spoon-fed food without automatically pushing it out. The loss of this reflex is a key sign of readiness for starting solids.

4. Increased Appetite

If your baby seems hungrier even after consuming regular breast milk or formula feeds, it may be a sign they need more sustenance. They may start waking up more frequently at night or seem unsatisfied after a feed. This is an indication that their nutritional needs are increasing, and starting solids can help meet these needs.

5. Chewing Motions

When babies start to make chewing motions with their mouths, even without food, it demonstrates that they are developing the necessary oral skills to handle solid foods. These motions are a part of their natural developmental progression and a sign that they are ready for weaning.

6. Doubled Birth Weight

Most babies are ready to start weaning when they have doubled their birth weight, which generally happens around the six-month mark. This is an indicator that they are growing well and ready for the next step in their nutritional journey.

How to Start Weaning: The First Steps

Once you’ve identified that your baby is showing signs of readiness, it’s time to begin the weaning process. Here are a few tips to get started:

Start Slow: Begin with small amounts of single-ingredient purees, such as mashed vegetables or fruits. This helps your baby get accustomed to new textures and flavors.

One at a Time: Introduce one new food at a time and wait 3-5 days before offering another. This allows you to monitor any possible allergic reactions.

Consistency Is Key: Offer solid foods once a day initially and gradually increase the frequency as your baby gets used to eating solids.

Stay Patient: Remember that the weaning process is gradual. Allow your baby to explore and enjoy the experience without pressure.

Weaning Programs by Sonali Shivlani

Weaning can be both an exciting and challenging time for parents. To make this transition easier, I offer personalized baby weaning programs in-person at PD Hinduja Hospital in Khar, Mumbai, as well as online video consults. These programs are tailored to suit your baby’s unique needs and help you navigate the process of starting solids confidently.

My weaning programs include:

Customized plans for introducing solids.

Guidance on food choices, portion sizes, and feeding techniques.

Advice on managing common challenges like allergies, picky eating, and mealtime routines.

Ongoing support and consultations to answer any questions you may have.

Conclusion

Starting solids and weaning your baby is a significant milestone, and knowing when your baby is ready can make the process enjoyable and stress-free. By observing your baby’s developmental signs and taking a gradual approach, you can introduce your little one to a variety of nutritious foods that will support their growth and development. Remember, each baby is unique, so trust your instincts and consult with an expert if you need personalized guidance. Happy weaning!

Author’s Bio

This blog is written by Sonali Shivlani, Founder of Baby360degrees and a renowned pregnancy and parenting expert. I help families enjoy their pregnancy and become confident parents, but it wasn’t always like that. Learn more about the classes curated by me and offered via Baby 360 Degrees and join a community of parents who have trusted her over the last 20 years.

[st-just]

'White Americans don't have any culture, they're just [normal/boring/generic/empty]. 'Culture' is when you're quaint and exotic and have interesting ethnic foods and holidays." is such a grating bit of nonsense to have somehow become progressive commonsense in a lot of places.

[ester-galls]

Will all great Neptune's ocean wash this blood

Clean from my hands?

[elitisim]

so, i hit 1k sometime in the beginning of June ✨🥳. Which means my incessant yapping about absolutely nothing on every post I make and multiple months-long unannounced hiatuses didn't scare all of you off yet, so thanks for that y'all.

No, but for real tho, I genuinely want to express my gratitude to each and every one of you for putting up with me and all my BS, so my 1k+ gift exclusively consists of hairs requested by YOU!  Which is totally about giving back to the community that has supported me and NOT just an excuse to dump all the requests that have been sitting here piling up for months.

there are only 7 hairs in the preview image but a bunch of these are from sets, so all-in-all you're getting 17 female hairs!

INFORMATION:

None of this is my original work! All mesh credit goes to @sheabuttyr, @ebonixsims, @daylifesims, @simstrouble!

Set contains 17 hairs for for Teen ➤ Elder Females

due to how the meshes where made the Poloma Passion Twists and Monae Beads don't have root/tip controls so they’re only 2 channels the rest are 4 like normal.

credits, preview pictures, links to originals, poly counts and individual download links for every hair is under the cut.

polycounts are ALL over the place. Lowest hair is +10k, Highest one is +32k. Please reference the list under the cut before downloading!

Files comes in two flavors: Merged and Unmerged

Both types contain the exact same type of stuff (package file and preview images) except version one is one big merged file and the version has individual files.

[DOWNLOAD MERGED]

[DOWNLOAD UNMERGED]

[PICK AND CHOOSE]

Tagging list: @pis3update, @naturalhair-sims3, @xto3conversionsfinds, @kpccfinds

@simstrouble Adeline Braids//22.2k poly// requested by @paigeywaigeyy

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@sheabuttyr: London Locs // 16.2k Poly //requested by @thesirensims

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@daylifesims: Honey Sun Clover Dreadlocks v1// 10.8K Poly //requested by anon

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@daylifesims: Honey Sun Clover Dreadlocks v2// 10.9K Poly // Under hats // fully recolorable// 1 channel// requested by anon

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@ebonixsims: Monae Beadset V1//32.7K Poly! // Under hats // Recolorable beads 4 channels//no tips or root controls due to mesh//requested by anon

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@ebonixsims: Monae Beadset V2//30.5K Poly! // Under hats // Recolorable// 4 channels//no tips or root controls due to mesh//requested by anon

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@daylifesims :Honey Sun Alfalfa Braids v1// 10.1K Poly // Under hats // fully recolorable// 1 channel// requested by anon

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@daylifesims :Honey Sun Alfalfa Braids v2// 10.1K Poly // Under hats // fully recolorable// 1 channel// requested by anon

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@sheabuttyr: Daija Dreads V1 // 28.6k Poly //requested by anon.

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@sheabuttyr: Daija Dreads V2 // 30.8k Poly! //requested by anon

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@sheabuttyr: Paloma Passion Twist V1// 25k Poly//requested by @paigeywaigeyy

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@sheabuttyr:Paloma Passion Twist V2// 25k Poly//requested by @paigeywaigeyy

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@sheabuttyr:Paloma Passion Twist V3// 25k Poly//requested by @paigeywaigeyy

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@sheabuttyr:Paloma Passion Twist V6// 25kPoly //requested by @paigeywaigeyy

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@sheabuttyr:Paloma Passion Twist V7// 25kPoly //requested by @paigeywaigeyy

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@sheabuttyr:Paloma Passion Twist V8/ /25kPoly //requested by @paigeywaigeyy

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[mobius-m-mobius]

it's a fair question 🙃 Lokius Incorrect Quotes [12/∞]

[sempegzrd]

shes playing ::)

[shiraishi--kanade]

Make your own proseka OCs. Make your own proseka unit. By god, make it. If you have an idea, go with it. Proseka lore allows for boundless opportunities. They don't even have to be musicians to have a Sekai. They don't even necessarily have to be in Japan. Project Sekai as a game is a love song to art and artists. You are one. Go nuts.

[xxplastic-cubexx]

welcome back to my accidental newfound journey to redraw every frame from this movie i GUESS

[soarrenbluejay]

Supervillains for a community. (Well, except those jerks over in Gotham, insular lot, but they’re they’re one problem) Of course they do- supervillains are a group defined by strong opinions and a willingness to see them through, often with a healthy dash of societal failures and trauma as a catalyst.

The fentons, while not active even on the online message boards, are well known and explosive when they do show up, full of fascinating insights and hours long rants on mad science on hair pin turns courtesy of that ADHD attention span. Bit of the cryptids you feel honored to bump into kind of deal. Besides, like a good quarter of the community as it aged, they’d settled down and had kids (not necessarily in that order) and taken it very seriously! Out in the middle of nowhere, where even the most fearsome government outpost members, the local branch of the IRS, quake before them in fear. Out of the way.

Reveal gone okay-ish, Danny moves to Gotham still to get some air bc now things are Akward and he landed that engineering scholarship which is loads better than any other college would give him with his track record. So- the mysterious Fenton children are finally crawling out of hiding! Everyone is psyched! And roll in to Gotham en masse to witness the fireworks!

Except Danny is Determined To Be Normal. He’s had enough of the throwing himself into harms way shit for a lifetime- he wants to be free to peacefully built Rube Goldberg machines and unintentional increasingly complex bombs to his hearts content. JAZZ, on the other hand- the coveted token Normal One, has finally snapped! She’s watched her baby brother she practically raised throw himself into danger over and over and could do nothing, and now that she’s exposed to this whole network of superheroes outside of small town Amnity, some of those uglier emotions are coming out. And boy is she pissed! And can’t afford to show it much while filing the paperwork to have Arkham legally razed to the ground!

See I love this idea of like, niches in superhero society. A villain the heroes know they can plop their kiddo down with for an exciting afternoon brawl while they take care of a particularly grisly case and come back to a few hours later ranting about some new life lesson and a new move they really want to try. A villain who has a functioning moral compass despite their somewhat batshit long term goal and you can contact to fuck with another villains’s plan so they can laugh at them and you can have an easy afternoon. One who pries up hostile architecture and fills in pot holes, idk man. Get creative here, there’s such potential!

So Jazz becomes a Training villain- someone the heroes know their sidekicks will walk away from in a fight 100% of the time, usually with some new lesson to ponder and only a couple of bruises. Sometimes even snacks!

She also absolutely ambushes mentors to check that they’re worth the kiddo, which they appreciate once they get over being jumped in a dark alley by a 7 foot Amazon trained force of nature. They are not used to being on that side of the jumping, it’s a little unnerving.

(Yes, she low key adopts Shazam upon checking in with him on cursory ‘is the main hero of this city and asshole’ checkin. Yes, the super clones get yoinked out from under Superman’s negligent thumb to go have a blast with Ellie. What about it?)

This however only encourages more assorted weirdos to crawl out of the woodwork. It’s not often one of their own forfeits their potential spot for the running of the coveted Most Normal I Swear prize, but when they do it’s bound to be good! But jazz is off hounding various heroes and punching the faces in of pedophiles and shit whenever there’s no cape within easy reach, and so is a mite bit harder to contact than Danny, who has innocently gotten an apprenticeship under a clockworker for access to their workshop and is gleefully going about doing nerdy shit with great abandon.

Plus this is Gotham. No one gives a shit if someone in the Mad Alchemist uniform and still smoking from their latest experiment pokes their head in a window to bother the local shrimp teen- none of the usual social rules apply, everyone’s crazy here! So everyone drops any and all attempts at masking and just acts their genuine unhinged selves, much to the alarm of the Bats and frustration of Danny.

Bc he cannot get these mfers to go. Away. Even liberal use of the creep stick has little effect when the interloper is calibrated for an opponent with super speed or laser vision or whatever, and he’s trying to maintain his guise as a Normal College Student Do No Investigate.

So he calls in the big guns. He’s not super active in the supervillain kids group chat ever since things in amnity calmed the fuck down post becoming King and then immediately using a loophole that says he will not take the throne until he is grown, as defined by finishing learning his trade a la the medieval standards Pariah set up. So he can just take his sweet ass time with his graduate degree and out of inter dimensional bull shit that much longer! Point is, he hasn’t taken the chance to rant over there in a while, so his Crazy friends are getting a lil worried.

The change to come over and shout at their batshit crazy but (mostly) well meaning parent AND see Danny? Score!

The bats, however, are getting awfully suspicious about this one kid that villains from all over the country are flocking to, especially young and upcoming ones as of recently! And he’s acting his engineering course- all the worst rogues are known to have flown through their PhD studies prior to Cracking. They seem to have a real problem on their hands with this Fenton guy.

[lycandrophile]

“trans men don’t have any real safety concerns to worry about” i can’t wear a mask when i go into public bathrooms even though i’m higher risk and bathrooms are some of the easiest places to get sick because i don’t reliably pass when my facial hair is covered and i can’t risk not passing when i use the men’s room, but i also can’t just use the women’s room for safety anymore because i don’t reliably pass as either binary gender anymore. so my only options are to risk getting sick, take my chances with the consequences of not passing, or just never use the bathroom in public (which has its own health risks).

and today, it almost didn’t even matter that i was putting myself in danger to ensure that i passed because, thanks to a faulty lock and a man who didn’t think to knock, i came very close to having my half-naked body exposed to a bathroom full of cis men. if i hadn’t been holding my coat on my lap because there was nowhere in the stall to put it, every single guy waiting in the (very crowded) bathroom would’ve seen that i didn’t have a dick. how well do you think that would’ve gone for me? my money’s on Not Well At All.

[sketchnskribbles]

Elita One bringing out her minors miners out for their daily mandatory walk. What a wonderful Supervisor she is 🥰

[wysteribun]

my first rodeo w these guys

[carnivalcarriondiscarded]

more of the dapper lad! i Cannot get him out of my brain

[ester-galls]

Philantropy

I totally missed the otasune week, this was supposed to be my entry for day 4 orz

@mgsevents

[lorenzonuti]

Loosing up the groove.

Now available for purchase on INPRNT

[zephyrartz-owo]

Mental Health Tip! Don't skip meals lest you be fighting demons