When do babies start weaning?

Introducing your baby to solid foods, also referred to as weaning or complementary feeding, starts when your baby is around 6 months old.

This is the age when they can sit upright with support, and begin to show interest in food and can coordinate hand-to-mouth movement.

We always follow current UK health guidance and will only introduce solids once your child is developmentally ready and you have started the process at home.

Tailored to your little one

Our highly trained baby room staff are experts in their field, and have a vast experience of weaning. We support the parents in whatever weaning path they choose, this can be:

  • Baby-led weaning

Where you let your baby feed themselves.

  • Traditional or spoon-feeding weaning

Where you feed your baby using a spoon.

This starts with smooth foods, then chunkier or lumpy foods, and then moving onto more solid foods. We can puree all of our main meals to the desired consistency to meet the needs of your child.

Meals developed for developing mouths

Our meals are designed with different textures in mind. For example, chewy food allows a child to feel the shape and texture of food, this increases sensitivity to the taste of food. Using the muscles around the mouth in chewing helps in the development of the jaw, it allows us to pronounce words better and makes our faces more expressive.

It’s not just the physical action of eating that helps with speech, so we include leafy dark green vegetables and foods fortified with folic acid and vitamin E in our menu, known to aid good speech development and kill free radicals which can damage our nerves resulting in speech problems.

See an example of our nursery menus
A child sitting in a high chair eating a bowl of food.

Nutrition for under ones

Solid foods at this stage are about exploration, exposure and gradual nutrient introduction.

Our menus for babies focus on:

• Iron-rich foods to support brain development
• A wide range of vegetables and fruits
• Smooth transitions from purées to textured meals
• No added salt or refined sugars

Everything is prepared thoughtfully in-house to support growth, digestion and comfort.

The DEN Nursery bears playing in the forest school