Weaning or Complementary feeding: what parents should know

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Weaning or Complementary feeding what parents
should know
Complementary Feeding (Weaning) is a term for the
process of adding food components to the diet of
a growing baby along with the usual milk feed.
This process of gradually adding a variety of
food to the baby introduces a balanced diet and
sets up good eating and dietary habits. The
introduction of the food is not all about
supplementary food but by and by the baby also
gets the palette of the family and gradually
learns to eat what is made at home and what all
the other family members are having. This is a
very important process especially in India where
every region and religion has its own set of
culinary and the child develops that taste more.
Even though nowadays the food palette is quite
global as the children have more exposure to the
global cuisine through global food chains and
vast and varied food options available. Weaning
generally is a process where you introduce the
food being made at home to the child and in that
way, he learns the foodways of the family. 
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The parents need to introduce different and
varied kinds of food with health and taste
balanced for the child to make him a good and
healthy eater. Let's look into some tips and
cautions a parent should keep in mind when
starting the weaning of a child. These could be
good pointers to develop a healthy and tasty food
palette.
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When to start weaning?
Around six months would be an ideal time to start
the first food other than mothers milk or any
other optional milk being given if not
breastfeeding. Six months is also an ideal time
for the fact that babys digestive systems and
their kidneys have developed enough to accept
outside food other than the mothers milk. In a
study, it was seen the weaning done at six months
and not before that had a good positive impact on
the baby by making the baby more immune to
diseases like asthma, eczema, digestive problems
and also have more resistance to allergies and
obesity in later life. Weaning is a developmental
stage activity that is surely going to go a long
way in impacting the life of the baby both
health-wise and taste-wise. He surely will
develop a particular type of taste that is more
likely to be the family food. 
How do you know when the baby is ready for
weaning. 
Holding the head steady and being in a stable
sitting position is the first sign that the baby
is ready for weaning. This is the time when it is
easier for the baby to ingest some solid food
other than milk and his digestive tract is also
in a normal position ready to intake food. 
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The next sign is that the baby can focus on
things pick them up and direct them to their
mouth all by themselves. This will help the baby
to start the initial stage of eating. This could
be messy by enjoyable to watch and the baby
learns to put other things in the mouth more than
food. 
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The next sign is that the baby can focus on
things pick them up and direct them to their
mouth all by themselves. This will help the baby
to start the initial stage of eating. This could
be messy by enjoyable to watch and the baby
learns to put other things in the mouth more than
food. 
Next up is swallowing the food which was given to
the baby. You will be able to easily identify if
they are ready to swallow or not by the amount of
food in his mouth and outside his mouth. Those
kids who have not started to swallow well will
try and push the food out and you have more food
on the face than the mouth.
What should you take care of when you start the
weaning of a child?
Weaning is not just about eating habits it is
also a social activity that bonds the child to
the parents by the experience they get when the
parents are teaching them food habits.
The six months guideline may vary from child to
child and could be altered to benefit the child. 
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Provide food with different colors and textures
and also avoid food that would be termed
inappropriate for the child.  Choose a time of
the day when the child is relaxed Mix the new
food with the milk routine and give them time to
adjust as many children would take time to adjust
to the new food and increased intake. Eat with
the baby to show inclusiveness  Allow babies to
feed themself as they will start using fingers if
they like the food and show interest in eating
and for them, it is an activity or more like
play. Weaning is not all about food it is also
about the social skills being developed and the
bonding with the parents and siblings along with
developing habits of regular eating habits and
healthy food intake.  Eat healthy stay healthly.
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