When it comes to getting to grips with feeding your baby or child, there is often lots of information about what to offer but, an equally important consideration is how food is offered and the relationship between a parent or caregiver and child at mealtimes.

No matter what stage of your weaning adventure, it’s normal to have lots of questions. We’ve asked Lucy Upton, Specialist Paediatric Dietitian, to answer some of parents’ top weaning questions.

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Food allergies are something many parents find themselves worrying about, particularly during weaning as babies start to be introduced to foods more commonly associated with food allergy reactions.

Approaching weaning with your baby can fill parents with equal measures of excitement and apprehension. With a plethora of information to trawl through and advice pinging at you from all directions, it can be difficult to find clear answers to those burning questions.

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One of parent’s biggest worries about children’s eating is whether they are ‘getting enough’ toddler nutrients. Whilst there is no one step solution to simply checking if this is the case, here are some easy ways to think about your child’s intake.

With a huge amount of information out there for parents to try and digest when starting solids with their little one, it’s no wonder it can all get confusing. Tied into the advice, books and forums out there is tons of supportive information. But there’s also plenty of misinformation and lots of weaning myths too.

The toddler years can feel like a time of transition at mealtimes! All of a sudden, their appetite seems all over the place, foods that were flavour of the month last week are ‘yuck’ this week, half the food is on the floor and you’re pulling your hair out.

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Ensuring children eat a healthy and varied diet is so important but can be difficult to put into practice, especially with fussy eaters.

When children begin to pick pieces out of the meal they have been served or start to showcase a resistance to foods they used to enjoy, it can be difficult to manage and find a way to overcome it. As parents, we inevitably feel frustrated with a sudden change in attitude to different food groups but there are proactive ways to help reintroduce your child to those foods – and not just at mealtimes.

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As with so many aspects of parenting, starting out on the weaning journey can fill parents with excitement, but there is also the very real perceived pressure of ‘getting it right’. There are reams of information about nutrition and health in general, but also numerous ways to approach weaning in the ‘best’ way for your baby.

It can still be common to hear people express concerns about babies meeting their unique nutritional demands as they embark into the world of food when following a vegetarian or vegan diet. In reality, we are seeing more and more babies being weaned on plant-based, vegetarian or vegan diets due to increased interest in factors such as sustainability, the environment and health.

Whilst additional considerations and awareness of key nutrients are very important, with the right guidance babies and children can readily achieve all the energy and nutrients they need for growth & development when following these diets. Knowledge and practical understanding can help ensure your child’s nutritional needs are met. Below I’ve shared some key aspects to consider and top tips from weaning and beyond.

Guest blog by Lucy Upton, Specialist Paediatric Dietitian @childrensdietitian.

A variety of questions come up, when parents are first thinking about starting solid foods with their infants. Lucy has written a very helpful frequently asked questions style blog to address all the things you need know!

Who, really, has a clue how much sugar their children consume? Chocolate bars, bags of sweets, even slices of cake,

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And this was even for higher for girls in the same age bracket at 11,900 cases

The Government last month unveiled a strategy to try to tackle the problem

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