Products

Foods

A variety of commercial weaning foods are available to supplement home prepared foods.  All manufactured weaning foods are specially developed to provide the nutrients a baby requires in appropriate amounts, without excessive levels of other nutrients such as sodium (salt).

First stage baby foods are used in the early stages of weaning. They include cereals, such as rice usually mixed with the baby's milk, or smooth purées of simple foods like fruit and vegetables that are easy for a baby to accept from a spoon.

Second stage baby foods (for older babies from about 7 months to 12 months) have a thicker texture and contain bite size pieces to encourage chewing.

Foods for older babies (toddlers) cover the whole range of foods from milk-based drinks and desserts to snacks and ready-meals and provide a further stepping stone in the development of a young child's eating habits.

Although there are some chilled and frozen commercial baby foods available, the main product types are:

   •          Ready to eat products – in glass jars, cans, pouches etc.

   •          Dried foods – that need to be made up with milk or water

   •          Finger foods – for when babies are able to feed themselves

Organic and non-organic weaning foods are available, as well as vegetarian and halaal baby foods.

For babies with additional nutritional requirements such as food allergies, a wide variety of products that are milk-free, egg-free and gluten-free are also available.

Drinks

A variety of drinks are available for children during the weaning period and these include Growing up milk and fruit juices.  These have been developed to provide more suitable choices of drinks for toddlers than adult drinks.

Growing up milk, suitable for young children over 12 months of age, reflects the reduced reliance on milk in the diet in a child of this age.  It is a fortified milk product, providing key nutrients that can be limited in the diets of children of this age, including iron and vitamin D.  Growing up milk provides these nutrients in smaller volumes of milk, reflecting the fact that children of this age eat more solid foods and have a reduced reliance on milk drinks.

Nutritional requirements during weaning

Different foods provide different nutrients and the wider the variety of foods in the weaning diet the wider the variety of nutrients.  Further information on nutrients of importance during the weaning period can be found in the following document: Key nutritional requirements during weaning period (pdf, 60KB)