Is your baby’s Paasni around the corner? If your baby is a boy, he will almost be six months old at the time of Paasni but will likely be younger if she is a girl. In Nepali culture, gurus tend to start counting as though the baby is already a month old when born, bringing the Paasni dates forward before they actually are six months old. My daughter was just 3 months and 3 weeks old on Paasni, she was hardly capable of sitting upright let alone able to swallow semi-solids!
The Paasni also marks the beginning of the weaning period. But, what is weaning? Weaning is the introduction of semi-solid food to your baby. It is getting your baby used to eating family or adult food while relying less on breast milk. This technique is bound to vary among cultures and is often regulated by the child’s individual needs. The responsibility of ensuring the baby gets enough of the right kind of food often falls on the mother’s shoulders.
The ideal age to wean your baby is after the baby completes the fifth month and turns six. It is crucial to start weaning at the right age, not only to maintain vital growth and development but also to prevent malnutrition. Evidence shows starting semi-solids before the age of 4 months is associated with increased weight gain and obesity, both in infancy and early childhood.
A baby’s body and brain grows at a rapid rate in the first year, with weight increasing by 200% and brain weight doubling. It is essential to meet the energy requirements for this growth spurt.
Breast milk is sufficient to promote adequate growth and development for the first 6 months, thereafter the energy and nutrient gap widens and has to be met by providing the baby appropriate complementary food. As parents, we should give our children the best chance to develop and mature into well-nourished and functionally capable adults.
If you observe your baby, you will notice behavior at around 6 months, which will give you cues that baby is ready for semi-solid food. The baby will start holding objects and putting everything into his/her mouth. Baby’s head does not wobble anymore and they can sit upright without much support. Baby starts showing chewing movements and tendency to push solids out of their mouth gradually decreases. Baby’s teeth will also start to erupt following which he/she will begin biting movements.
When we introduce semi-solid for the very first time to our child, we tend to make it liquid in consistency. We are concerned that the toothless baby may not be able to swallow or worse, may even choke on it. However, it is of extreme importance that we introduce thick feeds, similar to the consistency of haluwa.
The baby needs to learn to accept this, mash it in between the gums, mix it with saliva and make the food easy to swallow. Give the baby thin runny food and all they will learn is to swallow it directly, just like they do with milk, without processing it in the mouth. If you miss the crucial time frame between 6-8 months of age to teach your baby this ‘art of eating’ he/she will often have a tendency to gag or vomit at the smallest granule present in food even in toddlerhood.
I know mothers who continue to grind their food in spite of the child having a full set of teeth! Let me emphasize that maintaining the correct position while feeding is vital. Prop baby up in a comfortable sitting position, sit opposite the baby, and feed using a soft small clean spoon. Care should be taken to decrease the risk of infection from the baby’s food. Minimize this risk before the food is brought into the home, during storage, during preparation, after it has been prepared and before it is fed to the baby. Clean hands, clean surfaces, and clean utensils would make sure your baby will not contract any infection through food.
Six Rules to follow for mothers who are about to introduce solids
- Do not introduce salt or refined sugar before the baby is one year old.
- Keep a gap of at least 3 days before you give a new food for the very first time, so that food allergies can be picked up.
- Try to reinforce eating as an enjoyable event. Choose a quiet place, with minimal distraction, preferably during family mealtime. Babies and toddlers are more likely to eat food when they see their peers and parents eating.
- Always make sure you and your baby are sitting during the entire meal. Do not feed your baby in motion!
- Do not force-feed your baby. It will just create a vicious cycle between the two of you, which will be very difficult to break.
- A big NO to TV, mobile phones, tablets during eating. Once your baby gets the hang of screen-time during eating there will be no turning back, so it is under your control not to start this practice from the very beginning.
Writer details:
Dr. Smriti Mathema is an Associate Professor of Pediatrics at Kathmandu Medical College Teaching Hospital, with 9 years of clinical, academic, and research experience. She was the first Nepali to be selected by the International Pediatric Association for the Child Health Emerging Leaders Program in 2019 and was elected as a member of the Nepal Pediatric Society in 2021. Trained in Vaccinology, she has served as the Chairperson of the Immunization Committee of the Nepal Pediatric Society, been the Editor-in-Chief of their Immunization Guidebook and Recommendation, and has trained numerous pediatricians and health workers throughout the country to be Immunization Advocacy Champions. She is grateful every single day for being a mother to two amazing children. She feels that strong leadership will bring about a much-needed change in improving children’s health in Nepal.
