Introduction
We know that there is a lot for you to think about when you’re weaning your baby, so to give you a helping hand, we’ve developed a 7 day Meal Planner, packed full with healthy nutritious recipes for you to make for your baby. All you need to do is fill in some quick details about your baby’s age and any special dietary requirements and we’ll provide you with a suggested 7 day recipe plan that you can download or print out
Broadly speaking the stages are relevant to the following age groups:
Stage 1 – up to 7 months
Stage 2 – 7-9 months
Stage 3 – 9-12 months
Stage 4 – 1 year onwards
The Meal Planner is designed to help you find some new and interesting recipes to make your own food for your baby while weaning. We have tried to include as many recipes as possible across the different stages of weaning, but some recipes may continue to be a favourite for your baby for many months, with just the texture changing accordingly. You can access all the recipes from the Meal Planner in the recipe section.
We have also included a tool to help you choose recipes that are free from certain ingredients. You can choose to exclude recipes that contain milk, egg or gluten as well as choosing vegetarian recipes for your baby.
In addition, to help fit in with your cooking plans and baby’s preferences, you can choose an alternative for every recipe suggestion.
You may also want to substitute your own recipes - you can still use our planner as a guide to help make sure your baby is getting a variety of meal types across the week
For more information about how to get started on weaning and all the different stages of weaning have a look at our Weaning section
Special diets
Vegetarian diets
It is perfectly possible to provide your baby with a healthy, balanced diet based on vegetarian eating. There are just a few points to consider, have a look at the Vegetarian Weaning section for more information
- Iron from non-meat sources is not as easily absorbed by the body as iron from meat and fish, so you need to provide your baby with at least two good sources of non-meat iron each day (lentils, pulses etc)
- Remember to include lots of vitamin C- rich fruits and vegetables in your baby’s diet as vitamin C helps the absorption of non-meat iron if present in the gut at the same time
- SMA Follow-on Milk is specially designed to provide lots of essential nutrients including iron and is a very useful complement to the weaning diet
Egg, milk and gluten-free diets
The Meal Planner contains lots of recipes suitable for these diets but remember that lots of the other recipes will be suitable if you substitute with suitable alternatives, such as;
- Using your baby’s specialist milk in place of cows’, goats’ and sheep's milk
- Soya-based yogurts instead of the ones mentioned in the recipes
- Substitute pastas, flours and breads with gluten-free alternatives
Do seek advice from your dietitian if you need more help with your baby’s dietary needs
Stage 1
The recipes in stage 1 of the Meal Planner are suitable once your baby is a couple of weeks into weaning and having solids twice a day. For information on what to do in the first few weeks of weaning and more information on stage 1 weaning, have a look at the Stage 1 guide in our Weaning section.
Stage 2
By now your baby will be ready for more advanced textures and flavours and might even be holding a spoon and feeding themselves. The recipes in the Meal Planner are designed so that you can offer your baby more texture and include some great foods that they can dip their “finger foods” into!
For more information on stage 2 weaning, have a look at the Stage 2 guide in our Weaning section.
Stage 3
Your baby will be getting ready for much more adult-like chopped up foods now, as well as more adventurous flavours. The recipes in our Meal Planner are designed to help you with that.
For more information on stage 3 weaning, have a look at the Stage 3 guide in our Weaning section.
Stage 4
By now your baby should be tucking into family-style meals with just a little help from you, lots of the recipes in our Meal Planner can be enjoyed by the whole family.
For more information on stage 4 weaning, have a look at the Stage 4 guide in our Weaning section.
For more information: Food Standards Agency website
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