It’s time to wean and wow are you ever in for a fun ride. Batten down the hatches and cover every surface in a wipe-clean cover – it’s going to get messy!

Feeding infants is such a joy. You cook ‘yummy’, bland vegetables and puree them to within an inch of their life only to have baby refuse to have anything to do with them. Odd that – they had no such qualms when they tried to grab your chocolate bar and chow down on it.

Experimental play
Babies’ palettes are more sensitive so we definitely want to keep strong flavours until over one year old, but in the first six months consider feeding more as ‘experimental play’ and less about nutrition. Believe me, baby will not starve as long as milk feeding is constant and a range of foods are always on offer. Regular breast feeding with offerings of fruit or protein will keep them on track.

Babies love exploring their world through their mouth so allow self-feeding wherever possible – try having one spoon each, encourage baby to use fingers and be willing to laugh along as they discover the joys of mashed avocado and having their fingers licked by the dog! Dogs are great at clean-up during weaning – make sure to wipe those little fingers clean afterwards.

Eating together
The best advice I can offer here is – please eat with your child. Don’t get into the habit of ‘feeding time’ for baby and ‘mealtime’ for you – they are not an animal, they are a member of the family. Even if you are not hungry, sit with them, munch on salad, a few dips or bits of fruit. Show them how to eat, how to pick up food, how to bite and chew – believe me they will go from strength to strength. Oh, and food off mum’s plate is always tastier than the stuff in their bowl!

Babies left to eat alone without a model will be more prone to refusing and using mealtimes as a battle ground. If you can head this off at the pass you are onto a winner.

Out and about
Taking toddlers out to eat in public is also a great thing to do early on, and most restaurants are kid friendly these days. Demonstrating the use of ‘indoor voices’ and encouraging quiet play using books, colouring or personal toys will model the long-term expectations for the future.

However, if you think it’s OK for your child to career around screaming as a toddler, chances are they will continue this behaviour as they grow, and it’s harder to reign them in later than it is to start the way you mean to go on.

Anything is possible
As they grow introduce speciality foods and personal favourites – I’ve known 18-month olds eating curry and 6-year olds enjoying ‘French Style Mussels’ so anything is possible. Most importantly, enjoy the adventure. Before long they will discover ‘peer pressure’ and suddenly life will revolve around fast food and sugar, but if you build strong foundations now, you can relax, safe that they are well provided for and you’ve done a great job!