You may have read or heard somewhere that during weaning, you should wait three days before introducing new foods. This is sometimes referred to as the ‘three-day wait rule’. This blog explains where this notion comes from and why I don’t recommend that you wait three days in between every food you introduce to baby.
With so much conflicting advice available on weaning your baby, it can all get confusing. I have lots of blog posts focusing on different aspects of weaning to help simplify things so do check them all out. These include my complete guide to essential nutrients during weaning, my guides to baby-led weaning, veg-led weaning and weaning with purees, as well as my posts covering weaning equipment and trying new textures during weaning. I’ve also written about whether you should give baby milk or food first during weaning and what next for baby after first tastes.
Where does the three-day wait rule come from?
The advice to wait three days in between introducing new weaning foods stems from outdated advice linked to the introduction of allergens. My guide to introducing allergens during weaning gives you the full (and up-to-date) lowdown on this topic – so in this blog post I instead want to focus on WHY you don’t need to wait three days in between introducing all new foods to your baby. Because whilst it’s true that when introducing new allergens to baby you should do this one at a time, increasing exposure slowly, this advice doesn’t apply to ALL new foods, only to the 14 major food allergens.
Why you don’t need to apply the three-day wait rule to all foods
If you think about it, if you waited three days in between introducing each new food to your baby, you would be off to a very, very slow start to weaning! It would mean that in their first year of weaning, your baby would be drastically restricted in what foods they could eat. Not only that, but your job as a parent would be made so much harder trying to record or recall which foods you had introduced your baby to over time – not to mention attempting to find meal combinations that would ‘work’ using over those foods they had been introduced to every incremental set of three days. Thankfully, this isn’t a rule that parents need to wean by!
In fact, the reverse is actually true. The best idea for your baby is for them to be introduced to as many different foods, tastes and textures as possible during weaning. This is both because we want to provide a balanced diet for baby and because it’s really important to offer a variety of foods to your baby or toddler. So, whilst in some parts of the world, the advice is to offer the same weaning food for three days before moving on to the next, in the UK, the recommendation is that it’s absolutely fine to offer a new food each day from the very start of weaning. This is the approach I follow in my book, How To Wean Your Baby.
5 reasons to offer a variety of foods during weaning
1. It maximises a window of opportunity
Research indicates that between the age of 6 to 12 months, babies are especially receptive to accepting new foods and flavours so it’s important to try and increase exposure during this time. Don’t worry if you don’t think your baby is actually swallowing much of the food you offer – the exposure can be important in itself, not just the eating.
2. It increases acceptance
As your child grows, they can become more willing to eat foods that they’ve been regularly exposed to. Don’t fret if you didn’t offer them a great variety of flavours from the outset. With children it’s never too late to start! Just aim to begin building in as much variety as possible, as soon as possible.
3. It helps provide different nutrients
By ensuring you offer your little one different foods, you can provide them with a balanced diet. Many parents worry that their baby or toddler isn’t getting enough of the nutrients that they need, but do remember that many popular weaning foods offer several nutrients in one. For example, eggs contain protein, iodine, iron, vitamin B12, selenium and vitamin D, whilst different fruit and veg contain vitamin C, B-vitamins, potassium and folate. One food can tick many boxes!
4. It develops motor skills
Your baby’s oral motor skills, like chewing and moving food around their mouth are improved by eating a variety of textures. Aim to move from smooth purees on to lumps, mashed and chopped foods fairly early on in weaning. Just like exposure to different flavours, introducing different textures helps baby to develop and familiarise themselves with new foods. I know introducing new textures to baby can be a source of worry for parents: please read my guide to gagging and choking during weaning for advice on how to prepare.
5. It benefits the whole family
One of the great positives of weaning your baby is that it often means the whole family eats a variety of foods. Mealtime environments are really important for your baby and eating a range of foods together as a family, together with role-modelling heathy eating behaviours, can really encourage food acceptance in children as they grow.
5 easy ways to offer a variety of foods during weaning
1. Offer a variety of colours
Aim to add different coloured fruits and veg to plates: make a salad with green cucumber, red tomato and orange carrot; a stir-fry with green courgette, brown mushroom and yellow sweetcorn, or porridge topped with purple and red berries.
2. Vary toast toppings & sandwich fillings
Try mashed avocado and tuna, butterbean hummus, beans on toast or take a look at my 10 healthy toast ideas for babies and 10 healthy sandwich fillings for babies.
3. Change the pasta or grains you offer
Switch between penne tubes, bowtie pasta and spaghetti. If your child likes couscous, try them on quinoa too, or pearl barley. There are also pastas in supermarkets made with chickpeas, red lentils and green peas. Top each variation with your little one’s favourite, familiar pesto and offer them lots of variety in taste and texture at the same time.
4. Vary porridge or yogurt toppings
Porridge and yogurt are easy and versatile foods for babies and you can add so much variety with what you pop on top: different coloured fruits, milled seeds, nut butter. Take a look at my porridge ideas for babies and toddlers for some inspiration, including carrot cake porridge and raspberry ripple.
5. Change the sauce you offer
If you’re serving pasta or rice, increase variety by swapping out the sauce, for example, switching tomato pasta for avocado and cream cheese. My 10 baby sauces without tomato post offers lots of ideas.
I hope this post has been useful. For lots more advice and reassurance on weaning, do visit my blog where I post weekly guidance on all the common questions parents ask me. You can also download my free factsheets or buy my book, How to Wean Your Baby.
Online Weaning Course
If you’re soon to begin your baby’s weaning journey, Charlotte’s Online Weaning Course is your complete step-by-step guide to introducing solids.
