Trouble at Dinner Time? Here Are Four Hacks to Make Weaning a Breeze

If your little one is approaching six months and you're already googling weaning tips at 11pm, welcome. You're in good company. Starting solids is one of those milestones that sounds straightforward until you're actually doing it, and suddenly you've got seventeen tabs open about purees versus baby-led weaning and whether your baby is supposed to like broccoli yet.

The NHS recommends starting solid foods at around six months, when your baby can sit up with support, hold their head steady and shows a genuine interest in what's on your plate. But knowing that and actually getting on with it are two very different things.

1. Get them used to the table before food even enters the picture

One of the best things you can do before weaning properly begins is simply include your baby in mealtimes. Pop them in a highchair at the table while the rest of the family eats. Let them watch, observe and absorb what mealtimes look like. Babies learn an enormous amount from watching others eat, and by the time you introduce food, the whole setup already feels familiar and safe.

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2. Let them play with their food

It sounds counterintuitive, but one of the most effective things you can do is take the pressure off eating entirely. Let your baby squish food between their fingers, smear it on the tray, pick it up and put it down again. This hands-on exploration is how babies build familiarity and confidence with new foods. A baby who has touched and smelled broccoli a dozen times is far more likely to eventually eat it than one who's only ever had it offered on a spoon.

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3. Introduce cutlery early, even if they just chew on it

You don't need to wait until your baby can actually use a spoon or fork before introducing one. Getting cutlery into their hands early means it becomes familiar rather than threatening. Let them hold it, chew it, bang it on the tray. They're learning what it's for and getting comfortable with the idea, which makes the transition to actually using it a lot smoother when the time comes.

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4. Accept the mess, and plan for it

There is no version of weaning that isn't messy. Food will end up on the floor, on the walls and in places you won't find until much later. Accepting this early on takes an enormous amount of stress out of mealtimes, for you and for your baby, because they can sense when you're tense about the chaos.

The hack here isn't to prevent the mess. It's to make the cleanup easier so it doesn't feel like such a big deal.

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Weaning takes time, repetition and a lot of patience. But the less pressure you put on each individual mealtime, the more relaxed your baby will be, and the more likely they are to get there in their own time. Keep going.