Week 4 weaning planner

Week 4 - thicker purees and finger foods

Week 4 of weaning is all about building on week 3 by offering thicker purees alongside finger foods.

Slowly increase the amount of food offered and introduce more nutrient dense foods to create balanced meals. You can also offer more allergen foods too. Check out our tips on how to do that here introducing allergens during weaning.

Getting the balance

Aim for each meal to consist of a carbohydrate food, a protein food and a vegetable, alongside a fruit or veggie finger food.

You don’t have to go for fancy recipes, 3 or 4 ingredients will do as you gradually introduce new ingredients and tastes to your little one.

Blend into a thick puree using baby’s usual milk if needed to get the texture right. Aim for a texture like creamy mashed potato. If your baby is already confidently eating a thicker puree, you might want to try a tiny bit of texture, Try a finely fork mashed texture (no large lumps just yet!). Follow your baby’s lead + see how they get on.

How much is enough?

Watch out for signs your baby has had enough as they are really good at knowing when they are full. They’ll turn their head away, push away the bowl or spoon, spit the food out or clamp their mouth shut to signal that they’re done. If they do this three times, it’s probably time to end the meal.

When your baby is full could vary between one day to the next: they might only have a few mouthfuls or a whole bowlful. As long as you’re offering lots of variety across the week and still offering their usual milk on demand, they will be getting plenty of nutrients.

Tasty top tips!

• Choose nutritious foods like meat, fish, beans and lentils, tofu and nut or seed butters to get your baby exploring lots of new flavours while getting the nutrients they need
• A teaspoon of olive oil in each meal will add vital calories to help babies get the energy density they need to grow
• Don’t be afraid to add yummy herbs + spices for flavour!
• You don’t need to waste food if you’ve not finished a whole pack of mince, can of pulses or tuna. Simply use in recipes for yourself e.g. beef and lentil bolognese or cottage pie, tuna + baked potato or tuna mayo. Or if you cook the whole pack of mince, portion into small pots and use for recipes later in weaning.

You’ve now completed a month of weaning – woohoo! Continue to offer your baby lots of yummy variety to take them on a taste exploration journey. As they get used to the different textures, you can start to introduce more of a thick mashed consistency, if you aren’t already. This gives little ones the chance to develop those all important chewing skills , ready to get them to the big table!