The World Health Organisation recommends breastfeeding for your baby's first six months, and then breast milk alongside other food until they are two years and over.

There are many benefits to breastfeeding for both mum and baby. You can find more information and support about breastfeeding on our dedicated webpage for breastfeeding support

The page also includes a list of breastfeeding support groups in Worcestershire as well as many other useful guides and resources.

Go to: Breastfeeding support

Bottle feeding can form a healthy attachment just as much as breastfeeding can and can be a bonding experience for both you and your baby. Here are some tips for bonding while bottle feeding:

• hold the baby close to you in the crook of your elbow while feeding
• make eye contact
• talk softly to the baby or sing to them
• learn to recognise the baby's hunger cues and feed them on their cue, not on a schedule
• practice skin-to-skin contact
• use a paced bottle feeding technique, keep the bottle horizontal and place it above the baby's top lip. Stimulate the baby to gape, and don't push the bottle in unless the baby shows they are ready

What formula to use

If you've decided to bottle feed, you may want to know about what formula to buy, what equipment you'll need and how to get the hang of feeding your baby when everything is so new. You can find out more here: Formula Feeding - Starting Well

Further support

Breastfeeding Videos - Best Beginnings

Bottle feeding - Start for Life

Bottle feeding your baby - NHS

The government recommends all children aged 6 months to 5 years are given vitamin supplements containing vitamins A, C and D every day. 

Babies who are having more than 500ml (about a pint) of infant formula a day should not be given vitamin supplements. This is because formula is fortified with vitamins A, C and D and other nutrients. 

Babies who are being breastfed should be given a daily vitamin D supplement from birth, whether or not you're taking a supplement containing vitamin D yourself. 

Where can I get baby vitamin drops? 

See our Healthy Start: food and vitamin support webpage for information on how you can get help to buy vitamins. Your health visitor can also give you advice on vitamin drops and tell you where to get them. 

You can also call the The Parental Telephone Advisory Service (TAS) on: 0300 123 9551 from Monday to Friday from 9:00am to 3:00pm, and a health visitor can provide advice on concerns about feeding, behaviour, or toileting for children under 5 years old.

Weaning is when you start to introduce solid food into your baby’s diet, alongside their usual breast or formula milk feeds. Weaning is usually advised from approximately 6 months old when your baby might be ready to start trying solids. 

Signs that your baby might be ready include:

• being able to hold their own head up steady
• coordinated eyes, hand, and mouth movements, so they can look at food, pick it up and put it in their mouth
• swallow food rather than spit it back out

Starting Solids workshops for parents

NHS health visiting teams run 1 hour ‘Introduction to Solids’ workshops to support families at this stage in their child’s development.

If you would like to join the next available workshop, please email the Health Visiting team at: whcnhs.hvappointments@nhs.net and include your baby’s name, date of birth, and telephone number.

Useful resources

• Weaning - Start for Life
• Healthy recipe ideas: Recipes and meal ideas - Start for Life

Babies can be introduced to drinking from a cup or beaker from around 6 months and offered sips of water with meals.

Find out more here: Drinks and cups for babies and young children - NHS

It is important to offer a healthy balanced diet from the different food groups. 

There are lots of recipe and meal ideas available:

• What to feed young children - NHS
• Recipes and meal ideas - Start for Life - NHS
• Baby and toddler meal ideas - NHS
• Tiny Happy People - Tips and Advice for Mealtime with babies and toddlers

It's natural to worry whether your child is getting enough food if they refuse to eat sometimes but it's perfectly normal for toddlers to refuse to eat or even taste new foods.

Take a look at the top tips to help manage fussy eating:

• Fussy eaters - NHS
• Family hubs deliver free workshops including Fussy Eating: Search Starting Well workshops