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.

No matter how you decide to feed your baby, your choice will be respected, and you will be supported by trained and caring professionals.

How long should I breastfeed for?

Health visitors and midwives can help you recognise when your baby is ready for other foods and explain how these can be introduced (normally at around six months), breastfeeding should continue as long as you and your baby wish.

Breastfeeding in public

Breastfeeding women cannot be discriminated against by law, protection covers women breastfeeding in any public space from parks, leisure facilities, public buildings, public transport, shops, hotels, restaurants, hospitals, theatres and cinemas. You will get information about how to continue breastfeeding should you wish to return to work or college.

Children's centres, family centres and many shops and restaurants welcome breastfeeding but if you would prefer somewhere private it's worth asking a member of staff or visit Worcestershire Health and Care NHS Trust - Breastfeeding support workers

Local support groups

You can find a timetable of local support groups here: Local breastfeeding support groups (PDF)

Useful resources

• Breastfeeding advice - NHS
• Breastfeeding - Starting Well
• Breastfeeding resources - UNICEF
• The Breastfeeding Network
• National Breastfeeding Helpline

From bump to breastfeeding video

Breastfeeding Friend

Access the Breastfeeding Friend interactive chatbot to help guide you through your first weeks of breastfeeding. Simply open Facebook Messenger and search Start4Life or visit NHS Star4Life - Breastfeeding help and support to get started.

Some of the main benefits of breastfeeding are:

• it’s free
• your breast milk is perfectly designed for your baby
• breast milk is available for your baby whenever your baby needs it
• there is no preparation needed to feed your baby
• it is always the right temperature
• your baby learns to recognise when they are full
• your baby is prepared for the tastes and flavours of various foods as a result of the food you have eaten

For mum

Breastfeeding is good news for mum too as it:

• lowers the risk of breast cancer
• lowers the risk of ovarian cancer
• lowers the risk of osteoporosis
• lowers the risk of obesity
• can lower the risk of cardiovascular disease

For baby

Breastfeeding is the healthiest way to feed your baby with some benefits lasting into adulthood. It reduces the risk of:

• diarrhoea, vomiting and gastroenteritis
• being obese and developing type 2 diabetes
• ear infections
• sudden infant death syndrome/cot death
• cardiovascular disease in adulthood

Breast Buddies’ Breastfeeding Support groups provide an opportunity to meet other mothers in a relaxed and friendly setting.

The groups run as follows: 

Find out more about attending the groups here: Breast Buddies Breastfeeding Support Group Worcester

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
• Starting Well family hubs deliver free workshops including Fussy Eating: Search Starting Well workshops