Managing weaning problems and complementary feeding

This review article aims to pull together the latest research and guidelines regarding weaning infants from breast or bottlefeeding onto solid foods. It summarizes the guidelines from the World Health Organisation, Department of Health and the British Dietetic Association. It also attempts to capture the changes to guidelines as the understanding of an infants development has changed. Guidelines tend to apply to normally developing children and do not take into account aspects such as developmental delay, physical conditions, environmental factors and syndromes effecting feeding. The aim of the article is to raise the level of awareness of these factors in health professionals so that they can help contain parental anxiety and expectations of their infant's feeding. The article explores the research on when to wean, what to wean with, along with factors that influence the disruption of stages.