Start4Life is part of the nationwide Change4Life campaign to encourage healthy eating and to get people taking more exercise.¹² It emphasises breastfeeding’s benefits, with babies being “off to the best start”, but also discusses formula feeding under the theme of first foods.¹³

For the first six months, “babies can get all the fluid, nutrients and energy they need from breast milk or first infant formula,” it says. However, “having just breast milk until around six months will continue to help protect your baby from illness and infection. Babies who aren’t breastfed are more likely to get diarrhoea and respiratory infections.”¹⁴

Solid foods should be introduced in small amounts, three to five times a day, and the quantity slowly increased.⁶ Foods that should be introduced from about six months include:¹⁴

• A range of vegetables and fruit
• Starchy foods, eg, potato, bread, rice and pasta
• Protein foods, eg, meat, fish, well-cooked eggs, beans and pulses
• Pasteurised dairy foods, eg, plain, full-fat yoghurt.

Food should have no added sugar or sweetener, and no added salt.¹⁴ Parents should be made aware that honey should not be given before the baby is one year old.⁴

Parents are advised to continue giving milk feeds, whether breast milk or first infant formula, alongside solid foods for at least the first year, as this is still important for growth and development. Babies should not be given cows’, goats’ or sheep’s milk as a drink before they are 12 months
old, as they do not have the right mix of nutrients, although animal milk can be used in cooking. After 12 months, pasteurised whole (full-fat) milk is suitable as a drink alongside a healthy diet.¹⁴

Start4Life points out that: “Follow-on formula isn’t suitable for babies under six months and there’s no need to introduce it after six months either. A first infant formula is all that your baby needs in their first year if they’re not fully breastfed.”

In addition: “There’s no need to offer your baby or toddler goodnight milks, growing-up milks or toddler milks – by the age of 12 months babies are more likely to get most of the nutrients they need from their diet. These milks may contain more sugar and lower levels of certain nutrients than whole (full- fat) cows’ milk.”

Note that the WBTi advises: “Complementary feeding should gradually increase in amount and frequency as the baby grows. Breastfeeding on demand should continue for two years or beyond.”^6