“My baby is five-months-old and I breastfeed him. How do I know when to start weaning him?”

LISA CLEGG, author of The Blissful Baby Expert says: “NHS guidelines recommend a baby should be fed only breastmilk or infant formula milk until the age of six months as before this, your baby’s digestive system is still developing.

Weaning too soon may increase the risk of infections and allergies.

“If for some reason a parent wants, or needs, to wean their baby earlier, then four months or 17 weeks is the absolute minimum age to start solids.

“These guidelines apply to full-term babies. If your baby has particular feeding problems, then health professionals may sometimes advise to wean before six months.

“There are a few physical signs that your baby is ready – can they stay in a sitting position and hold their head steady? This can be in a high chair, not necessarily unaided. Can they swallow food? Do they have good hand-eye co-ordination? This is more essential from when you begin offering finger foods.

“Contrary to popular belief, weaning a baby will not make them sleep better. It’s more likely that your baby has slipped into bad habits if not sleeping well at night, or that he’s not getting an adequate amount of milk or sleep during the day to enable him to be settled at night.”