Weaning on the web: using social media to empower parents

The health visiting service is commissioned to deliver information to parents about weaning their baby onto solid food. This forms part of the wider health visiting team's core offer of universal services and is also a requirement of the Unicef UK Baby Friendly Initiative, for which Doncaster is accredited level 3 Baby Friendly status.

In the past, the health visiting team invited parents into a group setting to learn all about the process of weaning their babies onto solid foods. This was an opportunity for them to ask questions and seek parent-to-parent support. However, it was recognised that these sessions were often poorly attended. Therefore, parents were not receiving the information they needed and this was an ineffective use of clinicians' time. We needed to re-think our approach in order to deliver weaning sessions to local parents more effectively.

Weaning can be a confusing time for parents; with such a wealth of information available on the internet, social media, from family and friends, it can be hard for them to know which information to trust. It is therefore important that evidence-based information is readily accessible from a source such as the health visiting team. Health visitors also support by signposting and discussion with parents, which offers an opportunity for them to ask any questions they may have.