Portsmouth City Council

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Food and weight for babies and early years

Why the early years matter

The first few years of a child’s life are very important. They help shape how children grow, learn, and stay healthy.

The NHS Birth to Five Guide gives lots of helpful tips for parents at every stage of their child’s development.

Helping children eat well and stay active from a young age builds good habits for life. Children who learn healthy habits early are more likely to keep them as adults.

Quick links

Feeding your baby

Breastfeeding is the most natural way to feed your baby. It has many health benefits for both mum and baby.

There are infant feeding groups across Portsmouth where mums can get advice and support – whether you’re breastfeeding or bottle feeding.

The Breastfeeding Network Portsmouth runs support groups and events.

If you’re out and about and your baby gets hungry, you can visit one of these breastfeeding-friendly places:

  • Cafes and restaurants:
    • Capers Cafe, 59 Marmion Road, Southsea
    • Casa de Castro, 96a Albert Road, Southsea
    • Chi Coffee, 146 London Road, Portsmouth
    • Churchill’s@25, 25 Marmion Road, Southsea
    • Crumbs a Sandwich and Coffee Shop, 81 Kingston Crescent, Portsmouth
    • City Museum Tea Room, Museum Road, Southsea
    • De Garden, 116 London Road, Portsmouth
    • Georgian Tearooms, Historic Dockyard, Portsmouth
    • Giraffe, Gunwharf
    • Harbour Lights, Beefeater, 1 Southampton Road, Cosham
    • Harvester, Great Salterns, Eastern Road, Portsmouth
    • Heidi’s Swiss Patisserie, 32 Palmerston Road, Southsea
    • Las Iguanas, Gunwharf
    • Lilly and Lime, Aspex Gallery, The Vulcan Building, Gunwharf
    • Magick Bean Coffee Shop, 40 Albert Road, Southsea
    • Make & The Craft Kitchen, 1 Cornwall Road, Fratton
    • Park Cafe, 117 Eastney Road, Southsea
    • Pure Ground, 182 Milton Road, Southsea
    • Rita’s Tearooms, Fratton Community Centre, Trafalgar Place, Fratton
    • Roberto’s Coffee and More, 101 London Road, Portsmouth
    • Southsea Coffee Co, 63 Osborne Road, Southsea
    • The Blue Reef Cafe, Clarence Esplanade, Southsea
    • The Tenth Hole Tearooms, Eastern Parade, Portsmouth
    • The Chocolate Lounge, 323 Copnor Road, Portsmouth
    • Watkins and Faux, The Pavilion Cafe at Southsea Tennis Club
    • Wimpy Clarence Pier, Southsea
  • Children’s centres
  • Family attractions:
    • Emirates Spinnaker Tower
    • Fort Purbrook
    • Krazy Kaves
    • Mountbatten Centre
    • Peter Ashley Activity Centre
    • Pirate’s Pete’s
    • Portsmouth Gymnastics and Tennis centre
    • Pyramids Centre
  • GP surgeries:
    • Salisbury Road Surgery
    • Drayton Surgery, Drayton
  • Libraries
  • Museums and galleries:
    • Aspex Gallery
    • The Blue Reef Aquarium
    • Charles Dickens museum
    • City museum
    • Cumberland museum
    • D Day museum
    • Mary Rose museum
    • The National museum of the Royal Navy
    • Southsea Castle museum
    • The Royal Marines museum
  • Nurseries:
    • Monkey Puzzle Day Nursery

Support for breastfeeding families

The Portsmouth Supports Breastfeeding Action Group helps families across the city.
They’ve created a peer supporter programme where experienced mums help new mums with breastfeeding.

They also:

Making feeding choices

It’s important for families to make informed choices about how to feed their baby. Good eating habits start early and help children grow strong and healthy.

Learn more about:

Families can also get free vouchers to spend on:

  • Milk
  • Fresh or frozen fruit and vegetables
  • Infant formula

You can also get free vitamins. For more information, visit the Healthy Start website to see a map showing where in the city Healthy Start vitamins are available.

Feeding your toddler or young child

Once your baby starts eating solid food, offer a wide range of healthy foods. This helps them enjoy different tastes and reduces fussy eating.

Avoid giving too much sugar, fat or salt – young children’s bodies can’t handle too much of these.

Try to:

  • Stick to regular family meal times
  • Build healthy habits early
  • Don’t worry too much about fussy eating — it’s normal unless your child isn’t growing or gaining weight

For more information, visit the problems with eating NHS page.

If you’re worried, speak to your health visitor or GP.

Pre-school challenge

The Healthy Pompey Pre-school Challenge helps children and parents build a healthy lifestyle early on. It focuses on four key areas:

  1. Eat well – healthy eating
  2. Move more – being active
  3. Growing grub – learning where food comes from
  4. Oral health – keeping teeth healthy

Over half of Portsmouth’s pre-schools have joined the challenge, and more than 25 have earned accreditation.

A food and health worker is available to support pre-school staff and offer training to staff and parents.

To get involved or learn more, call Public Health Portsmouth on 023 9284 1714.

Helpful documents