Starting solids with baby
Nov 21, 2014 22:05:34 GMT 10
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Post by StepfordRenegade on Nov 21, 2014 22:05:34 GMT 10
Starting solids with babies
The World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends that solids don't start until bub is 6 months old, but Australian recommendations are anywhere from 4 months.
Some signs that your baby is ready for solids include:
In an emergency situation you might not have access to your lovely organic store bought puree, and if you don't have power your food processor/blender will most likely be useless, and all those tubs of home made baby mush you have in the freezer will be no good quite quickly.
I'd really recommend checking out baby led weaning, it's basically skipping the purees and moving bub onto 'real' food. So you start with something easy, like steamed sweet potato, or broccoli, or carrots, or cut up cold cucumber (also fantastic for teething). You make sure it's cut up into big enough pieces that bub can grip it firmly (so don't start with slippery stuff, like avocado) and get an end in their mouths. Bub can then explore the taste and texture at their own pace. They will most likely pull funny faces, and spit it out, and pick it up again, and smear it everywhere, and then cry when it's gone because they haven't rubbed have quite enough in their eyebrows.
Once they've got the hang of it, they move on to whatever you are eating - spaghetti, steak, sandwiches etc. As long as it's healthy and you haven't added salt, it's pretty much fair game. This means you don't have to add specific baby food to your preps as a 'just in case,' bub can just eat whatever you are cooking up for yourself.
There are a bunch of great blogs and websites out there, I'd really recommend checking them out.
Getting Started with Baby Led Weaning: www.babyledweaning.com/some-tips-to-get-you-started/
"The key difference between BLW and traditional weaning, when you think about it, is in the order that children learn to eat. With a puree, they learn to swallow first and then chew, which works fine until they meet a lump. With BLW, the babies learn to chew first and swallowing might come some time later."
What's the deal with baby led weaning?: ohsosavvymom.com/2013/10/whats-the-deal-with-baby-led-weaning/
"He doesn’t have any teeth. How does he chew it?
A baby who is fed purees first learns to swallow first and then chew later…several months later. A baby who is fed table foods learns to chew first and swallow shortly after. –It took Baby Z about 3 days to learn to swallow after he’d chewed up his food– As for the no teeth thing. Babies have intensely powerful jaws. If you’ve ever stuck your finger in a toothless baby’s mouth and been bit you got what you deserved then you know how powerful those little chompers can be. I find my little man to be quite efficient at chewing up various fruits, veggies, and meats with his gums.
Won’t he choke?
This is the BIG question. Most likely no. The truth of the matter is you really can’t say, “Aw, no, he’ll be just fine. BLW babies never choke.” It would simply be irresponsible of me to say that. That said, I’ve never heard any of my friends and acquaintances who do baby led weaning say their child has choked. Gagging, on the other hand is a fairly common occurrence as baby learns how to move food around in their mouth. In instances of gagging, the parent just needs to remain calm, watch, and in almost every instance the baby will quickly resolve the situation all by themselves. *Note: I do not deny that there is a very small amount of added risk allowing the baby to eat table foods. I simply follow common sense and give my baby relatively soft foods, never leave him alone while he is eating, and cut his food into small pieces if he seems like he is having trouble. And, when you have a baby, in general it is a good idea to know how to perform the Heimlich maneuver on an infant."
The World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends that solids don't start until bub is 6 months old, but Australian recommendations are anywhere from 4 months.
Some signs that your baby is ready for solids include:
- good head control - bub should be able to hold their head upright and steady for extended periods
- able to sit with support
- avidly watching you eat
- grabbing at your food
- makes chewing motions when watching you eat
In an emergency situation you might not have access to your lovely organic store bought puree, and if you don't have power your food processor/blender will most likely be useless, and all those tubs of home made baby mush you have in the freezer will be no good quite quickly.
I'd really recommend checking out baby led weaning, it's basically skipping the purees and moving bub onto 'real' food. So you start with something easy, like steamed sweet potato, or broccoli, or carrots, or cut up cold cucumber (also fantastic for teething). You make sure it's cut up into big enough pieces that bub can grip it firmly (so don't start with slippery stuff, like avocado) and get an end in their mouths. Bub can then explore the taste and texture at their own pace. They will most likely pull funny faces, and spit it out, and pick it up again, and smear it everywhere, and then cry when it's gone because they haven't rubbed have quite enough in their eyebrows.
Once they've got the hang of it, they move on to whatever you are eating - spaghetti, steak, sandwiches etc. As long as it's healthy and you haven't added salt, it's pretty much fair game. This means you don't have to add specific baby food to your preps as a 'just in case,' bub can just eat whatever you are cooking up for yourself.
There are a bunch of great blogs and websites out there, I'd really recommend checking them out.
Getting Started with Baby Led Weaning: www.babyledweaning.com/some-tips-to-get-you-started/
"The key difference between BLW and traditional weaning, when you think about it, is in the order that children learn to eat. With a puree, they learn to swallow first and then chew, which works fine until they meet a lump. With BLW, the babies learn to chew first and swallowing might come some time later."
What's the deal with baby led weaning?: ohsosavvymom.com/2013/10/whats-the-deal-with-baby-led-weaning/
"He doesn’t have any teeth. How does he chew it?
A baby who is fed purees first learns to swallow first and then chew later…several months later. A baby who is fed table foods learns to chew first and swallow shortly after. –It took Baby Z about 3 days to learn to swallow after he’d chewed up his food– As for the no teeth thing. Babies have intensely powerful jaws. If you’ve ever stuck your finger in a toothless baby’s mouth and been bit you got what you deserved then you know how powerful those little chompers can be. I find my little man to be quite efficient at chewing up various fruits, veggies, and meats with his gums.
Won’t he choke?
This is the BIG question. Most likely no. The truth of the matter is you really can’t say, “Aw, no, he’ll be just fine. BLW babies never choke.” It would simply be irresponsible of me to say that. That said, I’ve never heard any of my friends and acquaintances who do baby led weaning say their child has choked. Gagging, on the other hand is a fairly common occurrence as baby learns how to move food around in their mouth. In instances of gagging, the parent just needs to remain calm, watch, and in almost every instance the baby will quickly resolve the situation all by themselves. *Note: I do not deny that there is a very small amount of added risk allowing the baby to eat table foods. I simply follow common sense and give my baby relatively soft foods, never leave him alone while he is eating, and cut his food into small pieces if he seems like he is having trouble. And, when you have a baby, in general it is a good idea to know how to perform the Heimlich maneuver on an infant."
