Baby led weaning
I wrote this a year ago at my other blog, Kids Dish. Since I’m going away for the weekend and won’t have internet access (and Ben is just over a week away from his six month birthday so solids are on my mind), I thought I’d republish it.
According to a BBC article, feeding your baby pureed foods might be unnatural. Gill Rapley, the director of Unicef’s Baby Friendly Initiative says that feeding your baby pureed foods can cause health problems later in life. Giving your child breast milk or formula for the first six months then weaning onto solids could prevent your child from becoming a picky eater.
Her approach, baby led weaning, is described more fully in an article about implementing a baby-led approach to incorporating solid foods. The basic idea is that babies who are ready to begin eating solids are capable of taking food into their own mouths and chewing it. Allowing your baby to feed himself soft foods at first puts him at a smaller risk of choking because he’s in control. Larger pieces, like whole fruits are easier for a baby to handle. Giving your baby whole, separate foods allows him to experience flavors, textures, colors and shapes and make decisions about what he eats. Those early decisions will make him open to new foods and flavors as his abilities to self feed develop.
If you’ve had trouble getting your baby to eat foods with chunkier textures, if you’re pregnant or if you’re the mother of a newborn take a few minutes to read about baby-led weaning. This article is a great place to start.
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November 8th, 2008 at 10:15 am
Bravo. Both of my kids went to table food directly - however, they were both around 9 months. I did not puree anything, I would just crumble or dice whatever it was they were eating. I think baby food is a marketing scam and a waste of money.
The last link did not work, though. Am still nursing my 16 month old with no end in site. I would like to look at the baby-led weaning articles.