How To Introduce Food To Your Baby
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Introducing food to your baby is the ultimate game of trust fall.
This is especially true for a first time momma, like myself. It took me months to figure out who was the one doing the falling and who was the one doing the catching.
After lots of time and reflection, I finally found the answer: we were taking turns in each role.
Every momma and baby duo is going to experience their own timeline to explore the exciting (and scary) world of solid foods together. No matter what, I encourage every momma to lead by following their motherly instincts. When you feel confident to begin this new chapter, then go for it! For new moms especially, starting solid food is uncharted territory that you will both be navigating together.
In this blog post you’ll learn all about the basics of introducing solid foods, essential baby eating products, and relatable stories from an ordinary mom to remind you we are all in this craziness together!
We began our food journey when my daughter turned 4 months old.
My gut feeling was that we were both ready to begin this new chapter and as a firm believer in following your mommy intuition, I did just that.
My baby had really great head control in her Bumbo seat, so after multiple successful sitting sessions in the Bumbo, we tested out the highchair. She was able to sit up right without falling over and fully control her head and neck without support.
We also follow the Moms On Call eating and sleeping routines provided in their books. It was super helpful to have a schedule already written up for me to seamlessly begin adding food into our daily awake vs nap routine at home. There was no need to shift things around or “guess” when to offer food throughout the day as we ramped up the number meals I would offer.
So between the independent sitting, head/neck control and our Moms On Call routine - I felt confident that we were ready to rock.
At the very beginning, we started simple with homemade purees and baby cereal.
I remember the first time she opened up her mouth and took a bite from the spoon. She looked perplexed by having something new in her mouth. I could see the wheels turning in her head as she explored this mushy substance on her tongue. Then, she opened up her mouth again indicating she was ready for more! I was so excited! I remember thinking:
“Look at my girl go!” and “YAY - she likes food!”
Watching a tiny baby eat for the first time is the cutest thing ever so be prepared for your momma heart to melt over the cuteness!
From that day on, I introduced a new food every week. Once we had a handful of basic foods under our belt, I decided it was time to introduce the first common food allergen - peanuts. Suddenly introducing a new food became a whoooole lot scarier.
Any time I would introduce a common allergen my brain would immediately be flooded with thoughts like:
“What if she’s super allergic or has a bad reaction?” and “Am I prepared if she chokes?”
It was really nerve-wracking, y’all! But thankfully she continuously showed no signs of food allergies! I had to trust the process, trust her and trust that I would do the right thing if heaven forbid she had a terrible reaction.
Then by the time my daughter was 6 months old I began baby-led weaning. This was when I was really on high alert during meal times.
I thought I was scared of food allergies, but for me, the fear of my daughter choking was nightmare material.
Offering purees is very straight forward. This is what I considered “safe food”. I didn’t feel on edge about the risk of my child choking with purees.
Giving a small baby large chunks of food is terrifying, but also somehow exciting at the same time.
Has anyone ever told you that motherhood is just one huge confusing, emotional journey?? I feel like everything in motherhood is somehow simultaneously frightening and amazing and it makes zero sense but also total sense. You’ll know exactly what I am talking about if you haven’t experienced yet. The joys :)
Anyways … I digress.
My daughter is now a year old and a great eater! We have fun memories with food, and some not so fun.
Yes, I’ve had moments of sheer panic thinking she was choking on food when really it was just her natural gag reflex to expel food to prevent choking (she was fine and her instincts did what they are designed to do).
It’s really challenging as a mom to balance the feelings of wanting to be in control of a situation but also give your child the space to learn new skills.
We all have our own unique skill sets so be patient with yourself as you navigate this huge milestone together.
Starting solids tests you in new ways. Your patience will be tested, your urge to clean up a mess right away will be tested, your desire to help your child rather than let them learn independently will be tested.
At the end of the day momma, do what feels right for you and your baby.
There is no right answer to any of this. I am simply here to share my story and experiences with you so that you can learn something new or maybe just feel seen. We are all on this crazy motherhood journey.
Now let’s really get into it, mommas.
The rule of thumb for introducing solid food to babies for the first time is to wait until your child is able to sit up right in their highchair without slipping and can display full head and neck control. Typically, this is between 4-6 months of age.
Once you feel confident in your baby’s abilities to support themself in their highchair, you can slowly introduce mushy, pureed food. Our pediatrician and Moms On Call recommended to start simple with a baby cereal or a fruit puree.
We started simple with a teaspoon of ground oats (baby cereal) mixed with breast milk and/or water until the consistency looked just right. I offered this exact mixture once a day, every day until she was consistently interested and actively participating in eating it.
Don’t expect much “eating” the first handful of times you introduce food. The beginning is all about exploring!
Expect them to push the mush out of their mouths and it run down their sweet little cheeks. That’s all part of their oral skill development.
When offering the puree, I would load up our Feeding Littles spoon with the puree mix and encourage my daughter to grab onto the spoon or I would gently dab a little bit of the puree on her lips so she could explore the feeling of food on her face. After 2-3 days, she recognized food was a new part of our daily routine and began opening her mouth when I would bring the loaded spoon close to her mouth. She was getting the hang of it!
By the way.. No one talks about how stinking cute they are when they take their first bites of food!
For the next several months, I began slowly introducing new pureed foods such as apples, pears, carrots, peas, sweet potatoes … the list goes on. I opted to make my own purees and freeze individual servings to thaw as needed.
Personally, I didn’t love the idea of feeding my child pre-made baby food. It didn’t feel right for me, so offering whole, real food felt like a better choice for our family. It does require more preparation on your part as a parent, but to me, it’s well worth it!
I do purchase some store bought options that I feel are genuinely healthy, clean options for my baby such as Once Upon A Farm smoothies.
If you plan to purchase store bought baby food, you may notice they will be labelled with different “stages”. The stages correspond with your child’s age and exposure to various foods.
Here are the 4 stages explained:
Stage 1 - single ingredient (fruit, veg, grains) puree, thin consistency, 4-6 months
Stage 2 - multiple ingredient puree, thicker consistency or soft mashed chunks, 6-9 months
Stage 3 - chunky mashed food, variety of textures and ingredients (meat, beans, pasta, etc), 9-12 months
Stage 4 - chewable finger and soft foods, most similar to adult food, 12+ months
When offering purees, I encouraged my baby to take the loaded the spoon and self feed as often as possible. (Yes - this makes the process slower and messier, but have patience and watch your child’s motor skills develop over time!)
By the time my daughter reached 6 months of age, I started to incorporate the baby led weaning technique in with our purees.
Baby-led weaning is the method of introducing solid foods in a baby’s diet, allowing them to feed themselves, rather than a parent or caregiver spoon-feeding.
This is a great way for your child to become familiar with different textures, encourage independent self-feeding and practice motor and oral skill development.
Baby-led weaning has so many amazing benefits for your child, but I am not afraid to admit that it is a scary process for the parents when first starting out!
This is why I think it’s important for a parent who plans to follow the baby-led weaning method, to understand the difference between gagging vs choking.
The easiest way to tell is by the color of their face. If your child’s face is red as they are coughing on food, they are most likely gagging and should spit up anything that was headed in the wrong direction. If their face starts turning blue, this means the airway is blocked and they very well could be choking.
I’d encourage new parents to take an online class on baby CPR / baby Heimlich maneuver for peace of mind. You can also purchase the LifeVac Home Kit on Amazon which is a great safety tool to have accessible at home in case of emergencies.
I know I am not alone in feeling terrified about my child choking. I definitely was on edge the first several times I offered solid pieces of food to my baby. Especially since she didn’t have any teeth! But I trusted that her natural reflex instincts would prevent her from choking while learning how to manage solid food in her mouth. Hence - gagging vs choking.
When starting baby-led weaning - expect your baby to gag. It’s completely normal and to be expected as they transition to solid foods.
Baby-led weaning is an amazing method to follow for your child’s eating development.
If you are interested in or plan to incorporate this method in your household, then I highly encourage you to follow a guide that provides serving recommendations based on baby’s age. A piece of food you offer a 6 month old is very different from a piece of food you may offer a 9 or 12 month old.
It’s all dependent in your child’s fine motor skills and oral skills. Certain foods such as grapes can easily become lodged in your child’s throat if not sliced properly due to their slippery skin.
Two of my favorite guides are Solid Starts and Feeding Littles. They are excellent guides to follow on your solid food journey.
Last but not least, it’s important to be geared up with the best baby eating products on the market! - and for me, that doesn’t always mean the most expensive. I am an Amazon girlie through and through.
Here is a list of all of my favorites:
It’s wild how something can be so exciting, yet so scary. Just like a game of trust fall.
You’re nervous about potentially falling from your partner not catching you, but excited enough to put that trust in someone else and take the leap of faith together.
That’s exactly how your journey with your baby introducing solid foods will feel. You are both taking turns falling and catching one another. Building more and more trust in each other the longer you go.
The best piece of advice I can give would be to only introduce solids when YOU are fully confident and ready to commit to the process. If your gut says to wait, then wait! If you feel ready to go, then dive in! There is no right or wrong answer here, but if you’re ready to add solids to your daily routine, then be sure you’re ready to make it a part of your daily routine from that point forward.
I would also encourage you to keep things simple when you begin introducing solid foods. Starting solids doesn’t mean you have to automatically start feeding your baby 3 meals a day. This is a learning process for both of you so start small, but be consistent.
If you want to feel as in-control as possible when starting solids with your baby, learn as much as you can about baby-led weaning and general baby eating expectations so that you have clear expectations going into the experience. Personally, I loved the Solid Starts and Feeding Littles guides along with other motherhood accounts on Pinterest and Instagram.
Educating yourself is a phenomenal way to alleviate any fears, or anxiety you may have about embarking on a new journey with your child. If you feel confident in understanding realistic expectations and situations, then ultimately you will be able to feel more at ease as you try new things together.
Momma, I am so glad you are here!
Hopefully you gained some helpful tips on ways you can confidently crush motherhood! I’d love for you to stick around and allow me to continue to help guide you during this wild journey. I have a ton of goodies to share so enter your name and email below to connect!
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