Feeding baby solid foods alberta

Should I Use Baby-Led Weaning to Start My Baby on Solids?

The traditional approach to starting your baby on solid foods is to offer pureed or mashed foods from a spoon and gradually progress to lumpier textures and finger foods. Baby-led weaning (BLW) is an approach that allows your baby to feed themself soft-cooked cut up finger foods right away. There is not enough evidence to recommend one approach for starting solid foods over another. However, there are some important things to know before trying baby-led weaning.

What are the advantages of baby-led weaning?

Baby-led weaning allows you to feed your baby the same foods that the rest of the family is eating. This may help your baby accept different foods.

Are there disadvantages to baby-led weaning?

There may be an increased risk of choking with baby-led weaning because of the different textures and shapes of food offered at the family table. To reduce the risk of choking make sure your baby is sitting upright, never leave your baby alone while eating, and offer age appropriate textures. Read our article on safety tips when introducing solids for a list of foods that may cause choking.

Another concern is that babies fed through baby-led weaning may not get enough iron and energy for healthy growth. This is because the variety and amounts of food that your baby can feed themself may be limited. To help your baby get enough energy and iron, you can offer some foods from a spoon such as iron-fortified baby cereals, mashed beans and lentils and minced meats. It is recommended that you offer an iron rich food at every meal. You can let your baby participate in feeding by letting them practice feeding themselves with the spoon. Learning to use a spoon is also an important part of learning about different foods and textures. Babies also like to lick foods off their fingers as they experiment with different textures.

Read more about introducing solids and which foods are iron-rich here.

Is my baby ready for baby-led weaning?

Your baby is ready for solids at around six months old when they:

Have good head control
Can sit up and lean forward
Can pick up food and try to put it in their mouth
Can turn their head away to let you know they are full

Even without teeth, most babies are able to chew a variety of soft, lumpy foods and finger foods.

How do I start baby-led weaning?

During meals, offer soft-cooked cut up finger foods that can be grasped in your baby’s fist (see below). Start with a variety of iron-rich foods such as meat, eggs, poultry, fish, tofu and beans.

Strips of cooked chicken or tofu
Pieces of cooked fish
Strips of omelette
Lentil and bean cakes
Spears of cooked broccoli, green beans or carrots
Oven baked sweet potato fries without skin
Pieces of soft fruit like banana, avocado and mango
Whole grain toast with thinly spread nut butter
Pita with hummus
Strips of cheese
Pancakes made with iron-fortified baby cereal

When making food for your baby, make sure to avoid adding salt or sugar.

Let your baby feed themself. This means letting them decide what to eat and how much to eat from what you offer at the family meal. At first, your baby may just play with the food or eat very little.

Expect a mess – this is how babies learn how to eat.

What about traditional methods to feed my baby?

It is recommended that you offer your baby a variety of textures such as pureed, mashed, lumpy, ground, finely minced or soft finger foods. You don’t have to choose one feeding approach over another. Offering your baby a variety of foods, including pureed and finger foods, helps your baby learn to accept different foods and textures.

How can a dietitian help?

A dietitian can guide you on how to introduce solid foods safely to your baby. They will make sure your baby is getting enough iron-rich foods and energy to grow and be healthy. They will also give you advice on how often to feed your baby and what textures to feed them. Most employee health benefit plans cover dietitian services. Connect with a dietitian today!

Bottom Line

Baby-led weaning is one approach to introducing your baby to solid foods. More research is needed to learn about the safety and nutrition risks of baby-led weaning and how it affects growth and development. It is important to wait until your baby is around six months old to offer solid foods. It is recommended that you offer a variety of textures.

You may also be interested in:

Introducing solid foods to your baby
Video: Starting solid food
All about homemade baby food
Sample meal plans for feeding your baby

This article was written and reviewed by dietitians from Dietitians of Canada. The advice in this article is intended as general information and should not replace advice given by your dietitian or healthcare provider.

Last Update – December 22, 2022

Tradition and change in the Northern Alberta Woodlands Cree: implications for infant feeding practices

. 1989 May-Jun;80(3):190-4.

W L Neander, J M Morse

PMID: 2743241

W L Neander et al. Can J Public Health. 1989 May-Jun.

. 1989 May-Jun;80(3):190-4.

Authors

W L Neander, J M Morse

PMID: 2743241

Abstract

Using anthropological, ethnographic methods of participant observation and interactive, unstructured interviews, we compared traditional and present-day infant feeding practices of the Northern Alberta Woodland Cree. Twelve elderly multigravidae who used traditional ways of childbearing and rearing and 12 women who used present-day practices served as informants. The major change in childbearing was the removal of childbirth from the household to the hospital. This has resulted in the loss of social support and doulas for mothers, who feel insecure and afraid at this time. Infant feeding methods have changed from breastfeeding to the widespread use of canned milk and, if present-day infants are breastfed, it is only for a short time. Both the traditional and present-day mothers introduced solid foods relatively early, but the traditional mothers premasticated the infants' food rather than using commercial baby food or a blender. Following the traditional practices, mothers felt it was important to keep the breasts warm when lactating, and they were reluctant to feed the infant colostrum immediately after delivery. The importance of understanding the cultural context of infant feeding practices is discussed.

Cited by

Native Hawaiian Complementary Feeding Practices as Told by Grandparents: A Transgenerational Experience.
Fialkowski MK, Fonseca-Smith T, Pinto POEK, Ng-Osorio J. Fialkowski MK, et al. Curr Dev Nutr. 2020 May 26;5(Suppl 4):40-53. doi: 10.1093/cdn/nzaa086. eCollection 2021 Jun. Curr Dev Nutr. 2020. PMID: 34222766 Free PMC article.
Knowledge and practice of prechewing/prewarming food by HIV-infected women.
Gaur AH, Freimanis-Hance L, Dominguez K, Mitchell C, Menezes J, Mussi-Pinhata MM, Peixoto MF, Alarcon J, Coelho DF, Read JS. Gaur AH, et al. Pediatrics. 2011 May;127(5):e1206-11. doi: 10.1542/peds.2010-1902. Epub 2011 Apr 11. Pediatrics. 2011. PMID: 21482608 Free PMC article.
American Indian breastfeeding attitudes and practices in Minnesota.
Rhodes KL, Hellerstedt WL, Davey CS, Pirie PL, Daly KA. Rhodes KL, et al. Matern Child Health J. 2008 Jul;12 Suppl 1:46-54. doi: 10.1007/s10995-008-0310-z. Epub 2008 Feb 12. Matern Child Health J. 2008. PMID: 18266094
Breastfeeding Prevalence among an Alaskan Inupiat Eskimo Population.
Cutting S, Flanders-Stepans MB. Cutting S, et al. J Perinat Educ. 2001 Winter;10(1):21-30. doi: 10.1624/105812401X88020. J Perinat Educ. 2001. PMID: 17273237 Free PMC article.
Iron deficiency and anemia prevalence and associated etiologic risk factors in First Nations and Inuit communities in Northern Ontario and Nunavut.
Christofides A, Schauer C, Zlotkin SH. Christofides A, et al. Can J Public Health. 2005 Jul-Aug;96(4):304-7. doi: 10.1007/BF03405171. Can J Public Health. 2005. PMID: 16625803 Free PMC article.

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MeSH terms

Solid food 9 to 12 months

In the previous period, your main task was to introduce the child to solid food - to prepare him for the transition from liquid food to solid food, to teach him to take food in his mouth and chew it. Many children do not bring food to their mouths, spilling or spilling it along the way, and as a result, they get very little of what was intended. Breast milk and/or formula make up about 90% of their diet.

In the last period of the first year of life, the development of the swallowing mechanism is completed in children. The protective "pushing out" reflex gradually weakens, the child chokes on food less, and swallowing becomes more coordinated. This allows you to gradually move from mashed and liquid food to minty, coarser and lumpy. The structure of solid food also changes. But be careful. If you delay this process, then deprive the child of the chance to experiment with different food structures and increase the period when he eats only pureed food. If you hurry too much, the child will refuse new food with an unfamiliar structure for a long time because of the fear of choking and suffocating.

New skills - new food

At this age, children receive more varied food, and the amount of it increases. Solid food becomes the main source of nutrition for the child, making up about 50% of his diet by the year (for most breastfed children, milk remains the main food by 80-90% even a year). There is a development of new skills, which entails acquaintance with new types of food. Improved "tweezer grip" - the ability to pick up objects with the thumb and forefinger, so the child can take and put small pieces in his mouth. Interest in small objects develops; use this new passion of the child by giving him small pieces of food during feeding.

Handling food

Encourage your child to take food with his fingers. Teach him to put food in his mouth, and not to scatter, smear it on the table or plate. Place small pieces of boiled carrots, rice biscuits, or soft fruits in front of it. Babies use solid food to "scratch" their gums when they start teething. Hard food, especially for teething teeth, should soften in the mouth, dissolving easily as it is chewed. We found that our children were very interested in the various shapes of boiled pasta that we placed in front of them. Baby's new skill of grasping and holding small objects can be used during feeding. This makes it possible to keep the attention of the child at the table much longer. During the performance of such \"captures \" some part of the food still gets into his mouth. If you are afraid of allergies, do not give your baby, who is not yet a year old, wheat products (butter biscuits, pasta, etc. ). If your baby is prone to allergies, you can buy cookies made not from wheat flour, but, for example, from rice.

The child's ability to take food with his hands has its downside. Food, as well as utensils, become interesting objects to study - they can be grabbed, knocked with them, they can be dropped and thrown. Of course, this does not mean that you should stop such feedings, but only speaks of the natural and normal need of the child to identify all new opportunities for using newly acquired skills.

Let the baby dip the pieces of food

At 9 months. Toddler starts using his index finger (a new skill!) to stick it somewhere or point them at something. Children are happy to dip their fingers in food, taste it. Use this new skill when feeding. The reflection in the nutrition and feeding of the child of everything that he masters along the way of his development has its funny sides. As soon as your baby starts using his finger to dip it in food and then suck on it, expect him to soon start painting himself or his chair with the food you feed him. Be lenient about this and treat the young researcher with understanding.

Give your child a bone

Over time, when giving a chicken bone to a child, you can leave pieces of meat on it (but without a thin sharp bone). Let him play (bites, knocks, swings, shifts from one hand to another), and at this time you can eat relatively calmly yourself. In addition, the child will probably get some chicken meat.

Using a spoon

Toward the end of the 1st year, the child wants and tries to eat with a spoon on his own. Usually this leads to the fact that everything around is dirty, and the food goes anywhere but in his mouth. It seems to you that it is easier to feed the baby than to let him eat with a spoon. At the age of about a year, the child begins a period of independence ("I myself \"). To somewhat limit this independence, you can hold a spoon with food, but allow the child to hold on to it, or let the baby hold the spoon himself, and you "tweak" it into his mouth.

Food Safety Precautions:

- Do not give your child fibrous foods

- Choose fish bones carefully before giving them to your child. In canned salmon, knead the bones

- do not give white bread; it turns into a tight lump in the mouth that a child can choke on

- cut meat and chicken across the grain and into very small pieces

- do not give the child large pieces. The baby's front teeth are for biting only. Molar teeth - chewing - appear only after a year. Children press their gums more than they chew

- Feed children only in your presence and only when the child is sitting, not lying down or playing

- Put only a few pieces of food on a plate. When a child sees a whole mountain of food in front of him, he will try to shove it all into his mouth rather than chewing each piece

- sausages do not have a special nutritional value and, moreover, can be dangerous for infants. Putting a whole sausage in your mouth can suffocate your child. Nitrate-free and nitrite-free sausages can be given to children after a year, but even then they should be cut lengthwise into thin narrow strips. Even these "healthy" sausages can be high in sodium, so don't overdo it.

Safe food:

- porridge - rice biscuits (unsalted)

- carrots (boiled)

- whole wheat bread toast (without crust)

- scrambled eggs without egg yolk 9000 9000 squirrels

- boiled peas (shelled)

- pear slices (very ripe)

- apple slices (boiled)

- pasta (boiled)

- green beans (well cooked, without fibers)

- pulp or slices of avocado

food, which can be choked with nuts:

- seeds

- corn

- sausages (entirely or large pieces) solid beans

- hard candy

- raw carrots

- Raw apples

- Grapes

- Unripe pears

- Fibrous food

- Large cuts of meat

Attitude towards food and feeding process

Your task is not only to provide the child with healthy, wholesome food, but also to form in him the right attitude towards the very process of eating. This chapter tells you how to help your baby enjoy food and you can help him enjoy feeding.

Table manners

Children are born artists. When they drop dishes or food on the floor, every adult immediately reacts to this. The child understands this as a game and begins to lay out food anywhere, but not in the mouth. Lunch time becomes a familiar game for him. Sometimes he is very impatient, picks up a handful of food and stuffs it all into his mouth, smearing half of it on his face. And such antics will continue until you react the way he expects. Laughter not only reinforces this habit, but can be very dangerous: when a child laughs with a full mouth, he takes a deep breath of air and may choke.

Soon the baby realizes that he is able to evoke the reaction he wants in the adult. Responding to the child's pranks too quickly and explicitly, we only encourage him to continue this domestic performance. Whether you laugh or scold, the child perceives it as an artist - he sees the reaction of the audience, and the performance continues. Not reacting is the best way to get this little clown off the stage. If he doesn't stop being naughty, you have to assume that he is not hungry and stop feeding. Don't expect your little one to sit quietly at the table like older children. At the same time, already at this early age, children learn to behave with a goal by the example of others. If the child sees that other children (and adults) are laughing with a full mouth or throwing food, knocking a cup, and they are having a lot of fun, the little parrot will do the same. And at the same time, do not forget to praise him for his good manners.

If the child is reluctant to eat

For the child who withdraws your hand with a spoon, place toys with suction cups on the chair (otherwise you will have to constantly pick them up from the floor) and, while he is playing with toys, try to feed him using any a trick to get the spoon into his mouth. We played spoon-airplane: \"Look, here is a plane flying\", - the spoon is approaching and right into the open mouth. If your baby constantly flaps his arms like a windmill while eating, use 3 plastic spoons: one for each of his arms and one for you to feed him. And don't forget that maybe the baby just doesn't want solid food. You must be sure that you do not overstep or force the introduction of this type of food, otherwise the child may develop a negative attitude towards food.

Overcoming fear of solid foods

Some children have a fear of solid foods, and this is quite normal. Don't be surprised if your child wants to explore a new food first before eating it. You can help him get to know her: before you start feeding such a wary baby, put some food on the baby's index finger and put it in his mouth.

How to teach a child to chew solid food?

Shalunova Anastasia Ivanovna

Member of the Russian Union of Nutritionists, Nutritionists and Food Industry Specialists

Bring the spoon to your mouth, play with your food, twist the food with your tongue, spit it out, take a bite, try to chew it, and finally swallow a piece. .. What children do to cope with adult food, which at first seems so "difficult"! We tell you how to teach your child to chew solid food so that it does not become a family problem. Consulted by nutritionist Anastasia Ivanovna Shalunova.

- Anastasia Ivanovna, let's talk about how to teach a child to chew and swallow food in solid form. Why is age important here?

— It is important not to miss the right moment when chewing is the easiest to develop. The most optimal period is from 6 to 10 months, with the introduction of complementary foods with pieces. However, the boundaries of the norm are conditional, because a child can only eat liquid food at a year and a half.

Children begin to chew due to the development of the physiological and neuropsychological processes of the body - this is individual for each child. And here the influence of caesarean section and natural childbirth is also very important, how the birth process proceeded and how the baby developed from birth.

When to give your baby solid food

— How do parents know when their baby is ready to chew solid food?

— Food interest is formed conditionally from 4 to 6 months, when a child pulls a plate, a spoon towards himself, asks for food. During this period, complementary foods begin, gradually moving from homogeneous puree-like dishes to more dense, with pieces.

The child is ready to chew food if:

he confidently picks up and holds a spoon;
sits without adult support;
receives complementary foods for three to four weeks.

From 6 to 10 months of age, it is easier for an infant to learn to eat and chew food in chunks. If the child does not gnaw, but sucks or licks what was given to him, there is no need to forbid him - perhaps he is not hungry or he is interested in something else at the moment.

In the absence of interest in food for up to a year, work with psychologists, neuropsychologists, and neurologists may be necessary. Each of them will look at the children's problem from their side and give recommendations.

— How many teeth are enough to start chewing?

— You can “chew” food even without teeth, rubbing the pieces with your gums. Some children have teeth late, but they are still given solid food in order to develop chewing skills. At the same time, chewing can stimulate blood circulation and tooth growth.

Read also

What "adult" food can be given to a baby under one year old and when to start the transition to a common table.

— What problems can arise if a child does not chew food?

- Some parents complain that the child chokes on solid food or that he does not chew, but swallows immediately. This may be due to the late introduction of solid foods.

In addition, if a child does not chew food well, this provokes digestive problems. You should not load the immature digestive system of the baby, as the child's body does not yet produce enough enzymes. In this case, the child will refuse food, will eat or chew less often.

What principles of nutrition should be followed:

give your child a variety of foods, but in reasonable quantities, and watch the body's reaction;
slow eating improves digestion and increases the feeling of fullness, so it is important to remember to chew your food thoroughly;
with a healthy diet, it is better to avoid feeding in front of the TV and phone, or use them very pointwise. Gadgets distract from food, lead to unconscious and rapid consumption of food, and this can result in metabolic syndrome and subsequently lead to overweight or type II diabetes.

— How do you feel about tongue massage to improve food processing?

- Tongue massage is very often used by speech therapists to relieve muscle spasms in dysarthria in children when pronunciation suffers. During massage, fingers, toothbrushes, probes are used, which can be traumatic for a child.

Parents of such children should be aware of the contraindications to speech therapy massage:

skin rashes, swelling, wounds;
herpetic infections of the oral cavity;
colds;
severe forms of chronic diseases;
oncological, neuropsychiatric diagnoses.

- How to teach a child to chew food - where to start? What size should the pieces be?

— To make chewing effective and fun, a child must have an interest in food. Favorite product will be chewed best. It is also necessary to take into account the novelty of sensations and introduce new foods when the baby is hungry.

Nuances that parents should pay attention to:

Be sure to develop food interest and build a diet, that is, the child should be hungry for the next meal.
It is best to start with chunks in foods that the child has already eaten pureed. The taste will be familiar to him, but the texture will be slightly different.
Cooking of vegetables is encouraged.
It is important to look at whether the baby is coping with his portion. The first pieces are given no larger than a match head, then the size of a little finger nail, then everything is larger. You can give the baby in the hand slices of fresh fruits, baby cookies, crackers.
Nibbler recommended for a smooth transition from puree to chunks. With him, the child eats on his own, and helps teeth erupt.
Parental behavior influences child behavior at the table. If meeting at dinner or lunch is a family tradition, then the child automatically joins it and gets used to it, focusing on the example of the parents.

Do not give up trying to give solid food, even if the child spits out the food. But you don’t need to push the product either: you can offer it at a different moment, vary the pieces in size. Also, do not be afraid to give solid food to the child and be nervous during his training and feeding. Anxiety and panic are transmitted on a subconscious level - the baby can just hurry up and choke.

— What mistakes do parents make when feeding their baby?

— Most often, parents are in a hurry. They should pay attention to the formation of the oral apparatus and the psychological readiness of the baby to eat independently, chew and swallow the food bolus. It often happens that during the period of adaptation of the child, for example, after vaccination or moving, the mother begins to give him something unfamiliar and teach him new skills. This will only complicate the task.

If a child flatly refuses to chew solid food, do not force feed him, you need to find out the reason.

- And finally, probably one of the most popular parenting questions - cartoons while eating. What are the pros and cons?

- The child will be distracted from food by cartoons, which will negatively affect the whole process of eating. The purpose of eating is for the child to eat and realize that he is full. "If you're hungry, let's eat, if you want cartoons, watch them later" - these should be the rules. These actions must be distinguished, because watching cartoons is accompanied by other mental and motor processes.

Main recommendations:

Take your time, stimulate chewing processes and do not forget about physiology: how ready the child's body, oral apparatus, communication systems are.
Be more attentive to the baby, do not switch to your problems. The task of parents is to ensure that the child is fed, fed and develops correctly. To do this, it is important to build nutrition, taking into account the needs of the child and the processes occurring in the body.

Methods for teaching a child to chew are different, but two aspects are important in this matter: physiological and psychological. Solid foods are introduced from around six months of age, and children should be taught to chew solids before the age of one. In this case, the process depends on the received complementary foods, and on the home environment.