Fussy Eater Solutions
Are you excited to introduce solids to your baby? Have you been watching videos or done some reading? Perhaps you have decided to do “baby-led weaning”, perhaps you are keen to use purees. There isn’t a wrong way or a right way to introduce solids. As long as you tune in to your baby’s needs it should work well and be a fun experience.
Often we think about a baby’s nutritional needs as we introduce solids. Sure enough humans are omnivores, they cannot grow and thrive on milk alone! Babies need these important nutrients to grow, develop and thrive.
But there is so much more to introducing solids! In fact if you are keen to develop a happy healthy eater, here are the Five S’s for success as you introduce solids the successful way!
Spot on time
Interestingly enough the advice for introducing solids has changed over time. We are now more aware that baby’s readiness matters. We can connect the dots between nutritional needs, the maturity of a baby’s digestive system, and developmental readiness. In Australia, MCHN and doctors often recommend 4 months, often with the view that this may reduce the risk of allergies. The WHO recommends that solids are introduced around 6 months with signs of readiness.
So as a parent, follow your doctor’s advice and make sure you see those signs of readiness in your baby:
- Baby is not thrusting his tongue so much anymore.
- She is interested in the food, she follows it with her eyes, or she is is reaching for it.
- She is holding her head steady when sitting, if you start before 6 months, purees can be eaten with baby sitting slightly reclined at the beginning.
- Around 6 months she is able to sit upright.
- As soon as you present a spoon she will open her mouth and close it around the spoon.
If at 6 (and a bit) months a baby is still not showing any signs of readiness, it may be wise to ask for advice. While you may give babies a few extra weeks if they are not ready around 6 months of age, it may be worth investigating. A late introduction is associated with difficulties mastering textures[1].
Skills
The period between 6 and 24 months is crucial for developing eating and chewing skills.
Babies are developing fine and gross motor skills. They do a lot of mouth exploration which you can help by providing toys such as “teethers” or teething rusks for example. You will notice that as they are learning to eat they munch, with a vertical jaw motion.
Between 6 and 10 months, progressing textures to master lumps will pave the way for good eating. Some children find this quite challenging so it is important to give some opportunities for practice and to check with a doctor or a speech language pathologist if there are persistent difficulties.
Babies who are keen to get involved in feeding will grab a food, first with the palm of their hand, then around 8-10 months they will hold it between their thumb and index fingers. As they become more independent, they may grab the spoon and want to feed themselves, so why not use 2 or 3 spoons, pre-load and enable self-feeding. If you serve your baby finger food ensure that when you press the food in between your thumb and index fingers it squishes /melts.
To avoid any choking risk think about where your child skills are. Do you need to cut, grind or smooth food? Of course it is worth knowing the difference between gagging and choking, because gagging is a useful reflex that helps protect the airways, whereas choking means that something is obstructing them. You may feel safer feeding solids if you have learned the Heimlich manoeuvre for babies.
You will notice baby’s ability to move food around their mouth as they start develop diagonal and rotary chewing motions, it does not matter if not all teeth are out. Practice with chewing will help teeth eruption. Around age 3 children have established a full rotary motion and should be able to grind a piece of meat for example.
Sensory
Eating is a very sensory experience, it’s visual, it’s smells, it’s tactile, it’s noisy. Plenty of exposure is important. It is not about overwhelming a child of course, but food exploration can vary every day, think colours, think textures from mushy to lumpy to crunchy for example.
Removing sensory challenges for children who are struggling is bound to backfire. Beware of feeding with pouches or commercial food. You may have less mess and less challenge but babies are not getting important sensory exposure. Helping children manage their reaction to food is useful, stay calm if they get upset: it is not about getting your child to ingest the food.
Never give up on exposure despite those challenges.
Social
Mealtime with babies is fun but it can also be very lonely. It may be tempting to jump on your mobile phone for some adult company. It is worth revisiting this outlet though. Tuning in is super important. Animals teach their offspring to eat and partake in eating activity for a reason: modelling is important and it works. Think about your child as a little primate who really needs to see you as they eat: babies need to see you bring a great variety of food to your mouth, they need to see you chew. They need eye contact that is reassuring and saying “you’ve got this”. There are many benefits associated with children eating with their parents, so enjoy this social time with your child.
If you find yourself engaged in feeding a child you distract on purpose, like this dad, something else may be at play. You may have started to use a screen to feed your child while they are distracted. That never is a good long term strategy. If you are stuck, seek some help.
Savour
Baby can learn to savour food you serve. The more food variety you can offer a child from the time you introduce solids the better. Humans distinguish 5 tastes: sweetness, saltiness, sourness, bitterness and umami. They enjoy a multitude of flavours. Think about introducing aromatics like garlic, vanilla, cinnamon, turmeric, nutmeg, cardamom, cumin, coriander, clove, smoked paprika, mint, basil, dill and rosemary. Flavours that are liked can be used to introduce other foods.
It works well to introduce new foods and pair them with liked flavours[2].
As you serve purees or BLW sticks, make sure you add a drizzle of olive oil, or any other fat of choice, to enhance the eating experience.
Sometimes babies will be surprised by the way a food tastes, sometimes they will look like they don’t like it. It’s important not to rule the foods out, keep serving this food as if you wish it to be part of your family food repertoire.
With the 5 S of a successful introduction to solids you are on your way to help your child on the track to confident eating. Feeding children is a huge, repetitive, demanding undertaking. It is very much part of educating children, just like learning an instrument or playing a sport is. It’s all about raising a confident eater, a child who has a healthy, joyful relationship with eating!
ebook: 30 baby finger foods :http://zc.vg/OzWop
[1] Delayed introduction of lumpy foods to children during the complementary feeding period affects child’s food acceptance and feeding at 7 years of age
Helen Coulthard ,Gillian Harris
16 December 2008
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1740-8709.2008.00153.x
[2] Relationships between early flavor exposure, and food acceptability and neophobia
Sophie Nicklaus
21 April 2017
CSGA – Centre des Sciences du Goût et de l’Alimentation [Dijon]
