Something as innocent as encouraging your baby
to have one more spoonful of food
or placing one more piece of food on their tray
when they're finished eating just in case they want more
is something you should always avoid
when introducing solids.
That's because when you do this,
you're essentially force feeding your little one
and force feeding is really detrimental
when introducing solids.
When babies are force fed,
they often become stressed or upset,
which turns meal times into an unhappy
and tense experience for them.
This stress triggers their fight, flight or freeze mode,
which is a natural response designed
to keep them safe from danger.
And when this happens,
their body releases stress hormones
like adrenaline and cortisol.
Although these hormones are helpful in real emergencies,
they have a negative impact on the body during meal time.
They shift the body's focus away from processes
like digestion, essentially switching off
the digestive system.
As a consequence, your baby's appetite is suppressed
and their body isn't ready to process
and absorb the nutrients from the food.
This makes it even more difficult for them to eat
and enjoy their meal.
Furthermore, when the fight, flight or freeze response
is repeatedly triggered during meal times,
it can create a lasting negative association with eating.
And this could result in your baby becoming hesitant
to try new foods or having trouble
developing a healthy relationship with food in general.
It's also important to remember that babies
have a natural ability to self-regulate their food intake,
meaning they'll eat when they're hungry
and stop when they're full.
Force feeding can actually disrupt this natural ability,
making it harder for them to develop healthy eating habits
and increasing the likelihood
of them overeating in the future.
The key to avoiding this response is to pay attention
to your baby's cues and create a warm, positive experience
during meal times.
As a parent, you're in charge of selecting the food,
setting the meal time and choosing the place
that your baby will eat,
while your baby decides how much they want to eat.
Adopting this mindset supports your baby
in learning to self-regulate, gaining confidence
in their eating abilities and makes meal times
more relaxed and supportive.
By allowing them to explore new foods at their own pace
and without pressure, you're encouraging them
to gradually expand the variety of foods
that they're willing to eat.
Avoiding this mistake is one of five ways
that you can make introducing solids a freeze
and ensure you don't inadvertently train them
to avoid solids.
Now let's talk about the other four,
starting with using screens during meal time.
When your baby is engrossed in a screen during meal time,
their focus shifts away from their food
and eating becomes more of a background activity.
This lack of attention can hinder their ability
to learn essential skills like proper chewing and swallowing
and increase their risk of choking.
Furthermore, when a baby's attention is focused on a screen,
they may not fully experience the taste, smells
and textures of their food.
Because they're distracted,
mindful eating gets pushed to the sidelines,
which could set the stage for picky eating habits
as they grow up.
The continuous presence of screens during meal times
can also make it difficult for your baby
to recognize their own hunger and fullness cues.
When they're not fully aware of these bodily sensations,
they may be more prone to overeat or under eat.
This disconnection from their body's natural signals
can lead to an unhealthy relationship with food
and affect their overall eating habits.
By keeping screens away during meals,
your baby can focus on the sensory experience
that comes with eating,
allowing them to build a more diverse
and enjoyable relationship with food,
as well as develop healthier eating habits.
Now this next one might be hard if you don't like mess,
but a significant amount of your baby's learning
comes from exploring the world around them.
And that includes getting their hands on their food.
Touching, poking and playing with their meals
helps them become familiar with the textures,
smells and tastes of different foods
without any pressure to eat it right away.
This hands-on approach is key
as babies often need to see, touch and play with new food
a few times before they're comfortable eating it.
The mistake I often see is trying to place brand new food
directly into the baby's mouth
without letting them have this experience first.
When you do this,
your baby is often overwhelmed by this experience.
The temperature, texture and tastes
are all a complete surprise to them.
And they usually react by spitting out the food,
gagging or pulling away.
Letting your baby play and touch their food
before placing it in their mouth
helps them gradually try and accept new food
on their own terms.
And this also reduces the likelihood
of them becoming picky eaters in the long run.
Additionally, playing with the food
is a fantastic way for them to develop their motor skills,
as it provides a perfect opportunity
for them to practise using their hands and fingers
to grasp, pinch and manipulate different foods.
These fine motor skills are essential for self feeding
and play a big part in helping babies
become independent eaters.
Now, if you're spoon feeding,
one mistake you wanna avoid
is continuing with it for too long.
Spoon feeding for too long
can negatively impact a baby's learning process
when it comes to eating.
When a baby is spoon fed for an extended period,
they may miss out on opportunities
to practise using their mouth, tongue and jaw muscles
to manipulate, chew and swallow different types of food.
This lack of practise
can delay oral motor skill development
and may result in a preference for soft foods
and difficulties managing textured food.
Furthermore, prolonged spoon feeding
can also contribute to picky eating habits.
Babies who are spoon fed are often exposed
to a limited range of textures and tastes
as the food is typically mashed or pureed.
This limited exposure makes it more challenging
for the baby to accept new flavours and textures
as they transition to more complex foods.
By not allowing your baby to explore and experiment
with different foods on their own,
they might become more hesitant or resistant
to try new things, leading to picky eating habits.
Therefore, to support oral motor skill development
and prevent picky eating,
it's crucial to gradually introduce self feeding
and a variety of textures and tastes.
When following the spoon feeding approach correctly,
a baby's diet should evolve as they grow older
and this progress happens quite quickly.
At six months of age, the baby starts with pureed food
and by seven months, the consistencies should transition
to thicker lumpier options.
Between eight and nine months of age,
the baby should be eating lumpier food from a spoon
and be introduced to finger foods.
And by nine months of age,
the baby should predominantly eat a wide range
of finger foods with various textures and flavours.
The type of spoon your baby uses
can also make meal times more challenging
than it needs to be,
particularly if the spoon is way too big.
When the spoon is too big,
it doesn't fit into your little one's mouth well,
making it difficult for them to eat from.
And it also encourages overloading the spoon
with too much food, which increases the likelihood
of your little one gagging on the food.
Unfortunately, I see so many spoons on the market
that look really nice and are marketed really well
as baby spoons, but they're actually way too big.
If you wanna know which spoons are best for babies,
be sure to check out the link in the description box below
for my free Meal Time Essentials guide.
In it, I share all my favourite products
that make meal times easier and slightly less messy
for both you and your little one.
Another one that is really easy to overlook
is providing them with adequate support in their high chair.
When a baby is well supported in a high chair,
it means that they can sit upright,
their arms are resting on the tray table level
with their belly button, and their feet are supported.
And when they're in this position,
they can focus on eating and exploring the new food
and develop their self-feeding skills.
On the flip side, if a baby struggles to sit upright
or the trail table is too high
or their feet are left unsupported,
their attention and energy will be consumed
by the effort to maintain balance and stay seated,
leaving little room for them to focus on the meal itself.
This struggle can be a major roadblock
in their ability to engage with food
and learn to eat independently.
Providing adequate support in a high chair
also allows babies to use their hands and arms effectively
for self-feeding.
Babies who are falling to the side
or trying to reach food on a trail table
that's at shoulder height will struggle to use utensils,
grass for food, or bring it to their mouths,
limiting their ability to develop their fine motor skills
that are essential for independent eating.
Given that the vast majority of high chairs
are simply too big for babies,
it's important you adjust the high chairs
so it can provide your little one
with the support they need to eat safely.
To help you do just that,
make sure you watch this video next,
where I show you how to adjust your little one's high chair
using everyday items around the home.
By taking the time to get the high chair set up
to support your baby at the start,
you are ensuring that they can focus on the skill of eating
and helping to ensure that each meal time
is successful and enjoyable.