I'll always remember one of the mother's in my mothers group telling me that she was delaying
starting solids for her second daughter because it was so much effort meal prepping and perfecting
her first daughter's meals and she just didn't have the energy. This mumma was making mealtimes
way more difficult than they need to be. Those who know me know that I'm all about being
practical and making things as easy as possible! Furthermore, there are important health benefits
to introducing solids prior to 6 months, as long as your little one is developmentally ready of course!
There's a lot of infant diet myths out there, and you've already got enough on your plate,
so join me for this episode of Nourish for 7 common infant diet myths debunked.
Hello! If this is our first time connecting, welcome!
My name is Melanie McGrice and I'm a dietitian who specialises in fertility,
pregnancy and infants in a period known as the first thousand days. This first thousand
days from conception until the age of three is where genetic programming takes place to give
your little one the building blocks for a healthy future. Make sure that you subscribe and connect
with me on my socials....you'll find all the details in the description box below this video.
Unfortunately, there's a lot of misinformation out there!
So I'm excited to get into my top 7 common infant diet myths debunked!
Myth # 1: It's safer to delay starting your baby on solids.
Truth: your bubba should be at least 4 months old and developmentally ready;
that means able to sit up unassisted, able to hold their spoon, and watching you like a hawk
whenever you eat... opening their mouth, waiting and willing you to pop some in.
Myth # 2: You have to spend hours meal prepping for your baby. Truth:
the more frequently that your baby can eat WITH your baby, the better eater that your baby will
be. This means that you should adjust your eating patterns to suit your baby. I don't mean that you
need eat pureed food for the next 6 months, but I do mean that you should eat small, frequent meals,
every few hours, and eat nutritious foods such as fresh fruits, a variety of vegetables,
lean proteins and healthy wholegrains... and of course, you'll need to give up the chocolate and
burgers for a while, but that's a good thing, right?! In the initial stages,
simply puree whatever you're eating, then as soon as your baby is able to manage it,
upgrade your baby to fork-mashed. The lumps are really good for their development. Best of all,
cooking only one meal, that your whole family can share will save you loads of work!
Myth # 3: Your baby should only eat pureed foods.
Truth: Although it's a good idea to start your baby with pureed foods, if your baby
is tolerating it well, you can progress to fork-mashed foods after a couple of weeks.
The lumps and bumps in fork-mashed foods help your baby to get used to different textures and
help to strengthen their jaw in preparation for talking. Once they've mastered fork-mashed foods,
progress to finger foods. The age ranges that you see for texture progression are guidelines,
not rules, so try to progress your baby onto more solid foods as soon when they are ready.
Myth # 4: If your baby spits out a food, it means that he or she doesn't like it.
The focus of food in the first few months is more about learning how to eat. It's tricky to use your
tongue to move food to the back of your mouth in order to swallow it if you're not used to it!
Infants are bound to spit foods out, but that doesn't mean that they don't like it.
If they really don't like something,
they'll make it very clear! They will turn their head away and clamp their mouth shut.
Myth # 5: If your baby doesn't eat all of their meal, it means that they don't like it. Truth:
baby's are very good at regulating their portion sizes. Their appetites will change from meal to
meal (in fact, you can probably learn a thing or two about portion control from them!).
You offer the foods, then let them choose what portion they will eat.
Myth # 6: They will go hungry if they don't eat. Truth: as just mentioned infants are great at
regulating their appetite. It's up to us to offer regular, nutritious meals, but up to them whether
or not their eat them. Unless your baby is losing weight, let your baby guide how much they eat.
Myth # 7: Choose organic, sugar free, gluten free, preservative free snacks.
Truth: Forget packaged snacks. Give them an apple!
Check out the resources for new parents on my website melaniemcgrice.com.
And, make sure you check out some of my other videos for new parents
on topics such as nutritional needs for breastfeeding and 8 iron rich foods for your baby.
I'll look forward to seeing you in my next video!