- Does spoon feeding cause obesity?
Should you avoid allergenic food for the first 12 months?
And can your little one really eat solid food
when they don't yet have teeth?
These are just a few of the many questions parents ask
when they're about to transition their little one
onto solids,
but which one of these are myths
and which one of them are true?
You are definitely going be a little bit surprised
by some of these answers.
So let's dive in and talk about the most common myths
when it comes to starting solids.
So, let's start with one of the stranger ones
that spoon feeding your little one
is going to cause obesity.
Now, there is some evidence to show that babies
who use the baby-led weaning approach
are more tuned into hunger and fullness,
but this research does not show whether or not
that is because they have skipped
that spoon feeding phase completely
or because a responsive feeding approach was used.
Now responsive feeding is a key approach
to baby-led weaning
where the baby decides what will go into their mouth
and when they have finished.
Now, the trouble that parents often fall into
with spoon feeding
is that they will come continue to feed their baby,
even when that little one has clearly indicated
that they are full.
And when they do that,
it overrides those internal body signals
that they are full and they need to keep eating,
and then of course, this will result in over eating.
So, if you are going to spoon feed your little one,
it's important to use responsive feeding techniques,
which you can totally do.
You just need to pick up on your little one's cues
that they are telling you they are full,
and they do that either by shaking their head,
pursing their lips, arching away from you,
throwing away the food or starting to cry,
and when you see this, you definitely need to stop
trying to put one more spoon into their mouth
and respond on their cues
so that it does not lead to over eating.
Regardless of the approach you choose to use
when you're introducing solids to your little one,
you do want to check out my free mealtime essentials list,
which covers the spoons, plates,
as well as bibs that I recommend
when you're starting solids,
and you can get that by clicking the link
in the description box below.
The next one might surprise
and disappoint you just a little bit.
If you are thinking about starting solids
because you want your little one
to sleep through the night,
then unfortunately, this is a myth.
Starting solids is not going help your little one
sleep through the night. We do notice that around three to five months of age,
babies sleep patterns mature,
and they start to wake up between sleep cycles,
and if your little one
is waking up between sleep cycles
and needing someone or something to get them back to sleep,
then they're going to continue to call out through the night
to get that to fall back asleep.
It is not hunger that is getting your little one
to wake up during the night.
It is also important to remember
that starting solids before four months of age
is really not recommend and that's for a number of reasons.
Firstly, breast milk or formula
is the best food for a baby at this age,
and it will supply them with all their nutritional needs.
Also, their swallowing may not yet be coordinated enough
to manage semi-solids.
Their digestive system may be a bit immature
to handle solids,
and there is also evidence showing that
introducing solids before four months of age
can also increase the risk of a little one
developing an allergy.
Currently, the World Health Organization
recommends starting solids at around six months of age.
The next myth is that a baby's first food
has to be iron-fortified cereal.
Now, it is true at six months of age,
your baby's iron stores may be getting low
and iron is extremely important
for their growth and development and a strong immune system.
So it is important that their first food is high in iron,
so it's an iron-rich food,
but iron-rich food can be lots of different food.
It can be meat, poultry, fish, beans, lentils,
or iron-fortified cereal.
So if you want to start your little one
on iron fortified-cereal, then that is completely fine,
but if you do not, then you can use
any of those other iron-rich sources of food
to give to your little one.
There is also the belief
that little ones should not have allergenic food
in the first year of life.
Now research is actually showing
that the delayed introduction of allergenic food
can actually increase the risk of a little one
developing a food allergy.
So, if your little one comes from a family
where there is no family history
of allergies or intolerances,
then they can have allergenic food
when they first start solids.
If your little one does come from a family history
where there are intolerances or allergies,
then it's a good idea to check in with your doctor
to see how you might go about introducing these foods,
which are high allergy foods.
The next myth is that babies need teeth
to safely manage solids.
Now, this statement is completely false.
The teeth that we actually use to chew food are our molars,
and for babies, that actually doesn't erupt until well after a year.
The first teeth that they tend to get
are the very front teeth
and those teeth are used for biting.
So if we are waiting for our little one to get those molars,
we're going be waiting a long time
before we introduce solids.
Babies can actually safely manage mashable food
by using their gums.
So their gums are extremely strong
and they're able to mash that food
and then safely swallow it.
Another myth is that when your baby
starts reaching for your food,
they are ready to start solids.
Now you are going to notice
that your little one starts to reach for your food
at three and four months of age,
and this is not an indication that they are ready to solids.
Rather, it's an indication
that they have more control over their arms
than they did as a newborn.
Signs that your baby is ready to start solids
is when they are able to sit up with minimal support
and they're able to keep their head upright,
they are starting to open their mouth
when the food is being introduced,
they have a reduced tongue thrust,
which is where their tongue
automatically pushes whatever is in their mouth out
and this typically happens
at around six to seven months of age,
as well as showing in interest in your food.
So that might be reaching out for your food
or watching the food go from the plate into your mouth.
So typically, babies develop these skills
by six months of age,
which is why the World Health Organization
recommends starting solids at around six months of age.
There is also a saying that food before one is just for fun.
Now this is slightly true, but also slightly incorrect
and extremely irritating at times.
And that is because,
yes, it's true that breast milk and formula
in the first 12 months of a baby's life
is their main source of food
and solid food is seen as complimentary.
But when your little one is having solids,
they are getting lots of nutritional benefits
from those solids,
as well as learning important developmental
and oral motor skills,
which will mean that when they are ready to progress
to having solids full-time
that they have the ability to do that.
We know that in the first six months of a baby's life,
they have the iron stores that they need,
but after six months, they need to have food
and solid food that is rich in iron.
We also know that when you give a baby solids,
they are learning about the texture, the temperature,
the taste, as well as the smell of that food,
which means it's going to be easier for them to progress
to eating that food, rather than just playing with the food.
They are also developing the oral motor skills
required to safely chew
and manage a variety of different textures,
and as well as developing the skill
to safely feed themselves.
Now, this is going to make it so much easier
when they transition to just having solids in the future.
Now, introducing solids to your little one
can be extremely tricky.
So make sure you check out this video
where I go through some tips on how to introduce solids
and also check out this video
if your little one is falling to the side
when they're sitting in the high chair,
they're constantly wiggling around
or they just won't sit still
because you definitely want to adjust that high chair
so it fits them and they're happy to eat.
And make sure you tune in next week
where I'll share more parenting tips and tricks.