Toddler vs. Vegetables

I have done Baby Led Weaning now with both of my children. My oldest was a great eater and loves all food for the most part. He was always willing to try something new and has a great appetite. Of course, as you may guess my second child, had to be different. He was a good eater when he was < 1 year old, but now that he is nearing 2 years old things are changing. My oldest went through this stage, gaining independence, but it has been as bumpy as with baby #2. My 1.5 year old is really not loving vegetables. If you put his fruit, main course and veggies on a plate … he will eat the fruit first, then the main course and if he is still hungry we will try a piece of vegetables. As the weeks have ticked by, he was eating less and less of those vegetables. Then one night we had a massive melt down at the table when I wouldn’t give him his milk and he was not wanting to sit at the table.

So let’s break this down and exactly what happened, because there were lots of things at play here.

1. He wanted his milk. I took his milk away, because he wasn’t eating any of his food. My child is obsessed with milk and would drink it all day everyday if I let him. His reaction to me taking away his milk was to completely melt down (scream, cry, push away from the table and start to throw food on the floor). We had a power struggle on our hands, I said no and he didn’t like that choice I made for him.

2. He ate the carbohydrates for the meal first. Every time he was keeping the vegetables until the end. I am ok with that sometimes, but all the time wasn’t working for us. It was getting to the point that he just wasn’t eating the vegetables.

3. Too many snacks. This one was completely my fault. I was giving him a snack of a piece or two of apple a cheese stick when we got home, but this was filling him up enough that he wasn’t eating much for dinner. That snack was not helping him when it came to eat a wider variety of food items. Instead he was filling up on a cheese stick and a fruit or cracker and that was leading even less vegetable consumption.

4. Not staying at the table. He kept pushing his chair away from the table and not wanting to be present at family meal time. He was throwing food on the floor and not calming down. This was another power struggle issue, because he decided that since he wasn’t getting his way, he wanted to leave the table.

You are probably now wondering what I did in this situation?! Well I kind of lost my cool and felt like a terrible mother for the rest of the evening. This turned into our “come to Jesus moment,” because it was just too much for the whole family at the dinner table. My husband and I decided that we were going to flip things around for the next few weeks and we started offering our toddler vegetables first at lunch and dinner and also for snacks. We basically jumped into the vegetables 100%. We offered that “non-preferred” food first and then offered the “preferred” foods like the main course and maybe a fruit. Then snack was normally a variety of raw veggies and a hummus dip. Over the course of a couple weeks, he started eating the vegetables. We eliminated the evening snack and he got hungry enough that he was eating what was placed in front of him. Now, I am kind of back to offering the veggies and main course at dinner and that is going well. I am still cutting out the evening snack and our daycare provider offers the veggies first at lunch. So in the end, we have a stubborn toddler who prefers other foods over vegetables. I don’t blame him, but I have to help give him those healthy options and limit those other choices (within reason).

I wanted to share this experience with you, because raising adventurous, well rounded eaters is touch. There are a few key points to remember … as the adult you get to decide WHAT is offered and WHEN it is offered. The child gets to choose HOW MUCH they eat of that food item. Especially with toddlers, who are looking to gain independence, it can be hard to navigate family meal times. You are not alone if you have faced some of these struggles. Just remember that you are the parent and you love your child and this too shall pass.

Skip the Baby Food, Give the Table Food

If you have been around here for awhile you know that I really love Baby Led Weaning. I have done it for both of my children and I am a strong believer in feeding your baby what you are eating. I had the opportunity to put together a journal club presentation for our local NICU Journal Club on the topic of Baby Led Weaning. I thought it was time to write up another post on the topic and hopefully help to answer some questions you might have or at least alleviate any concerns you might have.

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What is traditional baby food feeding method and do I have to do that? I thought it might be easiest to put together some questions and talk about some of the background behind how we feed 6 month old babies into their toddler years. You are probably familiar with traditional baby foods that you purchase at the store or even puree and make yourself. You might have started your child on some type of cereal and then tried vegetables, fruits and even meat purees. The first baby foods were developed in the 1920s and then increased in popularity into the 1930s. Before that there was no commercially available baby foods. With this launch of marketed baby food, parents were instructed that they needed to purchase these items. This has been a rite of passage for most infants, trying cereal and then advancing up through the various stages of packaged baby foods.

What are the pros/cons to traditional baby foods? Obviously purchasing foods that are already “prepared” and ready to feed to your child is extremely convenient. It is also very familiar to families. Most people understand the idea of purchasing baby food. Purchasing these baby food products can be expensive and then there is limited variety of these items. Don’t get me wrong, more blends of foods are made and marketed to families, but it is still limited. Another draw back to this method, is that the child is eating something that is different from the rest of the family. They are missing out on that experience of watching others eat and learning how to do that themselves. They can still work on those skills but it is a lot different when they aren’t able to mimic what is happening around them.

So what is Baby Led Weaning (BLW) and how is it different from using traditional baby foods? The idea of baby led weaning has been around forever and is not a new concept, but the terminology might be a “new” way to describe this method. The main premise of BLW is that the baby sits at the table for meal time with the rest of the family and gets to feed themselves. The food that is offered is the meal that the rest of the family is eating. The food can be modified to make it easier for a 6 month old to eat and hold. For example, the veggies offered would be cooked so they are soft enough to manipulate in the child’s mouth. Plus, those cooked veggies are cut in a way that they are long strips that will stick out from the child’s fist so they can bite it. That is all developmentally appropriate for a 6 month old child. As the child grows and gets closer to 12 month, they have a better pincer grasp and can more easily pick up small food pieces. BLW is appropriate to start with child who are 6 months of age and who are able to sit up, have good head and neck control and who are showing interest in foods (reaching for what you are eating and wanting to be with the family at meal time).

What are the pros/cons to Baby Led Weaning? This method of feeding can be easier on families, because they don’t have purchase baby food and the caregiver only has to make one meal. This family meal time has been shown in research to help children as they grow develop to have good social skills and help build stronger family relationships and positively correlate to better weight control. The foods that the child is exposed to at meal times tends to include a wider variety of foods compared with just traditional packaged baby food items. This can be a very unfamiliar feeding method for families and that can be intimidating. Plus, if there is a daycare provider or someone else helping to care for the child, they might be unfamiliar with BLW and not want to be supportive of the parent’s wishes.

If I am interested in trying baby led weaning, where do I begin? Start by using some of the resources listed below to do some research. Most parents are concerned about choking and giving table foods to babies. Becoming familiar with the difference of coughing and choking is helpful in understand that your child is learning how to manipulate food in his/her mouth versus getting that food in their airway and being unable to breath. If you have questions or concerns, let me know! I would love to chat with you about this feeding method or even work with you to figure out the best way to feed your child.

List of Resources:

• https://www.fortifiedfam.com/

• https://www.feedinglittles.com/

• Rapley, Gill and Murkett, Tracey. Baby-Led Weaning The Essential Guide. 2019.

• Rowan, H and Harris, C. Baby-led weaning and family diet. A pilot study. Appetite 58 (2012) 1046-1049.

• D’Auria, E et al. Baby-led weaning: what a systematic review of the literature adds on. Italian Journal of Pediatrics (2018)44:49.

• Brown, A, Jones S, Rowan, H. Baby-Led Weaning: The Evidance to Date. Curr Nutr Rep (2017) 6:148-156. 

• Helwig, J and Stasenko, N. Baby-Led Feeding. 2018.

What products or things do I need? Well you really don’t NEED anything, but there are some great products out there that you might find helpful. With BLW, the child is getting to decide how much they eat of something and you as the caregiver get to decide what they eat and when they eat. So to help encourage more self feeding some of these products (listed below) are helpful! The goal would be getting a bib to help protect your child’s clothes (whatever one works best for your child), then a plate or bowl that can’t easily be thrown to the floor, an open cup or a sippy cup that your child likes and then some type of small utensil that your child can easily manipulate.

Products to Try:

• A good bib: Bapron

• Plates/bowls that stick to the high chair: EzPz cups and plates

• A cup: EzPz Tiny cup

• Small utensils: Grabease or NumNum GOOtensils

Hopefully this is a helpful tool for you as you learn more about ways to fed your child. It is amazing how fast these little ones learn and how the watch the world around them and mimic what they see. Being able to develop those healthy family relationships with each other and with food is so important!

Iron Rich Foods for Your Baby

This topic has been near and dear to my heart this last week. I am not sure if you are familiar with baby well visits but at your 9 month appointment your pediatrician will check your child’s hemoglobin. Now what is your hemoglobin? Hemoglobin in a protein in red blood cells that carries oxygen around your body. When it is low your oxygen binding capacity is lower and this impacts how well your body functions. When your hemoglobin is low this can make you feel tired, lethargic, you can appear more pale, you may experience shortness or breath or even irregular heart rhythms.

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So why is this checked in your child at their 9 month appointment? When you are baby, you are born with adequate iron stores, that you acquired from your mother. As time goes on that iron that is stored is used and then the baby needs to make that switch to working to utilize/produce appropriate iron usage/storage independently. This stored supply of iron often starts to trend down around 6 months. Preterm babies may also have lower iron stores, because they were born early and didn’t have as much time to acquire iron stores from their mother. When your infant starts eating solids iron levels in food has a big impact around 6 months of age. As humans we get most of our iron from our diet. There is iron that is absorbed in breast milk and it is very bio-available. If you have a full term, healthy weight infant their odds of becoming iron deficient are low. But if you child was born prematurely (before 37 weeks gestation), was less than 6.5lbs at birth, if you as a mother are a poorly controlled diabetic and for children given cow’s milk before 12 months of age. For these reasons, pediatricians will make sure that they check your baby’s hemoglobin to see how well their body is using/processing iron.

What happens if you learn your baby’s hemoglobin is low? There are a variety of things that can happen. Your pediatrician will most likely have your child go for a full blood draw. The hemoglobin test they do in the office is normally a heel prick and isn’t always the MOST accurate. They will send you for a blood draw and look at those lab values to see what that hemoglobin really is and then decide if your child needs a iron supplement. If your child ends up needing some iron given orally, that is ok. It is an easy supplement to give (just like you would give Vitamin D to a breast feed baby). You would be provided the prescribed amount of ferrous sulfate daily and follow up with your pediatrician or a hematologist.

We have talked about how you get iron from breast milk, formula and from foods. The amount of iron is lower in breast milk compared with formula, but it is more bio-available. When your child is getting breast milk or formula, they are getting a good source of iron, but as they get older, they will need additional sources of iron. That is where table foods/solids comes into play. What are some iron rich foods I can make sure to feed my baby? There are lots of foods that are high in iron and other foods that are fortified with additional iron. Sometimes dietary intake of iron is an issue for families. See the list of iron rich foods below and make sure that you are fitting these foods in your children’s diet on a regular basis.

Iron Rich Foods

• Meat (any type of meat items are iron rich - think ground meats, fish that flakes and serve those meats in a way that is easy for them to manipulate in their mouth without teeth).

  • Organ meats - liver

• Soy - tofu, edamame, tempeh

• Sea vegetables (think of seaweed, algae are rich in iron)

• Beans

• Winter squash/sweet potatoes

• Dark green veggies (spinach, kale, collard greens)

• Grains (cereals, bread, crackers are often fortified with additional iron as well)

• Eggs (yolks)

Hopefully your baby has great iron stores and those are able to be maintained as they head into toddler-hood. If that isn’t the case and your pediatrician finds out that your baby has lower iron levels, that is ok. There are numerous ways to help support you as the parent and get those levels up so your baby is able to grow and develop to the best of their ability.

References:

1. Kelly Mom

2. Handouts

3. Stanford Children’s

4. The Science of Mom

5. Iron Rich Food Sources
   

Say "NO!" to the Pouch

I’m sure you’ve seen fruit/vegetable pouches at the grocery store and have seen kids squeezing some type of puree into their mouths through a little spout. There are pouches with fruit, pouches with vegetables, pouches that contain organic produce and even pouches with beans and avocados in them. There are even re-usable pouches you can buy and make yourself at home. If you ask me, the baby food pouch market is a little ridiculous. Did you know that pouches now account for 25% of the baby food market?! Sure, the idea of getting your kids to eat a wide array of foods is great, but what grown adult eats these food items out of a pouch?!

Now, if you have given your child a fruit/veggie pouch, don’t feel like you have messed up. It is not the end of the world. However, I am here to tell you that your child is in no way, shape or form NEEDS a pouch to eat their fruit and vegetables. This has been on my mind the last several weeks, because I have encountered several parents who were talking about their child eating vegetables and then they followed up by saying '“in a pouch.” That just made my heart hurt, because from a sensory perspective that child is missing out on SO much. Now, if you give your child a pouch of organic, blueberry and acai berry puree on occasion that is fine, but if your child is depending on pouches to “eat” vegetables, we might want to chat offline.

Let’s talk about the pouch phenomenon from a sensory perspective. Let me clarify - I am not an Occupational Therapist, but I have done some sensory food training (the SOS Feeding Method) and I have worked with several OTs over the past eight years. I know just enough to help explain the basics to you. When your child eats food, they are experiencing so much more than it may first appear. They are touching the food and getting to feel it. They are smelling the food and they are looking at the color and texture of the food. They are getting to taste the flavor of the food and they are getting to watch you eat the food as well. There is so much sensory input that is happening when a child eats. When you give that child a pouch of food, they are missing out on ALL of those sensory experiences. They don’t get to touch the food, they don’t get to smell it, they don’t get to see it and the only sense they get to use is their mouth. Can you imagine having to taste something that you can’t smell, see or feel first? That is a rather shocking experience. Add to that the fact that no one else around you is eating out of a pouch. Imagine how you would react.

My main point with this post isn’t to shame you if you give your child food pouches. I simply want to provide you with some reasoning behind why offering your child pouches on a regular basis might not the best idea. If you have a child that is really picky and is struggling with some sensory issues, and therefore, you rely on pouches, consider working with a feeding therapist. I would be happy to work with you and point you in the direction of a great feeding therapist if you need it.

Eating is such a wonderful sensory experience. When we deprive our children of the opportunity to use their senses while eating, we start to see them struggle with eating. So, while you may choose to use pouches on occasion, please don’t rely on them as a normal meal source. The best thing to do is to prepare soft foods for your child and offer them what you’re eating.

Next time you are in the baby aisle, walking by the baby food, keep going and just say “no” to the pouches!

Resources:

• New York Times article - Rethinking Baby Food Pouches

• Baby Pouches Pose Risk for Development

• The Truth about Food Pouches

• The Downside to Baby Food Pouches

Baby Led Weaning #2

I wanted to bring up the topic of Baby Led Weaning again, because we are once again in that phase of life. My youngest is now 6 months old and we have started with table foods. This is kind of a big deal and crazy to think that our little man is half way to his first birthday.

If you can remember, back 2 years ago, I started William with Baby Led Weaning. If you want to read about that experience - CLICK HERE. With this second time around, I feel more comfortable introducing my little one to table foods, but has been a different experience. William was already sitting up independently at 6 months. Samuel is not sitting unassisted yet, but doing great at pivoting on his belly and rolling from back to front and front to back. He has been sitting with me at the table when we eat dinner and loves to be at the table. I have now been placing him in his high chair and giving him soft foods that we are eating at dinner. He loves being there with the family and is always so excited. He is grabbing the food and working on getting it to his mouth. The large majority of food falls to the floor or into the chair, but he tries so hard. He is doing a great job and I am working hard to not compare him with his brother.

We have tried a large variety of foods already - Chinese noodles were a big hit, he loved veggie straws, cooked veggies like broccoli was fun to try as well. William loves to try to “help” him eat as well. We are trying to teach William to let Samuel learn on his own.

Key Points with Baby Led Weaning to Remember …

1. Coughing is good. This is one of the biggest initial challenges with baby led weaning. Most parents worry and freak out when their baby coughs, but coughing is a good thing. The baby is working to protect their airway and learning how to properly do that. Remain calm at the table, we often praise the cough and say “good coughing” with a smile.

2. Eating is for practice. As I mentioned above so much of the food that I give Samuel never makes it into his mouth. Instead it is all over the floor, in his chair or on his clothes, but that is fine. The goal is smelling, touching, tasting and some eating at meal time. It is a complete sensory experience and the goal is a positive interaction with food.

3. Keep things positive. Some times the amount of time the baby is in the chair isn’t the entire meal time. There have been a couple of meals, where Samuel was not into eating, was tired and cranky. He sat and tried food for maybe 10 minutes and then when he was obviously done, I asked him “all done?” and then once he was calmer, I took him out of his chair. It isn’t about how long the baby sits in the chair, but instead cultivating a positive eating experience.

4. Variety. The amazing benefit of baby led weaning is the ability to exposure your child to new foods. Work to eat a variety of foods and then give those to your child as well. We always aim for a vegetable, entree/protein and a fruit at dinner. We try to switch things up and then never order kid’s meals at restaurants. We purchase a regular meal and then share it with the child. Normally the kid’s meal is just chicken nuggets, applesauce, more bland foods with limited variety.

5. Family meal time. Working to have that family time and sitting together at the table is important for teaching your little one how to eat and how that social event occurs. Children who have family meals do better in school, feel more supported by their family and tend to eat a wide array of foods. This is a win, win, win for all involved.

If you have any questions about baby led weaning, let me know. Check out some of these pictures of our meal time. If you want some additional resources check out - Fortified Family, Feeding Littles, The Baby Led Weaning Cookbook.

Baby Led Weaning FAQ

I felt lead to write another Baby Led Weaning post and I thought I would answer some commonly asked questions that I often get from parents about Baby Led Weaning. This is a topic that I really enjoy discussing with people. I love food and I think that teaching that love to food to our children is important. I believe that Baby Led Weaning is one of the best ways to help instill within children a love of food. 

• When can you start Baby Led Weaning? You can start giving your child soft, solids when they are 6 months old, have good head control and can comfortably sit up in a high chair. You also want your child to be showing signs they want to try to eat (reaching for foods that you are eating, watching you eat, etc). You want them to be able to do these things first, because then you know that they have the strength and stamina to handle solids.

• What do I feed my child? Anything that you are eating. Especially at the beginning start with soft solids (fruits, cooked vegetables, beans, tofu, etc) and then as they get older you can move onto harder food items. There is no need to purchase "special" baby food items, give your child what you are eating!

• What if my kid chokes? There is a difference between choking and coughing. Coughing is normal for every child. The key is not freaking out. Your child coughing is sign that they took too big of a bite, and they are trying to clear their airway. Do not pat them on the back to “try and help.” That could actually make them choke. Choking is when your children stops coughing and is no longer making noise. That is a sign their airway is blocked and that is the time to intervene. This would be the time to do the strongly pat their back over your knee and help to dislodge that food item. Choking is not common with Baby Lead Weaning. Coughing is common, especially at the beginning. Your child has to learn how to manipulate that food in their mouth to chew, swallow and breath. It is an acquired skill and takes practice.

• You don’t use store-purchased baby food? No purees? Nope. Don’t spend more money on commercial baby food. It is a gimmick and your child doesn’t need it. Offer your child foods that you eat at the dinner table. Start with soft foods, cut in long pieces so they can grab them with their hands and feed themselves. It is great to teach your child independence and encourage them to try new foods. Begin with cooked vegetables, soft fruit, soft grain items like puffs or mumums. These items turn into purees in their mouth and they can safely manipulate them. This also means that you make 1 meal and everyone gets to eat it!

• My kid has no teeth, how can they eat table food? Children want to eat what you are eating, why feed your child something different. Yes, your child may not have teeth, but that is why you start with soft food items that they can eat on their own. This teaches them how much food they can fit in their mouth and how to properly chew and swallow. They don’t need teeth for these soft food items you are feeding them.

• What if my kid gets messy? Your kid will get so messy, but that is part of learning. Eating is more than just putting the food in your child’s mouth. It involves the smell, the texture, the taste and the different flavors. This also allows the whole family to sit down together at the table. You don’t have to feed your child separately. Family meal times have been proven to help strengthen those family connections and help child grow into better, more well-rounded individuals.

• What if my child doesn't like the food? That is fine. It takes children upwards of 15 times of being exposed to a food to really determine if they dislike it. Always offer foods that they like and new foods as well. Remember, if you child chooses not to eat, that is fine. There will be another meal in a few hours and they will not starve.

• What is the biggest challenge with Baby Led Weaning? Trying to work in variety. I think it is so easy to get in a food rut, but trying to mix things up and trying new recipes is key. Getting your child to try 100 foods by the time they are one is totally possible.

This is from the Fortified Family website and Katie Ferraro's website/books are amazing!

I think a lot of times as parents we are the ones that end up holding our kids back. We are the ones who limit their creativity or keep them doing crazy things. Yes, some times it is merited to protect them, but with food I feel that it is so important to let them explore, get messy and learn to eat all the different food items. If you have any other questions about Baby Led Weaning, feel free to reach out to me!

Baby Led Weaning Part 2

I wanted to do another follow up post about Baby Led Weaning. Besides encouraging your child to use their hands and feed themselves, finding utensils/sippy cups that work for your child can be overwhelming. There are lots of products out there, but I wanted to take the time and highlight a few items for you. I have heard about these items from Katie Ferraro who is an amazing dietitian who has some great education on baby lead weaning.

What to use? This has been one of my biggest struggles since starting solids with William. Breast feeding is easy because you don't have to use anything special. But with starting solids it is a whole new ball game.

Products I Love!

Grabease

These are a great product that I discovered through Katie Ferraro. I ordered a set for William and I think they are great. William loves holding them and putting them in his mouth. I can't say he has mastered the art of using utensils, but he has a ton of fun playing with them. These utensils are ergonomically designed to fit little ones hands. It allows for a natural vertical grasp and has a choke protection barrier to allow for safe self feeding. These also work great for baby led weaning. They can easily be cleaned in the dishwasher and are BPA free.

Ezpz Mat

I have to confess I have used this only a few times, but I love the concept for this utensil. This all in one placement and plate works well to contain food. It also sticks to the table and it is hard to pick up and toss to the floor. The compartments can hold two 4oz portions and then one 10oz portion. That would work for a fruit/veggie, protein and carbohydrate. This is easy for a small child to use and work on developing their fine motor skills. You can wash it in the dishwasher, use in the microwave and it is oven safe up to 350 degrees. 

Take and Toss Sippy Cup

I had two packages of these given to me from a friend and William loves them. I love this because it is durable to use again and again, but if it is lost it is not the end of the world. The colors are fun and they travel cap works great. They also don't have a valve, which I really liked. I want William to be able to gain the skills to control the flow of the milk out of the sippy cup and this will allow him to practice that skill. These are dishwasher safe as well and BPA free. 

What products have you used that you like? Are there any  brands or types of baby feedings products you really liked? There are so many types of feeding utensils out there it can be overwhelming. If you are on the hunt for some great products to try, make sure you check these out! 

If you missed my first blog post about Baby Led Weaning - CLICK HERE to learn more about how this is a great way to teach your child to love food! 

Baby Led Weaning

It has been a little while since I have share with you about my little one, William. You got to hear all about my pregnancy and how things were going. I wanted to move onto another fun topic that I enjoy ... pediatric nutrition. This is totally my jam. Now my main focus is neonatal nutrition and obviously my child is out of that stage. He is now 6 months old! He is moving and grooving. He started crawling just around 6 months old. He is now obsessed with pulling up on things. When he pulls up and stands on his feet he is SO proud! He is just jumping through ALL of these milestone hoops. Over the last couple of weeks we have also started solid foods.

I am doing Baby Led Weaning with William. I am not sure if you have heard of this approach, but I think it is one of the best ways to teach your child how to love food. The premise is that you use table foods (foods that you would normally eat) and use those to teach your child how to eat. There is no jar baby food involved. Those products are over priced and totally void of much nutritional value. If you want to feed your child is a healthier and most cost effective way ... then keep reading, because this method is for you.

Baby led weaning simply means letting your baby feed themselves from the start of solid foods. There is no force feeding baby food mush. The term was coined by Gill Rapley who was a midwife. Check out her book HERE. Around 6 months or when your baby is able to sit up and is showing interest in foods if when you can start offering table foods. You simply hand your child a suitable size piece of food and they can play with it, smell it, lick it, mash it up, get it all over them and get the full experience of eating. At the beginning a very small portion of the food actually gets to their mouth/into their bellies, but they are learning all about food during this time. There are no purees, no ice cube trays, no food processing, no mashing of foods, no baby cereal or strange jar food combinations. Instead it is your baby eating food that that you eat at your dinner table.  

Baby Led Weaning

• Encourages and teaches family meal time. Everyone comes together at the table and eats together. The baby gets to participate in meal time by being at the time and eating appropriate finger foods that the rest of the family is eating.

• The child gets to choose what, how much and how quickly they want to eat.

• This method gives the chance to explore various new textures and tastes. There is no pressure to have to eat something.

• Continue to nurse or give a bottle just as often as you normally would. Solid foods at this point are made to go with the milk. The baby will regulate and start to eat more solids and decrease milk intake on their one. Usually this will occur later in the first year. For a baby at 6 months old, the main source of their nutrition is either breast milk or formula.

When you think about it baby led weaning ends up being a continuation of breast feeding. When a baby goes to breast, that baby is determining how food milk he is drinking. When he is satisfied he is done. The breast milk will take on different flavors, depending on the mother diet and this is an early introduction of what food tastes like and will increase baby's acceptance of those foods later in life. These concepts are continued with baby led weaning, because the baby is deciding if they want to try foods and how much of foods they want to try to eat. This method encourages that self regulation and exposures to various foods.

If you have questions about baby led weaning or want more information, send me a message. I have various resources that I would love to share with you. I believe that is it so important to build a healthy relationship with food and that starts when your baby first starts solid foods.