Baby Led Weaning
With Sharleen Poole
Baby Led Weaning
Introduction
Baby lead weaning is a hot topic at the moment and over
the past few years working with families; I have seen an increase
in the use of this style of solid food feeding. There is no
right or wrong way to doing things but I do feel parents do need to
be aware of a few pointers to make sure it is the right 'style' for
their baby.
Background
Travelling around the world, I soon started to see that
the good old-fashioned mashed food was not a standard practice in
every country. A lot of the Asian countries that I worked in
did a mixture of solid food feeding styles but most babies were fed
food from their mother's plate, simple, plain and pre-chewed food
for small babies (the mother would chew first and then feed the
baby this 'mashed' mouthful) and then small portions for the older
babies. Accordingly, I adapted the advice I give parents.
I
think it is important to look at your individual baby and
lifestyle. I have observed that often visual and inquisitive babies
who get easily distracted will often not eat enough throughout the
day and then wake hungry in the night.
Now this is OK when they are small babies but as time goes on this
can be very detrimental for the family as parents get tired and
older babies and toddlers do too, resulting in poor behaviour and
unnecessary habits.
The Baby Whisperer's tips:
- Use a combination of both, offering finger food
that is size appropriate for their age and that is not likely to be
choked on.
- Watch your baby while they are eating, don't walk away so
you know they are safe with chunks.
- From the very beginning, once your baby can hold food in
their hands and take it to their mouths, let them feed themselves
and be patient, letting them feed themselves but offer help if they
need it.
- If they are throwing more on the floor or are easily
distracted, use spoon-feeding and self-feeding combined.
- Make interesting food that has flavour and that is not too
plain, this helps babies to enjoy food - just like us. You
can get great books that help you with meal ideas.
- Cook a little extra if you do not eat at the same time as your
baby or toddler and so you can offer them this the next day.
- Some ideas for food that are great and safe are: kumara or
potato fingers (baked or steamed), rice balls, vegetable balls,
green beans, broccoli, carrots steamed (just watch they don't bite
off chunks), cauliflower, pear, melon, homemade fish and chicken
fingers and mince balls - WITH ALL OF THESE CHECK FOR AGE
APPROPRIATE INTRODUCTION.
Where to go for further info:
Sharlene Poole - Little Miracles
www.sharlenepoole.com
Baby led weaning information - Look at your library or online as there is plenty of information available.
For meal ideas:
Wholefood for Children - Jude Blereau
The Complete Baby and Toddler Meal Planner - Annabel Karmel
(Broadcast: 4 December 2012)
