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As a first time mom, starting solids can feel paralyzing.
When is the right time to start? What foods do I start with? How do I do baby-led weaning? What IS baby-led weaning??
While you can find answers to all those questions and an easy step-by-step way to get started here, I thought you might like to hear from other moms their advice on starting solids.
I asked them, if you could go back to when you were starting solids and give yourself advice, knowing what you know now, what would you tell yourself?
They can start with soft finger foods sooner than you might think. Make sure they are soft enough that you could easily smush the food between your thumb and index finger.
This is so true! You are both learning, it is normal if they don’t take to eating right away. It’s also normal if they spit foods out, gag, or make funny faces!
A lot of parents worry that they can’t move past purees if baby has no teeth. But their teeth are there, under their gums. So their gums can handle more than you’d think. Make sure food is soft enough to smush between your fingers, and that’s a good sign their gums can handle it, too.
If baby turns their head away, bats at the spoon, purses their mouth shut, or starts throwing food, she is trying to tell you, “stop feeding me, please!”
Choking is the number one fear parents have about starting solids. One of the biggest misconceptions is that gagging is choking, when they are two completely separate things. And, gagging is not dangerous. To set your fears on this aside, I would highly recommend watching the tutorial I’ve included in my Simply Solids quick guide.
Babies are known for making faces that seem to say, “this is DISGUSTING,” when they’re actually just exploring a new taste. So you may be tempted to assume that they think peas are gross, when really, they just need to try them a few more times to get used to the taste.
This is research backed, y’all! Old guidelines said to wait on peanuts. But, we learned that was wrong. Very wrong! Early, frequent exposure gives you the best shot at preventing a peanut allergy. More info on that here!
Um, yes, this is most certainly easier said than done. But there were WAY more than two moms who contributed this advice. So I think the common denominator among most moms is that they feel like they worried a lot more than they had to when starting out!
Pay no attention to what so-and-so on Facebook or Ms. Blogger is doing with feeding their baby. For all you know, they are following terrible advice. Or maybe they’re creating a crap-ton of work for themselves that you have no interest in doing to feed your baby. It’s fine. You have to start where you are comfortable, and it’s okay for that to look different than what someone else is doing!
Simply Solids is my no-B.S. guide to starting solids for real moms (and dads!) who don’t want to feel overwhelmed through the process. Oh, and it’s only $10, so what do you have to lose? Get started now, with the support of a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist to walk you through those first few months of feeding your baby.
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