Daycare: How Can I Get Caregivers on Board with Baby-Led Weaning?

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Katie Ferraro (1m 52s):

Consistency is key here because if you're doing finger foods at home or the purees you're offering come from a preloaded food and your baby is the only one putting anything inside of their mouth at home, you have to find a way to replicate that at daycare. And it's actually easier than you think. And there's some sample scripts and some language you can use to start the conversation with your daycare provider about Baby-Led Weaning. Even if they say, oh, we don't do Baby-Led Weaning, or our policy is only that babies eat Purees here. Hey there, I'm Katie Ferraro, registered dietitian, college nutrition professor and mom of seven specializing in Baby-Led Weaning. Here on the Baby-Led Weaning with Katie Ferraro podcast. I help you strip out all of the noise and nonsense about feeding, giving you the confidence and knowledge you need to give your baby a safe start to solid foods using Baby-Led Weaning.

Katie Ferraro (2m 45s):

One of the most stressful parts of parenting for working parents is figuring out who's gonna help you watch the baby so that you can go back to work. I remember with my oldest, I'm self-employed and I'm around the 12-week mark of I had to go back to work and there was no in-home daycare near me that I liked, and I couldn't afford a full-time nanny. So we did a nanny share with a family that I found on a website and it was kind of a disaster. And those six months from the time she was 12 weeks of age until we figured out different solution were so stressful, and my whole parenting journey, I've always felt that if I feel comfortable with who's watching my kids, then I can concentrate on my work and my life. But like if that's not settled, like I can't focus on anything else.

Katie Ferraro (3m 25s):

And so this idea of having someone else watch your child is very stressful for so many different reasons. You know, the financial, the guilt, all the blah, we're not talking about that today. What we're talking about is the feeding stuff. A lot of times babies in daycare, the mom or the dad going back to work kind of coincides with the time that, all right, we gotta figure out our daycare situation. And you get it all figured out and now it's time for your baby to start solid foods. And what do you do if your daycare provider is not on board with the same approach that you have chosen? So let's say you wanna do Baby-Led Weaning here, or our policy is we only feed purees.

Katie Ferraro (4m 5s):

How do you handle that? In this episode, I want to talk about helping to get caregivers on board with Baby-Led Weaning. And I like to start out each of these mini training episodes with a Baby-Led Weaning tip of the day. And today's tip is we're gonna go through some strategies for how to talk to caregivers about Baby-Led Weaning. But having a policy about who puts what in your baby's mouth can be very helpful. So we'll talk through some scripts and some things that you can say, some conversation starters. But one thing that works for a lot of families is saying, listen, in our family, we're doing Baby-Led Weaning, my baby can put the food in their mouth. And please remember that putting anything in a baby's mouth, including a spoon, can be a choking hazard.

Katie Ferraro (4m 46s):

So at the daycare situation, the dip is, my baby is the only one who puts something in their mouth. And let me show you how we do that with purees. Let me show you how my baby can eat finger foods. And maybe I'm gonna slip two tips of the day in here too. But it is developmentally appropriate for six month old babies to start eating finger foods. And daycare providers and childcare providers are trained in this area, and they should know that. And if they don't know that, to gently remind them that this is developmentally appropriate for my child to eat finger foods. And if you're more comfortable sending purees or they only let you have purees, then here's how we do the pre-loaded spoon approach. So hang on till the end, 'cause I wanna share some of that exact language that can help you when you're having conversations with other caregivers or daycares, grandmas nannies, anyone who's helping you feed your baby.

Katie Ferraro (5m 30s):

We gotta be on the same page and you are the primary caregiver. So you are the one who is setting the stage. Now, I do wanna share that I have a full free feeding guide all about daycare. It's called How to be a Baby-Led Weaning Advocate at daycare. And if you want to download that, if you go to my website, babyledweaning.co/resources, it's right there on the top, the daycare. It's a free feeding guide that covers a lot of the topics that we're talking about today in this episode, but it goes a little bit more in depth and it's a nice one to like print out and have on hand as you're practicing the scripts for having some of these conversations with your daycare provider. So let's look at some of the strategies for helping your daycare providers come around to or get on board with Baby-Led Weaning.

Katie Ferraro (6m 16s):

My first suggestion is to start the self-feeding conversation early. Okay? Your baby's not gonna start solid foods until they're six months of age or six months adjusted age if they were born prematurely and when they're sitting on their own. But you can start talking about the transition to solid foods with your caregiver well before that. Okay? So ask what the caregiver of the facility's policy is about Baby-Led Weaning. Do they even know what it is? Share information about the benefits and the developmental appropriateness of Baby-Led Weaning. Inquire as to what training your staff has regarding infant feeding. Next tip number two, gauge your caregiver's level of interest. As I mentioned, sometimes childcare providers will say things like, oh, well, we don't do Baby-Led Weaning. And what they really mean is, we've never seen anyone do Baby-Led Weaning properly, or we don't know what Baby-Led Weaning is.

Katie Ferraro (6m 59s):

So use inclusive and supportive language to broach the topic of infant feeding. Okay, so here's some conversation starters. And again, I have all of these in that free feeding guide at babyledweaning.co/resources about How to be a Baby-Led Weaning Advocate at Daycare. here are some things you can say. When our baby is ready to start solid foods, we'll be doing a baby-led approach to feeding. Do you have any experience with this alternative to conventional adult-led spoonfeeding or we are so excited about our baby starting solid foods soon? We're gonna be doing baby led weaning and we look forward to working with you and your staff on helping us raise an independent eater. Or another way you could say it is our baby's getting ready to explore new food. Soon we're gonna be doing Baby-Led Weaning with whatever your baby's name is.

Katie Ferraro (7m 40s):

We are happy to share some resources with you if you'd feel more comfortable seeing it in action. My third tip is to share reliable and credible resources. You can provide information about the safety and the efficacy of Baby-Led Weaning, but some daycares go so far as just like pediatricians. They wanna see the peer reviewed research articles or books or resources from credentialed feeding experts. I have some suggestions and some suggested readings that I link to in the Baby-Led Weaning Feeding Guide if you want to share with your daycare provider. My fourth tip is that we always focus on safety. Okay? Your baby's safety is the primary concern for you and your childcare provider. I don't care what your opinions are about feeding. This is all about safety. And we know that babies who start solid foods with a baby-led approach, they're at no higher risk of choking than our babies who start with conventional spoon feeding, okay?

Katie Ferraro (8m 27s):

Provided that the parents and the caregivers are educated about reducing choking risk. So some safety considerations for you are CPR. First and foremost, parents should take an infant refresher CPR course, and obviously you wanna check that all of your childcare providers are CPR certified as they are generally required to be. There's an online course that I recommend for all parents. I myself take it every quarter. It's very affordable, but I also have a code for $10 off of that class if you wanna check it out. It's linked in the description of this episode. Get your CPR stuff up to snuff. The other concern regarding safety is food allergies. Okay? There's a potential, albeit a small one, that your baby might have an allergic reaction to a new food. So we suggest that parents be responsible for introducing those potentially allergenic foods at home. You gotta do it at home a number of times to ensure your baby doesn't have an allergic reaction and do check with your facility regarding their allergenic foods policy.

Katie Ferraro (9m 19s):

Hey, we're gonna take a quick break, but I'll be right back.

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Katie Ferraro (10m 50s):

Next tip number five is that as the parent, you do the new foods and your childcare provider can do familiar foods, okay? So it's not recommended for your childcare provider to be responsible for introducing new foods to a baby. That's your job, okay? You do each new food, preferably, you do that new food a number of times to ensure that the baby has tolerance and eventual mastery of the food. And for the parents that are in our program, Baby-Led Weaning with Katie Ferraro, we show you how to do five new foods a week, and then how to also every day re-offer that new food, but reincorporate familiar foods from previous days, and once you've been through that week of that new food and those five new foods, those become familiar foods. And guess what? You made extras. Okay? If you're following our meal plans and you have 'em to send to daycare, okay?

Katie Ferraro (11m 32s):

So it's not like you're making special food just for daycare. You're taking the food your baby has already tried and you know and you're confident that they're good with, and you're gonna send that to daycare as familiar foods. Tip number six, and this is what I think is the most important. If you walk away with nothing else from this episode, request a meeting to demonstrate your baby self-feeding inaction. Once you've done some new foods with your baby at home, remember, you gotta start this situation at home, okay? But then request a meeting with your childcare provider to demonstrate what Baby-Led Weaning looks like. Okay? Show the provider how you set the baby up safely in the high chair with their feet resting on a footrest. Guess what? You may have to modify the high chair at the daycare. You may have to bring your own high chair. You may have a travel high chair that you're gonna fix to an adult chair at daycare.

Katie Ferraro (12m 13s):

Be like, this is where my baby's gonna sit, and this is how their feet are resting flat. Bring your own stuff suction mat a Baby-Led Weaning bib, a splash mat to put under the height chair. Okay? Then let your baby show how he or she can pick up the foods and bring them to their mouth.Seeing really is believing with Baby-Led Weaning, you can instruct your childcare provider on how to do the preloaded spoon approach for pureed foods. You can honor the self-feeding principles of Baby-Led Weaning, and still offer naturally pureed foods like full fat, whole milk yogurt, or unsweetened applesauce or oatmeal. And we do that using the Preloaded spoon approach. If you'd like to see what that looks like, I teach all about the preloaded spoon approach in my free online workshop called Baby-Led Weaning for Beginners.

Katie Ferraro (12m 55s):

You can sign up at babyledweaning.co. Or if you click the link where you're listening to this, that'll take you to the workshop. On that free workshop, you also get a copy of my original 100 First Foods list, and you can work your baby through the foods on that list, and once those are familiar foods for your baby, then you can send those foods to daycare. Tip number seven, you're gonna have to send your own food and your feeding gear, okay? In the majority of childcare provider situations, you the parent have to prepare and send the food. I know it's a bummer, but you gotta feed this person for the next 17 and a half years of your life. That's why we're trying to set you up for success in the second six months of your baby's life, where you're exposing them to lots of foods and flavors and tastes and textures, so they'll eat those foods that you're actually sending to daycare.

Katie Ferraro (13m 36s):

I also recommend that you send a suction mat or bowl, which helps facilitate independent eating and a splash mat to put underneath the eye chair, which enables easy cleanup. Okay? This may feel like a hassle at first, but really try to think of your childcare provider as a partner and an advocate for Baby-Led Weaning, okay? They are not your adversary. They're your partners in this, but you are the one. You are the coach you need to lead the way. Tip number eight, articulate your feeding goals. Okay? Like you childcare providers are super busy. You gotta share your feeding goals with your childcare providers, and when possible, do this in writing. Okay? So I recommend having some feeding goals that you write down and you, and don't be embarrassed about this, people do ridiculous, ridiculous requests of their childcare providers.

Katie Ferraro (14m 16s):

We had this mom, she was making fun. She's like, there's a mom at my daycare wants like this diaper cream on this butt cheek and this other cream on that butt cheek. It's almost like, why do we take so much liberty being the squeaky wheel over stuff that you know, your baby baby's butt cheeks are important, but then the parents don't feel like they have the power to make special requests regarding feeding. And the truth is, the squeaky wheel does get the oil. And I'm not saying to be annoying to your childcare provider, but be verbal. Be articulate about what your goals for your baby are. Number one, our baby will only have infant milk or breast milk until he is six months of age or six months adjusted if born prematurely. And when they're ready to show the other signs of readiness to eat, we will let you know when our baby starts solid foods. I can't tell you how many parents are like, oh, daycare's pressuring me to start solid foods.

Katie Ferraro (14m 59s):

Daycare doesn't determine when your baby starts solid foods you do along with your primary care provider when your baby's showing you that they're ready to start solid foods. Another goal that you could articulate is, we would like our baby to eat this solid food X number of times with you. Here's our preferred solid food and our bottle schedule. Okay? This is going to change over the coming weeks and the months, and we thank you for helping us to establish a consistent routine for our baby. You've got consistent sleeping routine. You've got your consistent diaper changing routine. Guess what? You're gonna have a consistent, solid food feeding routine. Other feeding goals you can say is, please sit our baby in this chair position this way for each solid food feeding, please do not put anything in the baby's mouth including a spoon. Please, if they're up for it, practice open cup, drinking five minutes following each meal. That's pushing it for some daycares, I will. I will agree with that, but there are other parents who are like, listen, we got into open cup drinking for five minutes after each meal at home.

Katie Ferraro (15m 44s):

The baby loves it. They do it at daycare. The daycare loves it. Here's the liquid for the cup. Here's how we help our baby learn to drink out of an open cup. Okay? A lot of daycare providers are excited to learn about Baby-Led Weaning. They might not know that at first, but when they see your baby feeding themselves, they do get really excited because this is a developmentally appropriate approach for babies. Another goal that you could have is please do not try any new foods with our baby. We will provide a list of the familiar foods our baby has mastered and that we would appreciate your help in continuing to offer. My next tip is to check in regularly. Okay? Childcare providers regularly provide daily reports, right? Maybe you get an ouch report for injuries or a sleep report for naps, a diaper report, et cetera. Do not be shy about asking for a daily feeding report.

Katie Ferraro (16m 25s):

Make your own template if you have to. Asking for information about how many times did my baby eat today? How much of the solid food that I provided did the baby eat? Were there any unusual outcomes or reactions to report? Always be sure to thank your childcare provider for helping you to implement your feeding plan, because in the long run, Baby-Led Weaning is going to be easier and less stressful for the staff when the baby is able and allowed to safely self feed the age appropriate foods that you're providing. And then my final tip for daycare is to celebrate your feeding milestones and feeding successes. Childcare providers, again, they're your advocates in feeding, not your adversaries. Share about the new foods that you're trying at home. Update your providers about changes to your feeding schedule.

Katie Ferraro (17m 6s):

Ask them for feedback on how the baby is doing with solid foods at daycare, and then always thank the provider for helping you to raise an independent eater. I know that daycare can be tough, and sometimes parents are like, I'm just gonna let 'em spoonfeed at daycare, and then we'll just do Baby-Led Weaning at home. That is not an ideal situation. your baby deserves the right to learn how to feed themselves, and if what you're teaching them at home is how to feed themselves, we certainly want to continue that philosophy in the daycare situation. My quick win takeaway message for you today is aim for consistency. If you're doing finger foods and the preloaded spoon, and the baby's the only one feeding themself at home, figure out how you can also make that happen at daycare.

Katie Ferraro (17m 47s):

Again, if you want to download my free feeding guide called daycare How to Be a Baby-Led Weaning advocate at daycare, head to my website, babyledweaning.co/resources. You can sign up for that free online workshop, Baby-Led Weaning for Beginners. It's at babyledweaning.co/workshop. I'll show you the preloaded spoon approach inside of there and give you my free original 100 First Foods list. And if you're ready to start the 100 First Foods Challenge, and you're like, yes, I wanna do this five new foods a week, and I'm gonna have all those familiar foods under my baby's belt real soon, to send a daycare, consider signing up for my program Baby-Led Weaning with Katie Ferraro, that's at babyledweaning.co/program. Everything is linked below as well in the show notes, which you can find at blwpodcast.com/18.

Katie Ferraro (18m 30s):

Thank you to our partners at AirWave Media. If you guys like podcasts that feature food and science, and using your brain, check out some of the shows from AirWave. We are online at blwpodcast.com. Best of luck to you at daycare. You can do this

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