Katie Ferraro (0s):

So even if you feel like you're getting a late start to the game, don't forget. You've got that flavor window. What I call the honeymoon feeding phase, working in your favor. It's not too late to make the switch, but you do have to stop feeding your baby before your baby could feed himself. Hey there, I'm Katie Ferraro, Registered Dietitian, college nutrition professor, and mama of seven specializing in baby led weaning. Here on the Baby-Led Weaning Made Easy podcast I help you strip out all of the noise and nonsense about feeding, leaving you with the competence and knowledge you need to give your baby a safe start to solid foods using baby led weaning.

Katie Ferraro (45s):

Hello, welcome back to another episode of the baby led weaning made Easy podcast. I'm your host, Katie Ferraro. And if you are a baby led weaning late bloomer, this episode is for you. It is called, is it too late to start? Baby led weaning, spoiler alert the answers. Now some of the different scenarios that I hear from parents who message me or email me or we meet, and they say like, I'm so worried. I'm just too late to the game. Have I ruined my baby while doing purees? Or they're going to be a picky eater because we started with traditional spoon-feeding. The answer is no quick baby-led weaning tip of the day. It is never too late to transition to a self feeding approach, no matter where you are. Okay, it can be too early.

Katie Ferraro (1m 25s):

We do not start feeding our baby solid food prior to six months of age, it's not nutritionally necessary. And on top of that, they're not physiologically ready to eat. So let's talk about all of you whose babies are six months and beyond. What if you didn't start solid foods, right? At six months of age, or maybe you started with traditional spoonfeeding and now you were the one feeding the purees. And now you're like, Ooh, I think maybe it's a better idea of my baby. Be feeding themselves. We are going to cover all of that in today's episode and hang tight. Because at the end of the episode, I'm going to be sharing a little more about this idea of the flavor window, which is what I also call the honeymoon feeding phase. It is not a black and white finite period of time where your baby can start.

Katie Ferraro (2m 5s):

Baby led weaning. And if you missed it, yeah. Messed them up for life. It doesn't work like that. This is a continuum. So trust me, you're not too late. All right. So when is the ideal time to start baby led weaning? I'm not going to spend too much time on this because many of you are listening to episode cause you're like, yeah, I know I missed it. I should've started solid foods at six months of age and for whatever reason identity, but there are some instances where we start later than six months of age. For those of you that have premature babies, your baby's adjusted age should be closer to six months of age versus their chronological age. So I always like to give the example of my quadruplets. They were born six weeks premature. We waited till they're six month adjusted age, meaning when they were six months plus six weeks.

Katie Ferraro (2m 47s):

Cause they were six week preemie. So when they were seven and a half months chronological age, that's when we started solid foods. Cause they were all showing the other signs of readiness to feed. So we don't want to push babies to start too early. Your baby should be sitting up unassisted and then you can start the solid foods. But if you did start with a self-feeding approach right off the bat, what if I missed that time? That's what parents will say. Or I started doing spoonfeeding at five or six months. Some people start at four and it's definitely not advisable, but if you did and you're wanting to make a change. The first thing I would suggest is to turn the spoon around. Hey, what I mean is if you are doing traditional spoonfeeding, whereby you take a puree, you put it on the spoon, you put the spoon in your baby's mouth.

Katie Ferraro (3m 30s):

If your baby's six months of age or older, you don't need to be doing that. Babies can do so much more than we give them credit for. So take that spoon, turn it around, put it in your baby's hand. I teach a preloaded spoon technique. In the first few days of baby led weaning, I actually do a technique called purees for a few days. I've got a whole podcast episode on that exact topic. I'll link to it in the show notes for today's episode. So if you go to BLW podcast.com/ 57, I'll link you back to the periods for a few days approach. But you as the parent, don't put the spoon in the baby's mouth. Remember any object placed into the baby's mouth. Even if it's a spoon can be a choking hazard, but if we preload the spoon, hand it to the baby and allow the baby to bring the spoon to their mouth.

Katie Ferraro (4m 12s):

They're the ones feeding. They're driving the spoon. That's honoring the self feeding principles of baby led weaning. And it's letting her baby seat periods because purees are an important texture for your baby to master. It's just not the only texture that your baby can eat. So if you started with traditional spoonfeeding suggestion, number one, turn that spoon around early on. You'll have to preload the spoon for your baby and then put it in their hand. Maybe help guide the spoon to their mouth. Step two, you're going to be putting the puree onto the spoon and then putting the spoon on the side of the bowl and the baby will pick it up and bring it to their mouth. And then you're putting the puree in the bowl and your baby's learning how to dip and scoop and wallah. All of a sudden they're feeding themselves.

Katie Ferraro (4m 52s):

Now, purees are just one of many textures that your baby can do. So if you've been doing purees and your baby's good with that, it's time to move on to different textures. So don't be scared to start with soft solid foods. I have another episode where I went through the first five days of baby led weaning. Even if you are a little bit later in the stage, so your baby seven or eight months old, go back and listen to that episode, I offer you five easy ways to offer your baby's soft, solid strips of food. They're nice, easy starter foods where you're starting to introduce your baby to different textures. In the first few days might be a little Rocky because they've gotten used to you feeding them, but like any change in your schedule, again, it might be a little Rocky. The first few days, there might be a few more tears than usual, but the good thing about babies is they have a short memory span.

Katie Ferraro (5m 37s):

So if they remember you used to feed them a few days ago, and then all of a sudden you stop feeding them. Guess what? They'll start feeding themselves. Now we have to remember that babies are also learning how to do a lot of other things like sit by themselves and they have to learn how to suck and swallow at the same time. And don't forget to breathe and maybe you're practicing with the open cup. So don't feel stressed or overwhelmed if your baby isn't actually eating that much when you're making the transition from purees to different textures, even if they're a little bit older, breast milk or formula is still providing them a majority of your baby's nutrition. So, well, if you started late, if you started with purees, yes, you can switch the first few days, your baby might not get the hang of it. So you want to be a good role model and you can model your own eating behaviors.

Katie Ferraro (6m 23s):

Cause that's one of the ways babies learn, right, is by watching us. So you sit at the table with your baby at eye level and eat your food. It doesn't have to be the same exact food that they're eating, but be dramatic about how you bring the food to your mouth and be dramatic about that. The chewing mechanism and the motion that you're doing. And even without teeth, your baby's learning how to do a munch chew and they'll start mimicking what you're doing. Cause babies certainly do learn what they see. And so seeing is a way of learning. So make sure that you're sharing meal time with your baby. Another suggestion for parents of a little bit older babies, let's say your baby seven and a half or eight months of age. And you're trying to get them off of purees. Stop feeding them purees with step one, but also stop offering at every single meal.

Katie Ferraro (7m 7s):

Okay. If you were doing traditional baby led weaning, you would offer foods that are new actually puree like full fat, whole milk, yogurt, unsweetened applesauce, and pureed, hot cereals. For example, like oatmeal or other whole grain cereals. If that's a food you would offer your baby with a spoon, do it, but also keep in mind. That's just one of many textures that your baby can have. So don't be scared to switch it up and don't worry. Then if your baby doesn't eat that much and for your older babies, don't forget that they still need to see a food 10 or 15 times before they like it or accept it. So they might cry a little bit or they might not want to touch the food at first. And that's totally fine. Don't feel dejected.

Katie Ferraro (7m 47s):

And don't be worried if there's not a whole lot of actual eating going on. Because as I mentioned at the outset, there's this concept known as the flavor window and the flavor window is what I also like to call the honeymoon feeding phase. We say that somewhere between the ages of six and 12, 15, some resources even say it extends until 18 months of age, that babies will like and try and accept a wide variety of foods. Okay? But you know, they don't magically just start eating broccoli unless they've been exposed to broccoli. A number of times prepared in a way that's safe for them to eat. So it's on you as a parent, your job. If we look at the division of responsibility in feeding theory, that Ellyn Satter teaches in Saturday's division of responsibility.

Katie Ferraro (8m 30s):

We have jobs as parents. We have to pick what and when and where our babies eat. But it's ultimate really up to our baby to decide how much or even whether they eat. So do your job by offering your baby wholesome age, appropriate foods in a variety of different textures. At set meal times we don't eat or snack all day is safely seated in the high chair, not toddling around or eating outside of the high chair. You've done your job. Let your baby decide how much or even whether they, and give them time. Some maybes we need 15 or 20 minutes to get through a meal, start looking for their hunger cues and looking for their fullness cues. And your baby will tell you a lot. If you just sit back and let your baby do their job. So you are not too late to start.

Katie Ferraro (9m 11s):

Baby led weaning. You've got that honeymoon feeding phase or that flavor window working in your favor. Let's just say up until your baby's about a year and a half, but practice makes perfect. And so the tip I want to leave you with is when your baby is six to seven months of age, we recommend feeding one to two times a day when your baby is eight to nine months of age, two to three times a day. And by the time your baby's 10 months of age, I love to see babies eating three meals a day. The more often your baby's exposed to food, the more practice they're getting, the more proficient they will become at self feeding. So if you feel comfortable bumping up those times closer to three meals a day, if you feel like you're getting a late start, please know that all that will do is help your baby get more practice and with practice, they will eventually achieve perfection.

Katie Ferraro (9m 54s):

So if you guys are looking for more information on getting a safe start to solid foods, I've got a free online workshop called baby led weaning for beginners. This is an approach that works for some older babies as well. And I'm going to walk you through how you can get your baby to eat 100 foods without you having to spoonfeed purees or buy pouches. Everyone on the free workshop gets a copy of my 101st foods list. You can sign up for the workshop. If you go to the show notes for this episode, I'll also link to some of the other important episodes that you should be listening to. If you're getting a late start, but kind of starting at the beginning, you can fast track your baby's way to self-feeding success. Go to the show notes for this episode. It's BLW podcast.com/ 57.

Katie Ferraro (10m 35s):

And thanks so much for being here. Bye now!