My little granddaughter is now just over three months old. As an Italian family, time together usually involves food, so naturally, food and baby became a discussion point around our large table. My daughter asked me a question that I hadn’t thought about much in the past. It struck me how crucial the question was, “Dad, how do I prepare for the solid food phase?’ Wow, we spend so much time ensuring the baby shower is perfect with nappies, clothes, blankets, toys and so on. I don’t recall any feeding items on the gift list, but these items are essential. The food journey begins anytime from 17 weeks to six months, depending on the family’s approach. So much of how we as parents handle this phase determines our child’s relationship with food, so preparing for this phase is equally important.
I chatted with a speech therapist, Marika Avramit, to answer my daughter’s question. Much of her work focuses on children with severe feeding difficulties, but she is also actively involved with parents embarking on the solids journey. Addressing the picky eaters is an area that takes a lot of time, and she believes that many of these food issues can be traced back to how the solid journey began.
I concluded that if my daughter was asking this question, many other moms must be in the same predicament. For that reason, I decided to share Marika’s insights with you:
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Parents need to have an open mind about the solids journey.
It will initially be about establishing a healthy attitude towards food rather than the calories. This means your baby is allowed to play with food. Touching, smelling, squashing, and tasting are all allowed. In fact, it should be encouraged. So out of the window goes the old idea that you shouldn’t play with your food.
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Parents need to know the difference between choking and gagging.
Marika recalled such an event with her little boy. During a meal, he gagged as he was still learning how to manage the texture and taste of the food. She got so frightened that she picked him up and started shoving her fingers in his mouth to get the food out. Needless to say, her baby started screaming, and the whole event was very traumatic. He wasn’t choking, just gagging. That’s OK. It teaches the child to get rid of something that could make them choke or that the child is still learning to manage from a taste and texture perspective. From there, she taught him how to work around the food and spit it out if he was gagging. She did stress, however, that parents should all learn how to create safe eating environments for babies, familiarize themselves with signs of readiness, and do a first aid & CPR course so that they know what to do in the event of choking.
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Buy a good feeding chair.
The chair must be one that can be placed at the family meal place. A baby that is part of the family meal is more likely to enjoy mealtimes. It should allow the baby to sit upright. A child that is slouching is more likely to choke. The chair must have an adjustable footplate that can be changed according to the child’s age. The baby must sit with the hips, knees and ankles at 90 degrees. Feet that are stable on a footplate allows for stability of the rest of the body. It’s not something we think about, but stability of the body allows for the ideal facial alignment for effective chewing and swallowing and for the baby to be in control of their body at the table. We discussed that the baby can play with the food, so your chair should be easy to clean. Straps are a very important safety feature. I see many children in my practice with head injuries after falling from a feeding chair.
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Short, thick spoon.
A silicone spoon with a nice thick handle is much easier for a baby to grasp. There are also pre-feeding spoons with little dimples on them. Puree gets stuck in the dimples so that baby can hold the spoon and gnaw on it.
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Non-slip bowl.
Hearing about this is a game-changer. I recall my own children flinging a bowl full of food onto the floor with very satisfied grins on their faces. Non-slip bowls, especially those with a little tray, are not as easy to pick up and drop. The baby will also not have to chase the bowl around the table if it doesn’t keep slipping.
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Paper towel, baby-safe kitchen spray and a plastic table cloth for under the chair.<
We are encouraging baby to experience the food, so mess will be part of the experience! Let it happen, then clean up after the fun has ended. Marika’s commented that: “Baby will enjoy the water play during cleanup too!”
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Apron bib.
This is a good idea for keeping the clothes clean. Be really sure that the bib isn’t heavy and weighing down on baby’s neck.
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Tiny open cup or a straw cup.
Marika explained that a baby can use a tiny open cup from the age of 6 to 7 months. This means if you are breastfeeding, baby can go straight to this without needing a bottle. A straw cup is also really good, but it must be light and easy to suck from. Sippy cups are not a good idea as they cause the jaw to push forward and don’t teach the correct tongue placement or slurping pattern.
Conclusion
They say that you can’t teach an old dog new tricks, but I say that you are never too old to learn. My daughter’s question led me to think about solids differently. I have strongly advocated for healthy food but hadn’t considered what was necessary for the process. Thank you to Marika for taking the time to share her knowledge. I am now really pleased to have the opportunity to buy my granddaughter a really good chair. I have learnt that there are feeding chairs that can ultimately be converted into a study chair. Imagine that! A gift that can be used well beyond the baby days.
