How to introduce solids
perspective from a speech and language pathologist
Nurtured Nesters, let’s talk about introducing your baby to one of life’s great joys: food.
Think for a second about how much joy you get from eating food: there’s the anticipation of a favorite treat, the adventure of color and texture and flavor, the ritual of sitting with family at the table. Eating is a human delight!
But beginning food with an infant? It can be completely overwhelming. Now more than ever, our thoughts on feeding babies are complicated by a mess of outside forces. It’s not just your pediatrician anymore telling you best practices. It’s not just your Mom or Grandma telling you how they used to do it. Now, we’ve got targeted ads, sponsored bloggers, and social media groups all weighing in on our feeding decisions. Y’all—it’s too much.
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Infant Feeding: Happy Eaters & Confident Parents
Nurtured Nesters, let’s talk about introducing your baby to one of life’s great joys: food.
Think for a second about how much joy you get from eating food: there’s the anticipation of a favorite treat, the adventure of color and texture and flavor, the ritual of sitting with family at the table. Eating is a human delight!
But beginning food with an infant? It can be completely overwhelming. Now more than ever, our thoughts on feeding babies are complicated by a mess of outside forces. It’s not just your pediatrician anymore telling you best practices. It’s not just your Mom or Grandma telling you how they used to do it. Now, we’ve got targeted ads, sponsored bloggers, and social media groups all weighing in on our feeding decisions. Y’all—it’s too much.
The worst part? Those products and ideas we’re sold and influenced by aren’t really about your baby at all. They’re about people’s businesses and bottom lines. How are you supposed to cut through the trends and ads and mix messages to figure out what’s right for your family? How do you get to the good stuff—the joy we all know eating can be?
What do you need? Knowledge. Know your stuff and move forward in confidence. It’s how we roll at The Nurtured Nest, right?
That’s why we created a class. We want you to get the information you need to make introducing solids a positive experience—for you and your baby.
Our class is led by feeding expert Karen Williams--a speech and language pathologist (or SLP) at Homegrown Speech, Language, and Feeding Therapy.
Why did we choose a speech and language pathologist instead of a nutritionist? Karen is an expert in oral mechanisms or, as she says, “the stuff going on in your mouth.”
She knows the ins and outs of the sensory and motor parts of eating—both how it works and how it feels—so she can help parents make the whole experience a positive one for babies. As she says,
“A nutritionist can be helpful to get nutrients on the plate. A speech and language pathologist can help you figure out how to get it from the plate to the belly.”
Karen tells us that the key to helping babies and parents feel confident at the table is knowing the why. No blanket instructions here: instead, she wants families to understand the rationale behind methods like baby-led weaning and traditional purees. In other words, she wants to empower you to choose what’s best for your family.
So how do you choose? Karen says the first step is knowing a few basics. We’re so excited about this new class and all the knowledge it will bring Nurtured Nest families that we wanted to give you a small taste of Karen’s know-how. (A taste! See what we did there?) So here are a few basic take-aways that’ll help you lay the groundwork for introducing your baby to that human joy—food.
The first basic is knowing why you should bother with solids in the first place. Karen says the most common question she gets from parents is, “I’ve heard food before one is just for fun. Is that true?” The answer is…well, the answer is a good example of why we get confused about feeding babies! It’s true that food before one isn’t really about nutrition. But it is about a whole lot of other things, like learning motor skills and independence and how to sit at the table. Our class will help you learn how to make the most of feeding before one. Which is fun, by the way, even as it’s a whole lot more.
The second take-away is that research shows there’s one best way to introduce babies to solids and grow confident eaters: self-feeding. Karen explains,
“Self-feeding encourages a diverse palette, builds confidence and autonomy, and reduces anxiety at the table.”
Doctors recommend it for both baby-led weaning and puree methods, and Karen shares lots of videos and pictures to help you make that recommendation a reality. A messy reality, to be sure. But a fun one too!
Adding solids to your baby’s routine is a big deal! But it doesn’t have to be confusing or overwhelming. Bypass the influencers and trends and head straight toward the good stuff---confident parents, confident babies, and the joy of eating together. We hope you’ll join us in Solid Start!