so carrying on from my prev post on starting solids for babies…
my baby started purees of fruit and cereals at 4 months and it was going ok .. i mean how hard can it be to swallow thin liquid similar to milk…
until one fine day when he turned 6 months he started to get fussy and mealtimes turned into hell…
introducing level 2 food with slightly more texture and slight lumps was where it just went disastrous… he kept choking (later on i learned it was gagging, huge diff)… and i would get scared…
the odd thing was he swallowed hand mashed food just fine.. like banana or bread… he would still gag but would either spit it out or manage to clear his throat and swallow the pce… and he wanted food off of the table.. he would eat a carrot just like that, raw.. but when i would offer it to him baby friendly .. he would throw a fit
i was getting a feeling he just doenst like mashed or pureed baby stuff…
was searing online for some help when i came across a book called baby led weaning by Gill Rapley but was a bit wary.. cuz it said that the baby is incharge and would eat what it wants when it wants… that came in the way of my being a mom and what comes naturally to me, FORCE FEEDING!
but i dont know why..i ordered it off of amazon.. started following it 2 days ago.. and oh jesus.. he is eating our food.. well toned down… but he is eating everything.. carrot, pasta, meat, everything… even things he hated in baby form..
initially it was just one huge mess… with food in all places.. but the he learned that he needs to put it in his mouth
the book talks bout how babies dont relate food to fulfilling hunger… for them only milk does.. food is just to experiment… therefore u dont solid feed a baby on an empty stomach which was the opp of what i was told… i always fed him and then gave him milk …
there was also a bit bout how we actually handicap our babies by not letting them do what comes naturally like breast feeding, crawling, walking.. they are fully capable of eating too.. just takes time… there is no need to start with purees or thin liquids… if babies are taught to eat solids from get go (though in soft form for beginners), it develops their chewing ability which is imp for speech development… and babies that are kept on puree for too long actually take longer to develop the chewing instinct… and may even forego family meals when they grow up…
studies also show that forced feeding with a spoon makes the child a fussy eater later on… with baby led weaning, since the baby is in control, the chance of that fussiness is decreased.. this i can vouch for… he wont have steame mashed brocolli from a spoon but he will gladly have it if i let him hold it and he eat it himself!
things got much easier… im making all sorts of food for him now.. it takes time cuz i do make sepearte things for him on most days since our own food is likeed spicy…
but mommies here… i would HONSESTLY recommend trying it.. search online and if u feel like trying it out.. buy the book.. its not epxensive
meal times are SUCH a pleasure now!