WHAT YOU’LL LEARN

• Raising a Child Who Loves to Eat
• How Consumerism Affects the Way We Introduce Solids to Baby
• Myths About Introducing Solids to Baby 
• The Problems with the “Baby Led Weaning” vs “Traditional Weaning” Debate
• How to Overcome Anxiety About Introducing Solids to Baby
  

One of the biggest challenges moms face when it comes to feeding their children is introducing solids to their baby. 

It’s often a very stressful time, full of anxiety over doing everything “right,” choosing a methodology or approach, and fear around choking.

And the stress doesn’t seem to fade away. We worry about how to cut foods, whether we’re creating an over-reliance on purees, how to avoid picky eating. 

We all want to make the best decisions for our babies. But those “best decisions” are often hard to determine—especially when we we’re left to fall in the research rabbit hole or when we try to follow methods that don’t end up working for us and our babies. 

Introducing solids to our babies can feel scary, but it doesn’t have to follow one strict guide. We can overcome anxiety and create an environment around food that establishes healthy long-term eating habits. 

This week on The Momwell Podcast, I’m joined by Jenny Best, founder of Solid Starts, to discuss how we can rethink our approach to feeding and learn how to trust ourselves and our baby. 

Raising a Child Who Loves to Eat

Jenny founded Solid Starts after realizing how little information parents were given about introducing solids to their baby and creating positive eating environments. 

With her first baby, she found herself unsure of how to present food. She ended up trying to control the situation too much, spoon feeding for too long, and overrelying on purees. And while she envisioned family meals where everyone could enjoy the same foods, she didn’t know how to foster that environment. 

There is evidence for how to help children become comfortable with food and enjoy eating. 

The more she researched, the more she realized that her approach had not been evidence-based—and it hadn’t led her to the results that she wanted. She discovered that there was physiological and neurological evidence for how to help children become comfortable with textured food, trying new things, and enjoying eating—a process that is simultaneously simple and complicated in a society prone to anxiety. 

She even discovered feeding therapists who shared the successes they had with introducing baby-led weaning to babies with complex medical situations and sensory avoidance of textures. 

But she also knew that so many parents were juggling the invisible load, overwhelmed with meal planning, and overworked, without time and energy to search through all the research and science. She created Solid Starts to provide parents with information to empower them to make evidence-based feeding decisions and avoid the pitfalls she fell into. 

How Consumerism Affects the Way We Introduce Solids to Baby

The baby industry often benefits from keeping parents thinking they need to purchase solutions to all of their problems. But in a world of gadgets and products that promise quick fixes, we often lose confidence in our own abilities to make decisions as parents. 

Jenny pointed out that the baby industry has found many different ways to create pricey solutions, and in some cases these products can make things easier. Baby food itself was a commercial construct—and one that likely made sense at the time. But before it was invented, there was no different category of food for infants. What started out as an invention of convenience might have gone too far, creating an overreliance on products. 

She pointed out pouches as an example. Jenny said that pouches are a great invention—they can be very convenient, and offer practical solutions for so many moms. But if we overrely on these, we risk children missing out on nutrients and textures they need to be exposed to. 

Jenny also pointed out that there is a reason the food industry produces pouches that often lack iron—because iron-rich foods come at a higher cost for companies. It’s cheaper and more profitable for them to make pouches out of easily available foods such as apples and carrots. 

She encourages pouches as a supplement, while also offering plenty of foods high in iron, along with plenty of chances to try whole fruits and vegetables as well. 

We don’t need to feel guilty for choosing options of convenience or picking our battles.

But she also pointed out that when it comes to feeding, just like with any parenting decisions, we don’t need to feel guilty for choosing options of convenience or picking our battles—we just need to keep in mind balance, frequency, and regularity. 

It can be helpful to think about what our ultimate goal or end game is. For Jenny, that was creating family meals that everyone ate rather than making different foods for everyone. She weighed her decisions against that and used her goal to balance the short-term convenience  with the long-term plan. 

Myths About Introducing Solids to Baby 

Jenny also stressed that it’s important to debunk myths we have built up around introducing solids to baby and the way that our children eat.

Baby Food, Kid Food, and Adult Food

The first is the very idea of baby food vs. kid food vs. adult food. Jess pointed out this is a construct—in reality, food is just food. We’ve been sold on the idea that we need to start with baby food before moving to chewable food. But this hasn’t always been the case, and it isn’t inherently necessary. 

Choking is Common and Should be a Prevalent Fear

Another myth that has been spread is that choking is a common risk or a leading cause of death. Jenny said that the risk of choking is much lower than we’ve been led to believe—and while we want to be safe and reduce risk, we don’t need to be as afraid as we often are. 

Babies Need Teeth Before Eating Solids

Jenny also pointed out that there is a myth that babies need teeth before they can chew foods. But the evidence doesn’t support this idea. 

There is a prevalent myth that the more labor we put into someting, the “better” we are as moms.

The More Labor We Put Into Food, the Better

On the other hand, there is a prevalent myth that the more labor we put into something, the “better” we are as moms. This underlying myth often leads moms to believing they need to make every meal by hand, puree their own baby food, and construct elaborate foods from scratch. 

The truth is that sometimes opting for convenience or choosing the path of ease is the answer. Maybe that means buying the pre-chopped vegetables or offering pouches when on-the-go, or offering a frozen meal. There should be no shame or guilt in leaning on the path of ease, especially when we’re struggling with our mental health, surviving the postpartum days, or juggling busy schedules. 

The Problems with the “Baby Led Weaning” vs “Traditional Weaning” Debate

Jenny pointed out that some of the shame and guilt comes from a Western tendency to methodize everything. 

When we try to strictly follow a “method” we might feel like we should do things a specific way. For example, we might try to adhere to baby led weaning and feel like we can never offer a pouch. 

Jenny shared that even the creator of baby led weaning, Gill Rapley, has spoken with her and expressed concern about the strict adherence to methodology. She hopes eventually we will do away with methodologies and terms like “baby led weaning,” which often just create more divisive thinking and keep us feeling more pressure.

We often try to cling to methodologies or philosophies to give us a sense of certainty—whether it comes to feeding, sleeping, discipline, or any parenting philosophies. But in the process, we can lose trust in ourselves. 

It’s often far more valuable to tune into our own values and stand strong in what matters most to us—then we can pick and choose what advice or ideas work for our family rather than trying to adopt an idea of how we “should” do things. 

Jenny encourages parents to build trust in themselves. She believes that our gut feelings about food are often stronger than we give them credit for—and that we should listen to what our values tell us. 

She also pointed out that trusting our babies is an important part of the process. A baby’s body is designed to learn how to eat and how to chew. They have reflexes to bite down, even as small babies—reflexes that are strongest between 6-9 months. Embracing their natural ability to learn can help us learn to let go of some control and give them space to try foods and learn to eat. 

How to Overcome Anxiety About Introducing Solids to Baby

It can be hard to let go of control and trust our babies to eat—especially if we’re struggling with anxiety. We’ve been conditioned to think that choking is a common and present threat—and when we’re already hypervigilant because of anxiety, introducing solids to our baby can feel like a very dangerous situation. 

Jenny pointed out that along with natural chewing reflexes, babies have natural protective reflexes. Gagging and coughing are part of our baby’s bodies protecting themselves. 

But it can feel triggering for us if we’ve experienced trauma or anxiety. Jenny said we have to do a lot of unlearning, to trust ourselves and our baby. It takes time to build tolerance and work through anxiety about introducing solids to our baby. 

Sometimes equipping ourselves with statistics and knowledge about safe infant feeding can help us recognize gagging and coughing for what they are and work through those fears. 

She also said that it can be helpful to start with “low-risk, high-reward” foods, such as corn on the cob or a chicken drumstick. These foods offer a way for babies to build their motor skills, grasp their food, and practice bringing solids to their mouth while also being unbreakable and offering very minimal risk. 

This can give parents the chance to work through their anxiety and let their children develop the skills they need to become safe eaters. 

It’s also important to embrace flexibility and give ourselves grace and self-compassion. Jenny encourages parents to go at their own pace and work their way up. She said that if you watch your baby, trust your baby, be in tune and responsive to your baby, you and your baby can navigate the world of solids together and build the food environment you want to create. 

‍If you are struggling with anxiety or fear around infant feeding or parenting in general, our mom therapists are here to help! Book a FREE 15 minute virtual consult today.