- COMMUNAL EATING
Offer the baby what is on the table with everyone else. The one thing babies learn to eat most with is coming. They see you eat and they will want to mimic that.
- BUILDING UP TO MEALS
Some parents begin with one meal and go up to three meals and a snack by the time the baby is 12 months old. Some include them in more than one meal a day.
The one thing you need to remember is to make them practice mealtimes at least once a day for SURE.
- FOOD BEFORE ONE IS JUST FOR FUN
Up until your child is 12 months old, her primary source of nutrition remains breastmilk or baby formula. Make sure that the baby is nursing to a full stomach 30-45 minutes before being offered solids right up to their first birthday.
- SALT AND SUGAR
Please limit the sodium and sugar intake. Preferably there should be no sugar intake for a baby under one year of age. If at all, keep it minimal. No juices are allowed before one year of age.
Limit sodium intake to 400mg a day. (Sodium is an essential part of salt NaCl)
- LIMIT WATER INTAKE
Try and limit the water intake of the child to 1-2 Oz a day for a baby between 6-12 months of age.
Their hydration needs are mostly and should be fulfilled by breastmilk.
- CUT FOOD APPROPRIATELY
It is recommended to cut food in long finger like shapes. It is easier for them to practice their pincer grasps (or even the fist grab!) and helps them manoeuvre biting off the correct size and chewing.
Cutting too small pieces is actually more of a choking hazard than large pieces.
Once the child is 9 months old
- MAKE SURE EGGS, MEAT, POULTRY AND FISH ARE FULLY COOKED UNTIL 5 YEARS OF AGE
Babies have developing immune systems and cannot cope with a lot of food borne diseases these foods come with that us adults can combat. So no runny yolks as well as unpasteurised milk or cheese until they are five years old.
- DO NOT FEED THE CHILD
Place their food in their tray and let them take lead. The way Baby LED weaning is supposed to work.
- NO HONEY FOR BABEIS UNDER 12 MONTHS OF AGE
It can pretty much kill your child. There are spores of bacteria in honey that a child can combat beyond one year of age but it is fatal of a child less than 1 year old contracts it. Google botulism and prepare to shudder!
- Gagging vs Choking
Gagging is loud retching that the neighbours their dog and their grandma hears without her hearing aid. Choking is silent.
Gagging infact is what scares us all so much but is in reality the reflex that PREVENTS choking. So gagging and pushing food out is a good thing. That means the baby probably stuffed his face with more than he could manage and is now reevaluating that’s decision. It’s a learning process for a child.
Please do not expect babies to start gorging their faces with food immediately. Every child is different. Some kids start eating immediately, some take several months. Most kids truly start eating regularly after crossing one year of age and THAT IS OKAY!
Until 12 months of age the primary source of nutrition remains breastmilk or baby formula. Food before one is just for fun (and texture, taste introduction)
This is a series of three posts, this one being the second. The first and third can be found at their respective links here.
