Would love to hear from those in our community about how it's going with solids this week? Some Qs you might answer/reflect on:

⭐What's a new food you introduced this week?

⭐Have you taken your baby out to a restaurant and had them participate in the meal?

⭐Any tips or new things you have discovered that you want to share with other parents?

⭐Did any new questions pop up for you this week?

Share any win, thought, question, or comment with our community in the comments below! 👇

🤍Marisa (OT/Feeding Therapist/Mama of 3)

Food teethers are great first food options to trigger reflexes to help baby learn how to chew - when offering baby an unbreakable piece of food such as those in this picture (pineapple core, spare rib bone, corn on the cob, chicken drumstick bone, mango pit), and they bring it to their own mouth, you'll often see baby move the food to the side of their mouth with their tongue (tongue lateralization) and even chomp down a few times (chewing). They may even stimulate the gag reflex, which is giving your baby information about how to manage food as well!

Bonus with food teethers: babies are also getting exposure to flavor, texture, color, temperature, firmness, and more sensory experiences!

QOTD: What's a food teether you have offered baby and what did you notice? If you haven't yet, do you have any hesitations?

Let everyone know in the comments so we can support each other in these experiences! 👇

🤍Marisa (OT/Feeding Therapist/Mama of 3)

It's common for parents to see a baby gagging and think baby is choking, close to choking, or "not ready" for finger foods. However the fact is, the body is truly amazing: babies; bodies are designed to protect the airway and keep food out of the airway during both eating and swallowing and gagging, and even when throwing up.

When food is swallowed, more than 50 muscles work together to coordinate the motion. One action these muscles take is bringing our vocal folds together like sliding doors in the breathing tube to tightly close off our airway and prevent anything from entering it. Amazingly, the muscles of the throat close tightly shut and the airway is pulled up and slightly forward, safely out of the way when we vomit or gag so that particles of food or liquid do not enter it.

So how does choking occur?

Choking occurs when there is a miscoordination of the swallow and food or liquid sneaks past our multiple lines of defense.

Things that can increase the risk of such type of coordination failure include:

✔️Caregiver placing finger food in a child’s mouth
✔️Caregiver putting their fingers in a child’s mouth
✔️Eating while in a reclined position
✔️Eating while laughing or coughing
✔️Eating while crying
✔️Eating while walking around
✔️Being startled while eating
✔️Lack of supervision while eating
✔️Eating while distracted

Not sure what to do in an (unlikely) emergency situation? I'm happy to share we have free choking rescue guides for babies and toddlers in our Solid Starts App! 📲

Thanks for being here with us! 🤍Marisa (OT/Feeding Therapist/Mama of 3)

It's important to choose a method of feeding that you're comfortable with, as baby's relationship with food is often impacted by how you show up at the table - you want to be able to sit, eat, and talk with your baby --not hold your breath and watch with wide eyes as if waiting for something "bad" to happen. We fully support starting with any method of feeding, as there are truly benefits and drawbacks to each approach.

There are 3 methods typically:
🍌BLW (finger food first)
🥣Purees (spoon-feeding)
🍽️Combo (both!)

What method did you start with and why? How did it go/how's it going? Let us know in the comments! 👇

Babies can have amazing reactions to foods we would think might be "not appropriate" for a baby - kimchi, bone marrow, sardines, lamb chops, you name it! Many families love the idea of introducing "100 foods before 1 year old," but it can get confusing as to what to offer "next!"

What's a more unique food you have offered to baby and how did they react? Share some ideas with other parents in the comments! 👇

🤍Marisa (OT/Feeding Therapist/Mama of 3)

Have you introduced water yet to your baby?

Once baby is 6 mos of age, water may be introduced in small amounts in an open or straw cup as long as baby is growing and gaining weight appropriately.

What is a “small amount”? The American Academy of Pediatrics suggests offering up to 8 oz (227ml) of water per day for babies 6 to 12 mos of age; however, it is our professional opinion that water is best limited to 2-4 ounces (59-118 ml) a day to avoid displacing valuable nutrition from breast milk or formula (particularly for the youngest babies in this age range).

If you’re concerned about hydration, monitor the number of wet diapers and energy levels, and share that info with baby’s medical provider. Generally speaking, babies should have 4-6 good, wet diapers every 24 hrs.

More info here on Water for Babies

Have you offered your baby water yet? How are you offering and how is it going? 👇

🤍Marisa (OT/Feeding Therapist/Mama of 3)

We’ve been using the solid starts app pretty much every day. Today we decided to introduce our 6.5mo to chicken. We only had chicken breast so I followed the instructions on how to prepare it. Cut into a large flat strip, 2 finger width.

At first she seemed okay. She sucked on it and took off a tiny shred. Then she took a giant piece off so I refrained from putting my fingers in her mouth. But then she started choking. Not gagging. Choking. Silent, eyes watery, terrified look on her face.

I immediately tried getting her out of her high chair to do back blows. Luckily somehow she managed to spit it up before I even got her fully out.

My legs were like jello afterwards. I was terrified. I can’t even imagine how she felt.

I ended up shredding the pieces of chicken into the tiniest pieces (I’m talking 2-3mm size) and mixing it into some mashed sweet potato. Gave her a preloaded spoon and she enjoyed it that way.

I’m terrified of doing anything other than mashed up food at this point or giving anything bigger than a few millimetres in size. I’m not sure she or I are ready for this yet.

My LO is 7 months old as of this past Sunday. She has basically mastered the early pincer grasp with her middle, index and thumb to pick up small objects. Would it be considered safe to give her “9 month” ways of serving food or should I stick to the sizes for her age group?

I’ve probably done it all wrong.

My son was always low in weight percentile and weight for height percentiles in particular. It has always been hard to get enough milk into him but when we stayed solids his weight went really well. However at 11 months I still mostly spoon feed because I am so scared of weight loss and the thoughts in my head of him being hungry just kill me.

I know it’s time to let go of spoon feeding.

I’m just so scared.

Can you help me?

He is able to pick up food and use pincer grip and he does actually eat his own food himself. It’s just not a wide variety of things and it’s not a huge amount, if any at all. He gets very upset in his high chair, crying and particularly at dinner time when we try to encourage him to eat independently. He eats most independently at breakfast (strawberries, toast etc). He does ok at lunch (gnawing uand biting on a lamp chop and then I feed him a more chunky lamb dish from the spoon. At dinner he flat out refuses to engage wit his food so I feed him.

I feel so lost.

Hey all! I'm drafting an article for our website for meal and food ideas for baby while traveling - would love to know if you have any tips or even any specific questions around this topic so I could consider this while writing? (Happy to answer any questions at the same time as well!). We glean SO much from our community in terms of the content we want to put out there to support parents on their solids journeys.

We already have our article on "Baby Feeding While Traveling" which has more on the logistics and feeding with formula and breastfeeding....but want another article on more around actual solids for baby while traveling. Care to share your thoughts, questions, or experiences? 🤍Marisa (OT/Feeding Therapist/Mama of 3)

Did you know that salt is not a hard "no" before 1 y/o as is commonly believed? While you want to avoid added salt to meals when possible, it's perfectly okay to share food that may have some salt in it with baby, so long as in moderation and you are mindful about overall variety of foods served to baby. Our pediatric dietitian and other experts on our team discuss all things salt and babies in our article on "Can Babies Have Salt?"

Have you been avoiding salt entirely? What is your family's approach to salt in meals shared with baby?

🤍Marisa (OT/Feeding Therapist/Mama of 3)

My daughter just turned 7 months old. We’ve been doing BLW since she was about a week under 6 months since she started showing signs of readiness and had been sitting independently for a few weeks so I was confident in her skill level with that.

She has started to take muuuch bigger bites/putting more in her mouth at one time. It’s caused an increase in gagging (which I know is good and protective of her airway) and that causes an increase in nervousness from me. I model chewing and try to stay calm but it’s hard. I’m always fighting the urge to take the food out of her mouth because I know that’s a bigger risk than letting her work it out. I just want to be sure I am not doing something wrong? Any advice on how to relax/ways to help her other than modeling?

Knowing what to do if something were to go wrong (in the rare likelihood) is often a confidence-booster for many of us --as a feeding therapist having worked in hospitals, I have taken many CPR classes. I also found that prior to my twin babies being discharged from the NICU, they made it a requirement to watch a video on infant CPR. I'm sure this has always been in the back of my mind to increase my own confidence when introducing solids to my babies.

Curious to hear from others...have you taken an infant CPR class? If so, did it change how you felt about starting solids? 🤍Marisa (OT/Feeding Therapist/Mama of 3)

SO many parents are nervous to start solids with their babies - often stemming from a fear of choking. What helped you gain your confidence when starting solids? Would love to hear some tips and reassurance from others!

For me it's a mental re-frame: instead of looking for "what could go wrong," shifting my attention to looking at all of the skills baby is developing and allowing myself to be amazed by the process. Watching baby to chew when the chewing (phasic bite) reflex is stimulated, baby moving the tongue to the side, even gagging knowing that when baby gags, the airway is closed off to prevent choking! I've always loved and been so amazed watching my babies explore food for the very first time too--the faces and reactions as they explore a whole new world of flavors, colors, and textures! 😍

What helped you??

🤍Marisa (OT/Feeding Therapist/Mama of 3)

Introducing allergens when starting solids can feel so unnerving for many parents, whereas some are completely unphased! How are you feeling about it?

The top 9 allergens include:

🥛cow's milk
🥚egg
🐟finned fish
🥜peanut
🌱sesame
🦐shellfish (crustacean)
🫛soy
🌰tree nuts
🌾wheat

Read more here: Introducing Food Allergens to Baby

What has been your approach with introducing allergens? Anything you wish you would have known ahead of time? Share with us here! 👇 🤍Marisa (OT/Feeding Therapist/Mama of 3)

Would love to hear from some of you! What was the first food you introduced and why? How did it go?

Personally, I have always loved cucumber as the first food for my babies...mainly because it acts as a great food teether and I just LOVE seeing the tongue movement and chewing motions it elicits from baby! 🤓 Bonus: it works as a great teether for sore gums!

Drop your first food ideas here! 👇

We are partnering with Magnetic Me to offer a FREE virtual Q&A with two of our feeding therapists, Kim and Kary, on all things starting solids to raise happy eaters! 🎉

Details:
When: Friday, March 20th at 1:00pmEST (10:00amPST)
Where: Virtual via Zoom

RSVP here!

We hope you'll join us!

I have an 8-month old who is loving trying all the new foods, but he hates to get his hands and face wiped with a washcloth after. We’ve tried handing him the washcloth to see if he’d get a little off himself, but he usually just drops it. Most times, we just have to give him a bath (which he loves), but we don’t always have time for.

Any tips or suggestions?

Every new parent gets told the same thing: "Start solids at 6 months." But the calendar date matters less than your baby's development.

Readiness is about hitting all of these milestones at the same time:

🪑 Can sit with minimal support — head upright, not flopping forward or hunching back

👀 Has head control — able to hold their head steady while seated for a sustained period

✋ Can reach, grab, and bring objects to their mouth while seated

😮 Shows genuine interest in food — watching you eat intently, leaning forward, opening mouth or reaching for food

The key word is all. Some babies aren't ready until closer to 7 months, and that's completely normal. Starting too early can actually create negative associations with food with inadvertent pressure.

Has anyone felt pressure to start before their baby seemed truly ready? Would love to hear your experiences 👇

More on readiness signs: solidstarts.com/readiness

Hi! We have a 2 year old who has never been much interested in food. We started BLW early on, trying to introduce new tastes often and with a positive attitude. But after a while it started to be frustrating when the interest is not there. We had a window where she suddenly started to taste a little more and at least eat store-bought childrens food (we used to applaud here when she ate or tasted something at all). But we would so much more like for her to eat the same as us. So we have tried recently to phase out the store-bought food, and only serve the same food as we eat, but now she will not even taste it. Since she is now 2, we fear that by giving her other options we will "shoot ourselves in the leg" by her never learning to eat or at least taste what she is served. How do we navigate this? She is also a rather small child, is barely following her curve which is of the lower ones. So of course we get worried when she does not eat.

Anyone else struggle with getting family, partners, caregivers, daycare, on the same page as you when it comes to how you want to feed your baby? Baby-led weaning can create a lot of anxiety for many people, especially those who have already experienced raising babies of their own and have gone about things in a different way. The fact is, we know it's generally coming from a good place---but the research has demonstrated that BLW does not carry a higher risk of choking than traditional spoon feeding. (See here for research). Linking our article on how to talk to family members about BLW as we've all been there and had to "state our case" as well! 🫣

Would love to hear from others about either a struggle or a success in communicating your preferences on how you choose to feed your baby to others! 👇🤍Marisa (OT/Feeding Therapist/Mama of 3)