I wanted to talk about another topic that is close to my heart – baby weaning. I will definitely add more posts on this topic, but wanted to start with my journey with the hope that it would help decide and demystify this process.
Trip down memory lane
My early memories of baby weaning, involved doting mothers running behind feisty toddlers with a bowl of mashed dhal (lentils) or moms telling stories about the beautiful moon to the kid while feeding round morsels of the food. Also another sweet memory is young moms waiting outside school gate for lunch bell to ring with lunch bags and feeding their kids freshly prepared warm lunch on school benches.
Naturally I grew up loving the thought of feeding the food mixed with my love to my child – with my hands I mean. Fast forward to when I was pregnant and was touring the daycare facilities. As we toured through the facility and entered the toddler classrooms around snack time, the sight of young toddlers with crackers on their high-chairs tables, staring blankly at our intrusion usually greeted us. I distinctly remember after stepping out, my husband and me felt bad that kids are left alone to eat on their own. In our mind, it meant that these kids lacked the love offered by mom when the mom feeds the child with their hand. Little did I know at that time, that my mind would do a completely 180 turn and completely embrace self-feeding.
Startling realization!
Before 6-month mark hit, I read about BLW (baby led weaning) and puree methods and other ways of weaning. However I was hesitant about baby lead weaning for two reasons – one – I have not seen in real life anyone do it and was only exposed to puree method; two – I was concerned about choking hazards and not researched enough at that point to have confidence to adopt this method. It was after I stared with puree method and ran into couple of hiccups, my further research (meaning google search, youtube videos, face-book groups feedback etc. I am not a scientific researcher LOL) made me realize that BLW was a new name to the age old process of how babies were weaned.
Little back story on this based on what I read: In the olden days, parents usually had multiple kids, sometimes at a very young age. When babies are ready for weaning, parents hardly have time to dote on one particular kid and doing the feeding method described above (moon stories and running marathons). Instead, they would probably just sit together on the floor and start eating family meals, and the crawling babies would taste test whatever it can and move along if not interested. If interested, chew them with their gums and continue to enjoy.
This new information blew my mind – I absolutely had no idea that this was a natural process followed in olden days and cannot fathom how we had moved towards other practices that puts so much pressure on both parents and kids.
Moment of Truth
While I was coming to this new realization, my puree feeding method was backfiring left and right for different reasons. I knew my baby well and could ensure baby gets a good feeding when I feed. However, when left with a babysitter, 98% of the puree was fed to the bib and baby would get 2%, of which most would be spit out or not gone in, because baby is distracted or crying.
Even when I was feeding, I did not know when to stop and happily fed a small cup (probably 0.5 oz??) to the baby. In my mind, a empty cup meant a well fed healthy baby. Unfortunately, next few days baby suffered with constipation. Hence I had to completely stop solids for few weeks and delay the weaning process for more than a month.
There were several lessons to learn from this:
- Avoid dependency on parents/caregivers –
- I cannot be the best person to decide how much and how to feed the baby – because I have absolutely no idea how much the little tummy can digest and what items the little human is ready to eat.
- If I am the only person (or my husband of-course), then baby is going to starve when left with baby sitters or daycare who may either follow a different approach – or baby is just completely attached to and expecting us to feed all the time
Note that we did not even venture into force feeding or distraction feeding – as very early on, my husband and me unanimously decided to avoid these two methods for health of the baby. Unless you count my bad renditions while feeding as distraction feeding!!!
Boss Baby – Self-feeding
My lessons started evolving into useful experiences and gradually transitioned towards self-feeding.
Key goals being …
- Baby are the boss of their meal
- Caregivers are responsible for what is on the table ONLY – this means providing health options to the baby like vegetables, fruits and protein-rich foods and healthy meats if non-vegetarian.
- Baby decides how much to eat, whether to eat or not
- The when part is adjustable – if you want a structured meal-time, this is something you can start implementing gradually, but if the child is hungry, you got to feed the hungry child and re-adjust as time goes.
- and where part is adjustable – of course if you want to contain the mess, start with a high chair and gradually move to regular dining areas, but babies have success with eating while sitting on floor too – the only difference is how much area you have to clean 🙂 a small area or entire house!!!
Why Self-Feeding?
There are several advantages of self-feeding – listing few below that I have experienced – I am sure there are several scientific research that showcases much more benefits.
- Baby can eat without dependency on who is feeding them
- Baby can stop when they are done and not when parents/caregivers are satisfied with the quantity
- They eats what works for them and refuse what does not work for them –
- This is very helpful during growth milestones, teething phases, or when baby is sick.
- Babies are super smart and know what their tummy can take and refuse everything else during these times.
- Once they recover from these phases, they also catch up on the lost quantity.
If you are still reading this, thanks a bunch for listening to my story.
In the upcoming articles I will share several tips on how this transition happened and how to handle mealtime mischief and races like – loudest, farthest & fastest ways, the plates can be thrown – how to ensure maximum & colorful coverage of the walls and floor when food is thrown 🙂
Disclaimer:
The above post is purely based on my personal experience, I am not a doctor or nutritionist or pediatrician. My research – means google search, youtube videos, facebook groups feedback etc. Please do your own homework on weaning methods and understand differences between gagging and choking and what foods are choking hazards and foods that can be offered to infants. Complete supervision is required during feeding times and a baby should never be left alone during meal times. It is also recommended to train yourself on infant first aid and CPR. Kindly check with your child’s doctor if you have any questions on these areas or questions or concerns on your child’s feeding progress.