Revision as of 06:37, 15 July 2015

Julia-led weaning

Baby-led weaning can be defined as "letting your child feed themselves from the very start of weaning... You just hand them the food in a suitably-sized piece and if they like it they eat it and if they don’t they won’t.... No purees, no ice cube trays, no food processor, no potato masher, no baby rice, no weird fruit and veg combos... just you and your child, eating food that you enjoy with you and your family." [1]

This is something we are doing with Julia since 27 June (2015) when she was roughly six months of age, that is, when she can sit up and grab things and bring them to her mouth (reach for food alone).

We are preparing time lapses recording her eating a couple of times a week to see the evolution through the months. Something like these people but for longer durations.

Diary

5 months

• 27/06/2015: Half banana, with a bit of skin for a better grip. She made lots of disgust faces but chewed on it for 15 min or so. We removed the skin to avoid the bitter taste but then it was too slippery. She bit a few chunks and immediately expelled them from the mouth. Overall a funny experience although she was not thrilled...
• 28/06/2015: Boiled carrot, she bit some pieces and pull them out although we think this time she swallowed something... She enjoyed a bit more although there was plenty of gagging and weird faces still.
• 29/06/2015:
• 30/06/2015: Boiled broccoli, she had a hard time with gagging this time and threw up a lot of milk (since she had just eaten). She liked it and repeatedly took it in her hands and bit pieces. Something went in! She also had some carrot again. This time la abuela Inma was present.
• 01/07/2015: Melon (a piece with the skin), at the UAM, she liked it and did not gag as much. She basically sucked it and licked it.
• 02/07/2015: She tried some water from the glass.

6 months

• 03/07/2015: York ham, a sliced rolled up. It was at a hotel in Chulilla. She bit some pieces and expelled them right away. She seemed to enjoy sucking it as well. The piece ended up completely destroyed.
• 04/07/2015:
• 05/07/2015: Frozen banana which she did not like a lot so it was a brief weaning experience :)
• 06/07/2015: Pear and apple, two finger pieces. She liked it a lot and managed to carve some!
• 07/07/2015: Watermelon, she liked it a lot and chewed on the whole piece. She did not swallow big pieces but did most of the juice.
• 08/07/2015: Piece of bread, she enjoyed it greatly at the UAM canteen, scratching it with the little teeth first, then softening it with sucking. She could even break it into pieces and seemed to swallow something.
• 09/07/2015: carrot again but it was not very successful. It was less cooked and she could not get as much from it.
• 10/07/2015: piece of melon & Saracen flour bread, she loves both! She managed to completely destroyed the bread and make it puree. Actually ate a lot of it!
• 11/07/2015: melon, she enjoyed for a while but did not last long.
• 12/07/2015: (complicated day travelling to Moscow)
• 13/07/2015: Saracen flour bread for breakfast with everybody. Did not take the most out of it but played for a while.
• 14/07/2015: nectarine and fried dark bread. She loved both although she vomited with the second due to gagging. She could carve the nectarine with the two teeth and got some substance. She liked the bread a lot and put it everywhere. It was a bit hard and that seemed to work for her.
• 15/07/2015:
• 16/07/2015:
• 17/07/2015:
• 18/07/2015:

Some tips

from the web and book:

• Forget ‘baby food’. Food’s food, as long as you’re not adding salt. To start off with, think chip-sized because it’s an easy shape for little 6-month-olds to grip, but you’ll soon move on to smaller pieces as it’s more interesting for a child developing a pincer grip.

• As a first food most people steam carrots (to about the degree that they can be smushed ‘twixt your thumb and finger), cut up cucumbers, make toast fingers or crinkle cut bits of mango, that sort of thing, but remember if there’s no reason whatsoever why your baby can’t have a pile of Spaghetti Bolognese or mashed potato to dig into if that’s what the rest of the family is having.

• No bowls, they’re just asking to be flung heavenwards. Put the food on the highchair tray or table and remember, it’s all a learning experience for the baby at this point. They really don’t care whether the experience is ‘oooooh, mango is in my mouth’ or ‘ooooooh, a bowl is flying across the room’.

• An easy-to-clean highchair is a must. If you are weaning in summer don’t be afraid to eat outside or semi-naked and for winter Ikea and Tommee Tippee make great cover-all and pelican bibs. Putting a wipe-clean tablecloth under the highchair is a good idea if you have carpets and some people find that a crinkle cutter is handy to make food extra-grippable.

• Give them what you’re having. If they hate it, fine, they’re getting their calories from milk anyway.

• Don’t put too much on the highchair tray at the one time, just a couple of pieces of food will stop them feeling overwhelmed.

• Timing ‘meals’ to between milk feeds seems to be best, and because it’s just finger food you aren’t limited to staying in. There’s no reason why you can’t pack a wee Tupperware with some carrot or cucumber, buy a banana when you’re out or just pull some bits out of an undressed salad.

• Never put food into a child’s mouth, let them put it in by themselves so that they can control it as it moves backwards. If the baby gags, remember that it’s their way of moving food around in the mouth and don’t panic. Some parents have found that making exaggerated chewing faces and noises reminds the child to get back on track.

Other interesting links:

• article Baby knows best? The impact of weaning style on food preferences and body mass index in early childhood.

Carlos González

Este pediatra es muy entretenido de escuhar sobre el tema: La alimentacion libre de papillas (TED), Alimentacion infantil. Aquí van algunos de sus consejos recogidos en su libro sobre el tema "Mi niño no me come":

Las recomendaciones principales de la OMS y UNICEF:

• Dar EXCLUSIVAMENTE leche materna hasta los 6 meses, a partir de entonces ofrecer otros alimentos complementarios
• Seguir dando el pecho, junto con otros alimentos, hasta los 2 años o más.
• Dar alimentos variados.
• Hasta los 12 meses, dar el pecho ANTES de los otros alimentos.
• Los menores de 3 años deberían comer 5-6 veces al día (al menos).
• Dar preferencia a alimentos ricos en calorías, en hierro y vitamina A. Si es preciso, añadir un poco de aceite de oliva a las verduras, para que tengan más calorías.

Más consejos de Carlos González:

• No obligar NUNCA a comer a un niño
• Al principio no dar muchos alimentos nuevos juntos y empezar con pequeñas cantidades.
• Dar el gluten (trigo, avena, centeno o cebada) con precaución.
• Escurrir los alimentos, no llenarle la barriga con el agua de cocción.
• No corre prisa introducir los alimentos que suelen dar alergia (leche de vaca y derivados, huevos, pescado, soja, cacahuetes), sobre todo si hay antecedentes en la familia.
• No añadir azúcar o sal a lo alimentos.
• No importa por qué alimentos empezar aunque es deseable que sean ricos en hierro: pollo o carne.
• No tomar la fruta separada de otros alimentos sino, como nosotros, de postre. Así la vitamina C de la fruta ayuda a que se absorba el hierro de las verduras, legumbres y cereales.
• No hace falta triturar los alimentos.
• La fruta es muy sana pero los zumos no.... El problema es que en un vaso de zumo caben 2 o 3 naranjas... A los niños pequeños se les llena el estómago de zumo y luego no comen otras cosas... A cualquier edad el exceso de azúcar natural de la fruta puede producir diarrea crónica. La Academia Americana de Pediatría recomienda no dar nunca zumos antes de los 6 meses. Entre el año y los 6 años, el consumo máximo diario es de medio a un vaso no muy lleno y entre los 7 y 18 años, el doble.
• El llamado corte de digestión no existe. No pasa absolutamente nada por mojarse después de comer. Puede usted bañar a su hijo inmediatamente después de comer.

Una conducta alimentaria sana se guía por claves internas (hambre y saciedad), y no por claves externas (presiones, promesas, castigos, publicidad...). los expertos creen que muchos problemas de la adolescencia y la vida adulta, como el hacer dieta de forma obsesiva o el comer compulsivamente, provienen de haber aprendido en la primera infancia, a comer según claves externas. Hágale a su hijo un regalo para toda la vida: permita que aprenda a comer según sus propias necesidades y no según una tabla de calorías.

Otros links interesantes:

• folleto y guía traducidos al castellano de la web Una maternidad diferente.
• Calendario de alimentación infantil.