Seize The Bébé // Starting Solids (Part 1) - podcast episode cover

Seize The Bébé // Starting Solids (Part 1)

Feb 26, 202558 minEp. 304
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Episode description

Welcome to a very hotly awaited episode of Seize the Bebe and by hotly awaited, I mean we had SO many submitted questions from you guys but possibly even more from me. Pretty much every area of parenting is overwhelming, sometimes confusing and energy intensive but starting solids is right up there at the top of the list in the early days so it’s one of the first topics I wanted to cover.

Most of you also follow along on socials, so you will probably already have heard about Nourishing Bubs and how game changing it has been for Teddy’s introduction to solids but if you don’t know, it’s a beautiful Australian business using 100% Aussie fruits & veggies to create individually portioned frozen baby food purees and foods plus a groundbreaking allergen intro pack. They’re delivered to your door and make it SO easy to start the process of introducing foods, taking away so much stress and freeing up your time.

But possibly even more stressful is also wading through timing, volume, methods and so much other information - even now I still have so many questions on a daily basis. SO I am THRILLED that the incredible Nourishing Bubs founder, paediatric dietitian nutritionist Olivia Bates joins us for this episode to share her wealth of knowledge.

As always, every baby is different and every family has different preferences, priorities and needs so we’ll be talking general information but of course it will vary for each individual. I’ll also include links to everything we mention in the show notes but in the meantime I hope you find this as useful as I did!

LINKS

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Transcript

Speaker 1

Welcome to the Sees the Yay Podcast. Busy and happy, but tired and worn, just some of the feelings when baby is born. There's magic, elation, there's chaos and tears, but everyone goes through the same hopes and fears. So this is a segment we hope helps you feel supported and valid. The mum juggles real, the good, bad, the ugly, the best and worst day. It's part of the journey

to seize the Babe. I'm Sarah Davidson, a lawyer turned entrepreneur who hung up the suits and heels to co found Macha Maiden, a Macha Milk Bar, become a TV and radio presenter, and of course host The Sees the Ya Podcast. This year, I added motherhood to that list, which is the best job I've ever had with our beautiful baby Teddy, and this segment was designed to house

all the conversations we've been having about parenthood. We'll still do our regular episodes, and just like real life, it's a constant balance between our parent identity and everything else. I hope you guys enjoy this segment as much as I have enjoyed creating it. Welcome to a very hotly awaited episode of Seize the Baby, and by hotly awaited, I mean we had so many submitted questions from you guys, but possibly even more came up in my own brain, so this is a bit of a selfish episode as well.

Pretty Much every area of parenting is overwhelming, sometimes confusing, energy intensive, but I think starting solids is right up there at the top of that list in the early days, so it's one of the first topics I wanted to cover, and after a few false starts in recording, we finally got there. Most of you also follow along on socials, so you'll probably already have heard about Nourishing Bubs and how game changing has been for Teddy's introduction to solids.

But if you don't know, it's a beautiful Australian business using one hundred percent Aussie fruits and veggies to create individually portioned frozen baby food pures and foods, plus a ground breaking allergen intro pack. They're delivered to your door and make it so easy to start the process of introducing foods, taking away so much stress and really freeing up your time. But possibly even more stressful is also waiting through the timing of introducing solids, the volume, the methods,

and so much other information. Even now, I still have so many questions on a daily basis. So I am thrilled that the incredible Nourishing Bubs founder, pediatric dietitian and nutritionist Olivia Bates joins us for this episode to share

her wealth of knowledge. And it was such an incredible chat, covering so much detail that I've actually split it into a two parter, so we will be talking about when to start solids and how you do it in the first part, which you're getting today, and then the separate section because it is so detailed on allergens, will drop

next week to follow. As always, every baby is different and every family has different preferences, priorities, and needs, so we will be talking general information and referring to the studies that the information is pulled from, but of course it will vary for each individual and family. I'll also include links to everything we mentioned in the show notes, but in the meantime, I hope you find this one as useful as I did. Olivia, Welcome to the show.

Speaker 2

I'm so excited to be here, Sarah. Thank you so much for having me.

Speaker 1

Oh, thank you so much for joining I mean we've had multiple attempts, multiple this morning, but multiple before this also.

Speaker 2

I know it seems like a journey, but it's meant to.

Speaker 1

Be, absolutely meant to be. We actually tried before Christmas and there were tech issues and then there was mum life issues. But I said to you before we started recording that Teddy's actually had you know, more questions have come up this week that I wanted to ask you. So I feel like timing always works itself out in a crazy way.

Speaker 2

Yes, no, that's awesome. Yeah know, so it is funny. I'm sure things like as you're approaching that one year mark like it just it's such a constant process as well. So yes, I'm glad it's all worked out, and I'm so excited to be.

Speaker 1

Here constant learning journey, and I'm especially grateful to have you because you have been such a pivotal part of

Teddy's journey. And I think I, you know, as I do approach that one you mark, which oh my god, I can't even believe it, look back at the businesses and the people and sort of the experiences that have formed what your motherhood journey has looked like and what that first year has looked like, and you've been really a big part of making our life easier and our experience better, like measurably better than it would have been without you. So I'm very, very grateful for you.

Speaker 2

That honestly means a lot. And you've been so supportive of the business. And I've just yeah, loved just watching the journey and watching you guys really flourish as parents because I was following your journey before you felt pregnant. I've been following since mattibated, so as I told you before, so big time follower, and it's just been amazing to watch, really such a joy for me to be part of it. So thank you.

Speaker 1

Oh well, that's really special, and it's I think one of the great privileges of social media is that you can follow people through different chapters of their lives. And I love that you know, you have been around since then when motherhood was so far from my mind, and yet now you know we've reconnected in this new chapter. So we have so many questions, like it is just starting solids is one of the most overwhelming, information dense chapters of parenting and of life for a little one.

But you know, I love the story as well. So before we get into the many, many questions that have been submitted that I have, can you tell us a little bit about your background in eddiatric dietetics and what that means, and then you know how Narish and Bubbs came about.

Speaker 2

Yeah, absolutely so. I when I came out of Unich. Look, I always wanted to do something in the baby space. I actually used to want to be a pediatrician, but to be blatantly honest, I was like, I don't think I can do that many years at Uni, so I sort of was like, I need to do something else. Decided to be a dietitian because I also loved food and wanted to be a chef at one point, and

was like, I found dietetics. And then when I came out of Union, I worked for an almond milk company, so I went straight into the food space, and I guess I just got really exposed to that potential to influence the food supply, which sort of sounds a bit ridiculous, but like, you know, instead of just doing one on one consult so you can ultimately like influence the food

people have. And then inevitably I was like, you know, walking down the baby food asal and at the time it was very much like shelf stable squeezes and jars of food, and I was like, this is actually gross, like beef that's sat in a pouch for like two years and like so heat treated, and I'm like yuck. Like I'm like, this is worse than what we'd feed like pets, So why are we not doing better for kids? So I guess I really just wanted to take it back to basics. And this was back in twenty seventeen.

I sort of well, I think twenty sixteen I came up with the concept and then we launched in twenty seventeen. So actually it's been quite a few years now. It's definitely been, you know, as you would know, such a rollercoaster journey. We've been in Woolworks during COVID years, which really was an interesting, interesting journey to say the least. It's definitely tested me. But it's yeah, like we're the last twelve months, I would say, we've seen a lot

of growth and it's really like turned a corner. The Allergen Pack's been really amazing for us, and we've been really trying to pump out more products and yeah, it's just really coming to But I'm just like, I've always just loved babies, loved the baby space. I don't have any yet of my own, although it's a work in progress.

But yeah, I'm just obsessed with kids, anything I can do to help them, and I just think I really wanted to make it easier for parents, Like I just found there is so, as you said, so much overwhelming information,

some really conflicting information. I think when you're sleep deprived and you're like, I have no idea what I'm doing, and then you look something up and one person saying this, one person saying that, including your GP and your obstetrician and your midwife and your mom and your mother in law, and everyone has something to say, and it's like, oh my god, Like what do I do? Just give me a straight answer. So yeah, I just wanted to really alleviate that pressure. And a lot of what we do

is also education as well around it. So yeah, that's important to me.

Speaker 1

I mean, you absolutely have done that, and perhaps to a fault, I think in that sleep deprived chapter. For me personally, anyway, it's almost like once you sort of start with all the overwhelming information and then you kind

of choose your trusted sources in each area. And I almost kind of once I decided, like Olivia is my trusted source in food, I kind of but like maybe other parents might listen and go, you could have like maybe research a little bit more, But I kind of like, once I decide a person is my authority in that area, because you're just so you have to block out everything else because once you make a decision, you got to

kind of roll with it. It became like you became my trusted source, and then I've just done literally everything that you've told me to do, like like.

Speaker 2

Look, look he's looking great.

Speaker 1

So yeah, yeah. I also think what's really beautiful is that we just had an episode like on our sort of guest interview for Bluth. It was the founder of Blue Thumb Art and he's like a multimillion dollar art tech founder, but he knew nothing about art. And I

think what's really interesting about your stories. You would assume he came out of your own personal frustration as a mum, but it was your passion for your skill and your your passion for the food industry that you could walk down the baby food aisle without buying any of that and still be passionate enough to start a business. Like I think people don't believe that if they're not personally connected at the time, they can't make a good idea.

Speaker 2

Yeah, no, that like and people are always like, surely you have children, you have children, right, And I'm like, no, way, I actually don't. Like I obviously love kids, and I can't wait I have babiesat forel like half of Sydney's children, and like, I know, I know kids well, Like I do know kids well, and I have had experience like feeding children understand like some of the you know, the

battles and whatever. But I yeah, it's it's very much you know from I come at it from the Dietitian perspective, like, you know, knowing what I would want to feed my

child when I'm a parent, So yes, I am. I'm aiming for the ideal, but I'm also very I have that experience enough experience with kids to also know, like, yes, you might feed them the perfect meal and they might throw it on the floor and choose to have a hot ship or something, you know, Like I one hundred percent understand, but I wanted to like simplify it, Like I just wanted to make it as simple as possible and go here you go. So I yeah, so I

I think I like really resonated with that. I mean I do say to my husband like, I think I need my child for marketing purposes, so it's really good for advertising. But but you know, my my I will come.

But it's yeah, no, it's always an unusual and to be honest, sometimes I'm a bit nervous about people I'm not a parent and I do as a business owner as something that I battle with and I have been told by like you know when I've looked at investor things as well, They're like, yeah, I wouldn't lead with the fact that you're not a mum, Like that's just

not a good leader. I was like, okay, wow, yeah, I have been told, and I'm like okay, So sometimes I shy away from being like, oh, yeah, I'm not a mum yet.

Speaker 1

So yeah, that's really interesting. But I just think that it's a it's from a business perspective, like before we even get to the actual practical stuff. For anyone listening who does have an idea, but they do think that that excludes them from an industry. I absolutely think you're an amazing example that it doesn't.

Speaker 2

Yeah, yeah, I hope so, and I hope that, Like I mean, I will be the one that will sit there and talk babies with your telecows come home, like I'm very happy to do that, like but I love them so like I'm just like I was the little girl that was like I just want to go back and I want my baby born, Like I was obsessed with my baby born. If you're from the nineties, you know what I'm talking about. But like, yeah, I loved it. Where's the nappies? Like, yeah, that's all that's so sweet?

Speaker 1

Well, yeah, I mean talking about education and alleviating the overwhelm and stress and also lack of options. Really, at the time that you started, you have absolutely done that. Above and beyond. From a personal anecdotal perspective. You can borrow Teddy and make him a little mascot for now because it has truly been like since I was looking back, he's my post. His first box was around early September last year, so I worked out that's just a bit

before six months. So one of the main areas of questions that I had and that a lot of people have, I've divided everyone submitted questions into like when, what, how, and and allergens and then sort of other So maybe we could start with when I assume for you that's sort of also when you know you have to think about when you start marketing to people and when your

product is going to become relevant. So what are your thoughts on I thought that the most literature sort of spoke about six months, but then there's thoughts on starting before. Then a question was submitted about feeling forced by the GP and nurses to start it for and a half. What is your take on timing?

Speaker 2

Yeah, so this is such a great question. I think it's definitely one that creates a lot of confusion online. I will go straight in and say part of the confusion is the way that it is written in the guidelines, like specifically written. So in Australia we like to follow the Australian Society of Clinical Immunology Analogy guidelines there for our population. Their wording is to introduce solids around six months,

not before four months. When baby is showing signs of readiness, continue breastfeeding if you aren't doing so while introducing solids. This is in line with the UK and the US and it's use of the word about and around, which are in all three of those guidelines. That's like, so, what's that like. That's very open to interpretation. It's quite an ambiguous word because it says not before four months. Like I've always been like, oh, okay, well that's sort

of a window between four and six months. And the old guidelines did actually used to say between four and six months. So they have changed them and they've changed the wording, but it is still quite ambiguous. I think one thing you've got to remember is every baby develops at a slightly different rate. You can't be like, okay, like six months on the dot, every baby is going to be ready to start solids. It's just not like that. So you know, that is part of the issue around

it is the wording. People that are strong advocates for not before six months months are the ones that look at the World Health Organization because World Health Organization says at six months, they don't mention four months. They don't use the word around or about. But it is also important to remember that the World Health Organization caters to the whole world, so we are also talking about third

world countries. The thing with solids is as soon as you start to introduce solid you are also potentially introducing food borne illness. So there is a higher risk because obviously when you breastfeed or you prepare formula, it's quite a sterile process. Whereas you know you are potentially you know, there's they can be bugs and listeria, et cetera in the food that you're offering. You know, water supply, et cetera.

That all can play a part in it. And so what they're trying to say in you know, particularly in third world countries, are like, we'd prefer to, you know, push it out a little bit longer because their immune system is going to be further along. A six month old immune system is going to be more developed than a four month old immune system, so in prefer to weight.

So it is important to remember that, you know, That's why I do say you should really follow the guidelines for your country, because it's based on your food supply,

et cetera. In saying that, though, I definitely like, you know, I hear you know, parents are telling me, and I do think often there is like pediatricians et cetera that are a bit more you know, pushy towards four months they sometimes are only seen, you know, the baby for a fifteen minute, you know stint, and we'll be like, oh, yep, I think that you know they you know they net control looks good. That's fine, Like you should get started on solids at the end of the day. You know

your baby best. So we always talk about, you know, the signs of readiness, and the number one sign is always going to be that strong head and neck control, because if they've still got a floppy neck, there's the potential for choking, which is obviously one of the number one things we want to avoid. So you know, making sure they have that strong neck control. You can improve

that by just practicing tummy time. In saying that, I don't expect, for example, you to put Bob in the middle of the floor with no support whatsoever, and they can completely hold themselves up right. But if you were to put them, say in a high chair, where there's obviously a little bit of support, they can hold themselves up right because they have that you know, head and neck control. Some babies obviously are a bit smaller, so

they'll slide around the chair. I always just say, you know, get like a towel, roll it into a snake wrap it around their trunk. It'll just help give them a bit more support in there. And then things like you know,

reaching for food, showing an interest in food. I'm sure you probably noticed this, like when you were eating Teddy would suddenly become interested and like want to grab what you were eating to Definitely you know that increased interest and awareness is starting to come along, but they're going to be more secondary to that head and net control. So I always say, look between that four and six month mark, when you're seeing those signs, you wouldn't start.

Even if your baby was a week before four months and you're like, oh, they're showing the signs, do not start. They're definitely not ready. But from four months it's then really also up to you. You need to say. Some people are really excited and like I can't wait to start solids, and some people are like, ah, I want to push this out as long as possible. So it

also is what works, what works best for you. The one thing to remember that we can't see from the outset is their digestive system, and so that one of the arguments for starting like more towards six months is people saying, well, their digestive systems are not ready, so you know, and again they're all going to develop at a slightly different rate. But say your baby's you know, five months old, they're showing all the signs of readiness, and you give them a little bit of food because

you think they're ready. If their stomach became like really you know, tight and just stand and they became like gassy and uncomfortable and you know it seemed quite unsettled, that would suggest to me that they're digestive systems not quite ready, and I would leave it for a week or two and then come back and try again. But unfortunately, that's one sign that you can't see from the outset, and that's just going to be a bit of trial

and error. But on the same token, some babies at four and a half months, the digestive system will be ready and so it's all fine to you know, push ahead. So I definitely think lately i've felt there's more of a move towards closer to six months. But I definitely hear of people being like, yeah, they see the doctor at four months and or they do the four month injections and the doctor's like, yep, cool, you can go get started now, And they're like, oh, I don't know

if I feel like we're ready yet. You know your baby best, trust your own intuition. I think, don't yeah, don't feel pressured, but I you know, it's definitely a changing school of thought. And you've got to remember, like especially GPS, like they probably see adults and whatever, they're not constantly seeing babies. So you've got to you know your baby best. No one knows your baby better than you.

Speaker 1

I love how like my approach is always kind of look at what the overarching information is, which is like the window, the four to six month window, Then look at what your baby's doing, and then look at overlay your preferences over the top of that. So I kind of do those three things. It's like Teddy wasn't showing any interest. He had neck control from four months, but no interest whatsoever. So I was like, well, he's not

ready yet. Then about five months there was interest, but we kind of weren't ready because we were overseas, and I was like, that's not the right time then. So then I thought, well, once we've got all three of those things lighting up, that's when we start. And it ended up just being a little bit before it was like five and a half. And I think the other thing is when people say when are you starting solids? You're not giving him like a beef sausage roll on

day one. You know, you're just sort of like putting a tiny bit of stuff on his tongue. Like it takes a really long time before they swallow properly, so you know, you kind of that first little bit is it's all trial and errort, the biding, So I think, you know it's okay to let them start just working out what stuff in their mouth is. Like the first day there was a spoon in his mouth.

Speaker 2

Teddy was like, what is it?

Speaker 1

Get this out of my face?

Speaker 2

And yeah, you're so right. Like I also say to people like, I mean I didn't a couple of years obviously with COVID, but I was like, if you're traveling overseas, probably not the right time, just like because you know, also if you're introducing and when you start to inchuse allergens and stuff like, you want to be able to get to the hospital and things like that, so like they're really important things to consider if you're in the middle of Italy, which is I think where you went

quite around that time. Yeah, you're not going to be like, oh so now I need to find the hospital because my chil's had a reaction like yeah, you want to be in you know, your comfort zone. So there's all those factors to consider in saying that. If your baby is approaching seven months, I'd be like, okay, like let's check in make sure there's not something else going on. If they're not interested, it could be like an undiagnosed

tongue tie, So let's just like get that sorted. But yeah, aside from that, like your approach is like one hundred percent the way that I would go.

Speaker 1

And what about I found it kind of confusing to work out what is the first meal to add? So is it brecky then lunch than dinner or it doesn't matter what the order is or I mean, firstly, you don't really start with a full meal anyway, but like what time of day and then do you build up to full meals? How do you? Or is that also a personal preference thing?

Speaker 2

No, that's a really great question. So because you know, all new foods are something that they haven't had before. Although we have the allergens, they're the foods that are responsible for ninety percent of allergies worldwide. But any food could cause an allergy or an intolerance or some kind of reaction. So we always generally recommend a new food in the first half of the day, ideally, you know,

after that first nap of the day. The reason being that you want them to be awake, ideally for two hours, so you can just so like you want them to be at the beginning of their awake windows so you can watch and observe them for any adverse reaction. So I usually find breakfast. However, you don't even need to think about it as breakfast as such, because you could offer veggies and beef or whatever. It doesn't need to

be like cereal like it. Don't think about it like it has to be like our you know, breakfast is generally sweet and whatever it is, it doesn't matter what it is. So I usually do start with breakfast or as the first meal of the day. Usually just do one meal or one offering a food for a month, and then after a month you would add a second meal. Doesn't really matter where you add that second meal. Sometimes it's what's practical, Like if you're going to be out

in the middle of the day. Maybe that doesn't work, or you know, you might be like I want to do a din like do like morning and then dinner time, and then I'll add the lunch in, So it doesn't matter what old I'd just always start with the first first half of the day, like just so you can

watch for any adverse reactions. Then once they've had you know, for example, that food, it's fine for that then to become like a dinner time food, and then you can you know, move your new things to the first half of the day.

Speaker 1

Yeah, and then what about I found this really difficult and I still sometimes do. Actually, is how do you know how much perserve? And then how do you know when they're full? Because some babies will just keep eating past full. Some babies even if they're not full. You have to kind of like encourage them. And I still find it even on an evolving basis, like how is his appetite grown? I don't know how much to add to each serving? Like how do you kind of work all that out?

Speaker 2

Such a great question. So look, when you start, like I would just be you know, they might only take a tea spoon and that is absolutely fine. As you said, it's like just trying it out. Like you will always start with giving the milk feed first initially, so you're going to do your breastfeed or your formula feed. Wait about half an hour, give you solid feed. So they're

just getting used to it. It's definitely not dominant. So what you'd start to do is you start to like learn their cues so like so it can take six weeks do they get to the point that they have like half a cup. So I'd definitely be starting with small amounts, and that's why we do like the really small cubes, so who can build up how much you offer.

But similarly, if you're making the food yourself, I'd recommend doing like an ice cube trace so you can build the amounts that you offer, because they will start probably start with half a tea spoon, and then it'll move up and you'll get to half a cup. But you'll

just start to work out their cues. So for example, if you're feeding, you know you're feeding Teddy and you've got through what you had, say defrosted or made for him, and he's like you're done with it, and you're like he's looking around for more, or he cries when you take away the ball, or he's reaching for more more like reaching out as if he wants more, Like that would suggest to me he wants more food, Whereas on the flip side, if he's like, you know, you're midway

through what you've like put out, and he is like, you know, getting distracted, he's trying to pull off his bib, he's trying to climb out of the high chair, he's crying. He's like he's just lost interest. Just leave it. And it's hard, especially if you've like slaved or data make a beautiful meal. And we do have this habit of being like come on, and I like, as a babysitter, I've been like, come on, one more mouthful, But like, babies

have this amazing ability to regulate their own appetite. You if you're breastfeeding, you know, like they cry when they're hungry, and they stop feeding when they've had enough, and if you're not feeding them from a bottle, you have no idea how that much they've had. You're just like, Okay, they've had enough, and like like they know, so like trust them to regulate it. And it can be frustrating

because it's definitely goes in waves. You'll be like, I feel like this kid will like never stop eating, Like I could just like keep feeding him. And people say, like to me, they're like, do I like stop any time? I always say, the only time you would do? Like, sometimes babies eat so fast that their brain like can't get in touch with like when they're.

Speaker 1

Full, like us adults do that too. I'm like, that's amazing.

Speaker 2

Yes, So if you do, fine, you think they're doing that, and particularly if they get to the point where they

like throw up, that suggests they've eaten too much. So what you might need to do is just slow down the feeding, like you know, just allow a lot of a pause, like slow them down, maybe try and give them some kind of destruction or give them the spoon to like be chewing on or something, just so that you can slow down the rate at which they're eating so that they have time for their brain to like realize, oh,

actually I'm full. But that would only be if they getting to the point where they're basically overeating to the

point where they throw up. Otherwise there will be days where they're just really hungry, you know, Like I know some people have like those wonder Week's apps, et cetera, where it says like they're going through a gross bert now and they might be eating more, and then they'll go through stages where like particularly if they're teething, like that can really put them off their appetite and they might just want to have like breastfeed or you know,

formula feed. And that's fine as well, Like it's going to be like that, but inevitably you're like, oh, you know, yesterday we ate so much, like why are they not eating? They must be hungry, And we develop this expectation, but it will it will vary from day to day. Like I always just encourage people to try and keep up like a monthly way in ideally on the same scales and just you know, I know, I forgot what the color of the book is in Melbourne but green in

South Wales. Yeah, so there's a blue book and you have the plot in chart and just to plot, make sure you're keeping like a regular rate on the growth chart so that you can see if they move up or down a line. The only time we start to get worried is if they drop down two lines. Other than that, you know they're going to sort of go up. They might move a little bit and that's absolutely fine.

Speaker 1

Yeah, amazing, And I think that's one of the things that's been really hard but also good to remember with Teddy, is it all that matters. It doesn't matter what he is compared to anyone else's age. It matters what he is compared to his percentiles, his whole life. Like you just need to stay in the window that your baby is. You're not trying to like it's you know, you're constantly looking around at what other mums are doing and other babies are eating, and they're all just figuring out at

different rates. Like some kids that I know at the same age, we're eating lamptops when Teddy was still on pures and then some kids were still on breastmet or formula and they hadn't even started. And you get, really it's really hard to just focus down on what your green book or blue book trends are doing. Like that's where you really need to focus.

Speaker 2

It's so true, and I always really like to remind people, like you're running your own race. It's really hard. Like I think, you know, comparison can be the source of evil because you can be like, you know, little Freddy Freddy next door was born on exactly the same day as Teddy and he's doing this or you know, and you're like, but there's always going to be, you know,

a couple of months buffer. Even with those milestones that babies need to meet, there's always going to be you know, a couple of months buffer in them hitting those milestones. So like, just try not to compare, because it can send you a little bit crazy and you're like, oh, no, like there's something wrong. But as I said, like at seven months, if there was not a not a bite being taken, yes, I'd be like, please just check in

that something else is not going on. But aside from that, you know, there there's always going to be a buffer time. So you know, be gentle, be kind to yourself. And even like when you have subsequent children, people will be like, oh, well, my firstborn didn't do that, Like you know what I mean, And you compare to your own they're running their own race. Be guided by them, might trust them and it'll make you a lot calmer. But it's look as easier said than time.

Speaker 1

Are there any other broad guidelines And this is a very selfish question for this particular chapter of my solids journey, but are there any other guidelines on volumes by particular months, Like you know, if you haven't started at all by seven months, then that's kind of a clear guideline. But is it like you should be at three meals by this time, or you should be at x amount of like big morsels, like you should have gone from pures to like chunks, Like where does that all kind of sit?

Is it anywhere we can look for those guidelines?

Speaker 2

Sure, Look there's a bit like look, there's some rough guidelines around that. So what we usually would say, so you know, if you're going to do pures, you start off with always start off with like a really smooth, consistency pure and you would do that for about a month.

So usually you know, if you start obviously five months, by six months you might be moving to slightly chunkier But usually we'd say, you know, so by eight to nine months, you'd expect that they would have got to the point of having three meals per day, and they really should be getting to the point where they're able if they've done puis, they're able to handle quite a textured,

you know, very chunky pure slash finger food. So ultimately, if you've done baby lead weaning, which we'll go into I'm sure in a second, but or pureise ultimately, by the time that they're nine months, they really converge like they would both be able to handle finger foods. So yeah, like nine months is what I say. By nine months, i'd really expect Bubby's having three meals per day and

you know, is able to handle finger foods. There's no reason why you can't still be giving them, you know, pures, et cetera. But they're definitely able to handle like little sandwiches and little pieces of soft, soft finger food by that point. The way that you get there, I usually find it's easier just to do one meal. Say you started let's say six months, two meals at seven months, three meals at eight months, so you're actually there at

eight months. Otherwise, if you start a bit early, you might do you know, one meal at five months, two meals at six months, three meals at seven months, so just one month, one month, one month, so it's a gradual step up. Some people that start at four months, I just they don't add your second meal until they're

six months. And the reason that that's important is that obviously as they start to take more and more solid food in it will start to impact the amount of milk that they have, and we just don't want to like decrease the amount of milk that they're having too quickly. Obviously,

it's a very specific makeup for their development. You know, it's got all of the nutrients and minerals as well as you know, energy breakdown that's perfect for their growth, and we just don't want to cut into that too quickly.

It's as well as having immunological benefits. So I just say, look, don't get to like I know people that are like, oh, I'm at three meals at six months and they're like so happy, and I'm like, you know what, just pull it back a bit, like just not because otherwise, you know, some babies will be like I'm done, Like I'm over the milk. And like when people sometimes do reach out to me and be like, oh, they're not really taking their milk, I'm like, you know what, they're probably just

having so much solids that they don't need it. It's usually also at that point, like you know that eight to nine month mark where you're at, and it might be seven months that you get to three meals per day, but usually I say it eight months, we start to swap it over and start to give solid food before the milk. So initially you'll be starting off with always

giving milk waiting about half an hour. But then at eight months, which is usually lines up with when they're having three meals per day, that's when we swap and we give the solid food first and wait about half an hour and then give the milk. And then you know, because then you're basically what happens is, you know, as you gradually increase the solids, you gradually reduce the milk. It's just like this crossover. And so then obviously solids will start to become more and more dominant. So in

terms of yeah, that's sort of the guidelines. And then yeah, nine months, you'd really expect that whether or not you've done baby led winning on pures, they're able to handle some finger foods. Yeah.

Speaker 1

Oh that's so useful. And I also was going to ask that milk first versus second question as well, So thank you so much for answering that in terms of their preference. So I had a question from someone who has a ten month old who's still not overly interested and still sometimes gags, and I find Teddy has quite a sensitive gag reflex when he doesn't like something. So rather than just like push you get a way straight away, he will try it, and he'll try it quite a

few times, even if he recognizes the food. But then he'll he'll gag. So, firstly, how do you know when they're really rejecting food because they don't like it or just because it's foreign. And how many times would you like keep trying that food. Would you wait a month or would you wait a week, or would you just conclude like they don't like this thing.

Speaker 2

Yeah, this is a good one. Look at the end of the day, like it is a learning process and they're going from having like they're born with the preference for sweet food. Then they have milk for you know, how ever many months and it's sweet and delicious, and then suddenly you're like, here's broccoli, like and they do have a very you know, their gag reflex is one much closer to the you know, the surface. But yeah, they can actually just gag on foods they don't like

some of them. It's just about like a learning process. So we say, like, you know, it can take twenty times for them to like it. Insaying that you're not going to go and give like, yeah, twenty consecutive tryes.

Speaker 1

Wow, I've given up way earlier.

Speaker 2

Yeah, And people do because they're like I just want them to eat something like, but you're not going to do twenty days, Like that's just torture for the child, Like you do, Like say you do two days of gout, You're like, okay, I'd just be like, let's leave it, come back to it in two weeks and circle background to it and just try again. It's just like a try again, try again. Giving something with like something you know that they like also can help, like increase familiarity.

So like if say they love pumpkin but they're not loving broccoli, like offering the pumpkin with the broccoli, whether that's mixed together as pure or like, you know, giving the two things.

Speaker 1

I love that you use those two because that's how I got him to eat broccoli is with pumpkins, because that was the first booth that he loved. I was like, Oh, this is the same pumpkin you have every day. What do you mean?

Speaker 2

Yeah, look, pumpkin sweet, delicious love or usually pretty well tolerated. Broccoli obviously bitter and like not nearly as you know, yummy as your pumpkins. So it is that it's just getting them used to those slightly bitter foods. And like I mean, I always use the example, but like when I was younger, I didn't like wine. Well now I

like wine, like you know, like it's those flavors. But it's like those you know, they need to develop taste for things that they're not used to, and so like bitter and you know, sour and all of these things. It's just a new experience and some will take longer. But unfortunately it is a persistence and doing courages, doing little small amounts. We don't go and cook a whole head of broccoli and be like, okay, well we can I like broccoli, because you could be throwing out a lot of food.

Speaker 1

Well, that's also another question that came up about, you know, the bitters and then the like tart foods and the kind of categories of things. Is there a specific order of the type of food that you recommend introducing or

specific foods by a certain age. And I think that you recommended to me, like pumpkin and sweet potato were the very first things that we tried at all like I wouldn't have gone in with broccoli because I feel like it just wouldn't have gone Well, do you have an order that you suggest.

Speaker 2

I usually go more flavor neutral first, so avocado or zecchini as one like that, I often will go for it. There's no heart and fast, but I definitely I would not give fruit first, Like I'm a hard veggies first gal.

Like there is increasing research coming out to show the benefits of giving veggies first, just because of that the baby sweet preference, and in the UK their guidelines actually even say like dark leafy greens first, So I'd usually go like zucchini, which is also a good texture for a pure point of view, it's quite watery, so it's usually quite good for that. Avocado very flavor neutral, also usually really well tolerated, so they're usually my first two.

I then actually got a bit more savory, and then I would go sweeter veggies. But there's no heart and fast, but I just do veggies first, to as many veggies as you can first before you start to introduce fruits, So like sometimes I say like avocado, zucchini, then you might go to like your broccoli and then move to your pumpkin and stuff. Sometimes people like often people do pumpkin first. It's a very common first food, and like it's not as sweet as like sweet potato, and then

doing things like yeah, you're sweet. You carry all of those and then I would do, you know, you start to add the fruits in there some way. You also want to start to add the meat, but I wouldn't give you meat probably not the first thing I would give. Meat doesn't if you're not adding flavoring, doesn't have a whole lot of flavor, like, it's just like meaty like, So I usually would say, you know, incorporate the meat with like the veggies. So do a few veggies and

then you can start adding the meat to it. One thing I just always say is I really encourage people not to mix the fruit into the savory because it's easy to do and the likelihood is they will, you know, eat it so quickly and they'll love it. But it's a false sense of you know, what flavors should taste like. And that's like obviously one of the really big criticisms

of the pouches and stuff. You know, you you look, if you read the back of the pouch, it's like it says, it's like a you know, a chicken whatever pouch and then you know, chicken's like seven percent and apples like the first ingredient. Yeah yeah, you're like yeah, so yeah. Then you're like, why won't they eat my chicken and you know whatever that I've made them. It's because they're they're used to this sweetned you know, sense of safety, so you want them to learn to like

savory foods. But it is a learning process. It's because they have that sweet preference. They've had all this sweet food In terms of things like you're tard and you're sour, You'll just gradually start to incorporate those, you know, like you might offer some yogan and just do like a full fat Greek yogurt. I wouldn't recommend like a sweeten one. So that's obviously going to be quite tight, but there's

no hard rules about that. I'd just usually say savory before sweet, so savory before sweet, and then just starting to incorporate meat. I mean, giving a baby like a slice of lemon is one of the funniest, fewdest things you'll ever watch. I don't know if you've done it, yea, we did.

Speaker 1

It was really.

Speaker 2

Like that because it takes them a second that.

Speaker 1

Oh my god, it's so cute. And I mean, if anyone is listening who hasn't started their Solar's journey yet and is doing this is kind of their introduction. By this point, it will already be sounding quite overwhelming how many different things there are to make. And this is why nourishing Bubs has been so revolutionary for us, because if you're doing it on your own, you're having to prepare a lot of different foods in random volumes, in an all different like you're trying to mix lots of

different things. There's so much food wastage. So having the baby's first food pack that has all of these pre prepared snap frozen, like in one big pack, little cubes of all of these veggies, and then separate packs for the fruits so that you can just kind of mix and match and play and not waste and it's already

done for you. Like, I can't even explain at this point how much the whole process was simplified by you giving us all this information but then saying and here here is the tools to do that introduction.

Speaker 2

I couldn't have said it better for myself. Yeah, I wanted to be like, here's the tools, here's what you need. You're still in control, you're still the chef, you can put together what you want. But like here it is.

Speaker 1

Yeah, that ability to know that there was not anything in those cubes other than what I would have prepared for myself, except that I didn't have to prepare it. But then I don't have to feel guilty for it because there isn't anything ad it. It's just that revolutionary. But I also wanted to ask, so we did have another question about the types of foods. Is it true? And I think I know the answer to this one. Is it true that there's a window to try those

new foods between six and seven months? Like every kind of made your new food needs to be introduced at a particular time. Is there an optical time or are you just constantly reintroducing, not reintroducing, but sorry, constantly adding No, it's not that tight, Like.

Speaker 2

I wouldn't say it's that tight, it's step. Look, they say that the window is really the first two years of life, so you do have time, like because some people will be like, oh, I started with you know, they will start with food and then I'll they'll come to a talk and they'll be like, oh, eek, I already started with fruit, have I like stuffed it up already.

But the reality is that they talk about like the window from having baby ingestation to at the end of the two years, so they call it the first thousand days, and that really is your window of opportunity to expose them to as many flavors as possible. Like the reality is you can't I usually say, one new food a day, especially for the first two to four weeks, so you know you're gonna get thirty foods maybe, like so you can't expose them to everything in a month period, So

you definitely have some time. But you know those years of life are when they're like without sounding manipulative, but their brain's most like malleable, most influential. So if you can like really plant those seeds, lay those foundations for healthy eating, the reality is, you know, at three they might be really difficult eaters, but if they have, like you've laid those foundations, the likelihood is they will come

back around to being good eaters. Like the amount of people that are like my baby was such a great eater, like from you know, six to twelve months and then suddenly we've like fallen off a cliff. But you know, they do come back around. If you've like really put the effort into to expose them to as many new foods and as many new flavors as possible. You know

that is really important for them. So you know, it is important also to make a really conscious effort to expose them to different foods, like don't be giving them carrot every day, don't be giving them pumpkin every day. Also, you know, if you don't like a food, you still want to try and introduce them like we obviously.

Speaker 1

Yeah, that's really hard, Like.

Speaker 2

I'm like, oh, I don't eat capsicums, so we don't have caps com in well you know what I mean. Like, and they're not going to expose to these great foods and so they're naturally their flavors are shaped by what the foods that you choose to eat. But you know, we really want to try and make sure we can get as many as many foods in as possible.

Speaker 1

I found that one of the hardest things is to expose him because we're very exploratory. We love exploring, adventurous when we eat, but like at home, where such creatures of habit, and I found it really hard to keep Teddy's palette exposed to things beyond our habitual routine at home.

And I think I am like definitely now even listening to you, I'm like, oh my god, I really need to stop just beating him the same thing that I know he loves every day at the same meals because it's easy and because I know he likes it, and because it gets the calories in. But yeah, that was a really good reminder for me.

Speaker 2

People do it, Yeah, because so if you know they're going to eat it, you're like or you're like, oh, I want to give them something they eat. The best way is just to keep, you know, have something as a guarantee they'll eat, and then just something new and something you know that's a bit more like, oh, I don't know if they're going to like be into this, but something safe and something new can be the way to just help combat that.

Speaker 1

Yeah, I love that. So moving on to the next section, like broad section, which is another thing that I think is really divisive at the beginning less so, as you mentioned, when it kind of ends up converging, but there's we've done this sort of when but then there's a decision of how you're going to start solids, and there's kind of a lot of options and obviously there's a lot of experimentation within each area. Or you can just kind of like you don't have to put labels on everything necessarily,

you can just kind of start. But in terms of what you'll read when you first go out to read up on starting solids, there's kind of a few methods that come out, and you know, people who are more familiar will start using acronyms like BLW and I think new mums are just like, what the hell is that and what does that all mean? So can you take us through the how what the landscape looks like when

nourishing bubs fits into that? What mixed feeding is, you know, like what kind of the options are for someone who's at the very beginning and it's just like lay this out in a diagram.

Speaker 2

Yes, So, as you said that, we really sort of talk about there's now like two main Initially back in the day, it used to just be pure. We call it i'd call pure like more traditional feeding approach. You move on to pure. As you start with a smooth pure, you start to graduate the texture as time goes on and ultimately, by about nine months, you'd get to the point where baby's having finger food. So you'll move from a smooth pure after a month, he'd make it a

bit more textured. After another month he'd make it more like a minced texture, and then you get to more like a risotto and a finger food. So it's a gradual process. That's why you know, if you're buying patches or something, they also have you know, stage textures, et cetera.

So you've probably seen that before. The more newer method is called Baby Led Winning BLW, and what it is it was developed by a woman called a Dual WRAPI and she basically it's a whole concept where you really skip the pure stage altogether and you go straight into giving baby finger foods. The reason that it has gained popularity is one because it really leans into this whole concept that you know, as I said before, babies have a really amazing appetite control, and so it allows them

to really lead by you know, their feeding themselves. So you put the food on their plate and then they pick up and feed themselves. So as I said before, we do have a bit of a habit of if we've made this beautiful meal. We're like, come on, one more mouthful. Whereas you know with baby lead Winning, they're like picking it up themselves. So when they've lost interest and they're over it, you just you move on with

the finger foods. Obviously people like, oh, but like how you know how often they won't have teeth when you start solids, you need to make sure that you're cooking them till they're really really soft. So you know, we talk about the squish test, so being able to squash it easily between your finger and your thumb so that they can squash it between the palette and tongue of

their mouth, particularly if they've got no teeth. It is quite amazing what a baby can gum when they like how they get through that, Like I'm just like shocked, Like their gums are really quite strong. So you know,

it's making sure it's cooked until it's really soft. And then again, if you're doing baby lead winning, you as time goes on, you start to reduce the amount you know you're cooking food so that it does become a little bit firm, and you're building up the resistance because ultimately having to chew on foods is what starts to develop the jaws, the the muscles in their jaw and will be ultimately involved in speech. So it is important whether you're doing baby lead winning or purease, that you

are graduating the texture. Obviously with something like a lamb chop, like and I feel like the lamb chop is the most cliche into baby lead winning. You have like a six month old holding the lamb chop and you're like, but how do they manage that? They've got no teeth? But they'll like suck the goodness out of it, and you can let there are pictures where you see and like the lamb CHOP's basically gone gray because they actually like supple the new tunes. You're like, that's gross and weird,

and like did they get anything out of it? But surprisingly they do. It is all about, you know, with baby lead winning, like bigger is better, particularly when you're starting. Otherwise they do have a habit of just like trying to swallow the whole thing, particularly if it's a small piece. So you know, a lamb chop is good or something that they can hold easily. We talk about you know, cutting it so that it's about the size of two fingers.

So if you're cutting you know, made some steak, cut it into a slice, it's about the size of two fingers, you know, steamsticks of carrot, florets of broccoli, coulieflowered things that they can pick up easily because they pincy group is not developed, so it's harder for them to pick it up, so they need to like pick it up with their playing a grip. So yeah, just always thinking

about the shape you're offering them. As time goes on and they get more towards like nine months old, you can start cutting it smaller because they've sort of learned how to handle it. But yeah, initially they'll just want to put the whole thing in their mouth. So you want to give them something big so that they're forced to like bite it like a chicken. Drumstick is also a good example, because they have to hold it and like, you know, sort of chew at it so that they're

you know, don't choke. But you know, I think understandably, people, particularly first time parents, terrified at baby lad winning, so I definitely see it more common in second time parents because of that fear of choking, understandably, and then your little one always wants to copy what their oldest sibling is doing, so that's why it does become more popular. But I'm a really big advocate of a combination approach

because every baby is different. Some babies like really like the independence quite early on have been able to feed themselves, and obviously, you know, baby lad winning is a more independent they're feeding themselves, they're really taking control in saying that you can do pures with baby lead winning. So if you like loaded the spoon and then give them

the spoon, that's a method of baby lead weening. It's just yeah, it's basically just giving them the control and whether or not you're doing you know, purese or baby lead winning, and do encourage you to learn baby's Q and try not to as hard as it is, be like, come on, one more mouthful, because then you're pushing past their appetite cues. Obviously, we do a lot of pures, so you know, I would say we do more fit

into the pure side. But you know, the pureise can also be used to make things like you know, use the veggie pures to make little fritters and things like that, So the pures can definitely be used in baby lead weaning, but I would say it does cater more towards that

more traditional approach. If you are starting solids a little bit earlier than six months, I usually say don't start baby lead winning until six months just because their like hand eye coordination is usually not quite there until six months. So usually if you did want to start a bit early, it's easier just to do pureis maybe for a couple of weeks and then try baby lead win in from six months. But otherwise you can also do things like

offer you know, a pure and like a finger. You could offer like broccoli pure and a piece of broccoli at the same meal, or some people will do like one meal, they'll do as pures, and then they might do like they might be out and about so they want to do little finger foods and that's easier for them. So it is again what really works for you, because you'll find, you know, and some babies just prefer to be spoon fed, and some babies do like that independence.

So it's yeah, and also it's up to what you're comfortable.

Speaker 1

Teddy loves being spoon fed still.

Speaker 2

Now, yeah, so it's it's and it's also one dred percent what you're comfortable with some people Like I'm just not I'm not ready for it. I'm not ready for that.

Speaker 1

Like, I mean, it's a lot messier. Baby lead winning is definitely because they're just dropping stuff and it's going on the like they're using their hands, so it's everywhere.

Speaker 2

I mean, it's all messy. But yeah, it definitely is a lot messier. The only thing is just be careful of there's like Facebook groups I know where they're like hard advocates of baby lad weening and if you even mentioned pure's apparently you get like blocked and wall it's

a bit like politic Like it's like very political. Yeah, I know, like many other you know, feeding specialists that are like yeah, no, Like I like a combination approach, work out what works best, and it's again, it's what works best for you and your family and your baby and your comfort level. As long as you're graduating the texture, it's just the most important thing. Yeah.

Speaker 1

I found it really interesting that there was such a division between the methods when I felt like we just kind of did something that was a bit of a mix of all. But I'm like, aren't they all just the same thing? Like, aren't they all just feeding your baby like I didn't. I can't believe that's the division, but it is quite separate.

Speaker 2

It is crazy. I mean, hopefully I think it is leveling out a little bit now. But initially, when it was a bit more like early and new and like trendy, it was like this, yeah, like I do think baby led whining people think some more trendy like yeah.

Speaker 1

It's quite enlightened that they're you know, feeding that the baby has control. Do they have utensils? Like you are you aiming to get them to use their spoon or is it just hands or is it kind of whatever?

Speaker 2

Not Necessarily, it's absolutely fine for them just to just to use. Initially you'd just be using the hands. I think from you know, twelve months, you would start to offer them more of the utensils, but you know, initially you would just be starting with the you know, if you're doing pures, you could, as I said, give them the preloaded spoon. I wouldn't be like, oh, let them just like scoop into the pureid, you know, I would it just hands. Initially it's the spoon and the fork.

Like even that is like it's like how do I get that into my mouth? Yeah, so just getting the because even and one of the benefits they say, baby led winning, is it like promotes this, like you know, self confidence, because we do have a habit. If they're like they get it into the mouth, we're like, well done. Yeah you like cheer like, so there is that aspect of it. But yeah, the cutlery not Yeah, you don't need to start adding the cutlery really until like you know,

ten twelve months, So laid it down the track. Just get get the food.

Speaker 1

Someone asked about recommendations on starting spoons and utensils. You actually have them at nourishing bubbs, don't you, And they're like beautiful and rubbery and.

Speaker 2

Yeah, so silicon, you definitely want to go for a silicon over a like a metal for a couple of reasons. So the metal obviously feels a bit different in their mouth. It also picks up on the temperature of the food, like if it's hot food, you know, the metal will become quite hot, whereas silicon also doubles as a bit of a teather for them. So like one habit that I also often like mention to people is like if you're finding they want to become a bit independent but

it's like not really going anywhere. Like you give them a spoon, and you have a spoon and then they can like put it in their mouth, and often if they're like, you know, getting some teeth, they'll like want to that. This why Sophia the draft so popular because it gets to the back and like that just so they'll just chew on it, Like the utensils is just as much about like teething as it is about getting the food in so but otherwise, look, honestly, just like

a little a small like shallow bowl. Silicon is the perfect option. Plenty of options available at you know, you chemes do your supermarket.

Speaker 1

And when would you say, I mean, you mentioned it before, but I've forgotten already. When would you say that the methods kind of converge and all babies would be doing a similar thing, Like you wouldn't be dividing the two methods.

Speaker 2

So nine months is really when I would say, you know, even if you've done pures, they should be able to start to end or finger foods at that point. So you know, some people like, yes, I've done baby led

winning my baby is so ahead of the pack. But like ultimately at nine months, you wouldn't know who's done what it just you might still be giving like some well textured you know, things like risotto type texture, you know, thick textured pures as well, but they are still also having finger foods, and it would just be you know, meal dependent maybe like they get a little smallers bought at breakfast, but you're still you know, they're having a bit more of like a pasta or something with a sauce.

Speaker 1

So just outing myself, guys, Teddy definitely still gets spoon fed quite a lot of his meal, but he also gets in the same meal things that he can eat by himself. Like I'll cut up a roast chicken and like you'll have lots of little bits of chicken to put in his mouth. But then I'll also give him a mash of sweet potato and boccado and something else, and like often he'll have some in his mouth and then I will give him a pre loaded spoon, but

I will also be spoon feeding him as well. So when should you not be spoon feeding or does that? Is that not there's no timeline when.

Speaker 2

Yeah, look, there's no like hard and fast rule as long as he has the skill and it sounds like he has the skill, the skill, he just.

Speaker 1

Doesn't love it. It's like, but you do it better, Mum.

Speaker 2

Yeah, I think, you know, as time goes on, and definitely as he look, it's more it'll more be like when he starts to if he's going to daycare or something, they'll probably not be spoon feeding him, so I'll be like, yeah, buddy, like, no, we don't spoon feed you here. So yeah, I mean, you know, as he gets into those toddler years, he will definitely I think you'll find that you can sort of step away from the spoon feeding but just often

more less foods that require probably spoon feeding. But you know, I think also as you do get into more of those toddler and like two three, you know, it is also easier just to give them more like finger food type options that really don't require like spoon feeding as such. That's definitely the area. Also, like we know that parents want product and we're trying to sort of move into

as well, because I think finger foods. Finger foods are such a big area and people like and they also like the independence then though, so they want things that are like pick up little meatball and pick up you know, little things like that, And I think that's when the smorgas board type option, like, I mean, they get fed so well, like a bit of fruit and a bit of veggie and a bit of you know, a bit of protein, and they get all these little things beautifully

like presented to them like little kings.

Speaker 1

Little kings, absolutely a little king. Oh my gosh. Well, the last question on this section was with baby like winning. Initially, it's really hard to know if anything's going in like similar with the breast milk thing. You can't actually measure how much they're eating because I for a lot it's being spilt out, Like how do you make sure they're getting enough or how do you know how much they should be eating of what is left after they kind of splatch it around everywhere?

Speaker 2

Really good question, really high answer. It's for this reason because it is quite hard to monitor. So this is why I'm a really big advocate of just keeping up that monthly weight just to make sure that they are getting enough food because the reality is it is a bit hard to tell how much they're having. So that's why I like to keep up the weight, just to make sure that either way they're you know, between the milk and between the solids that they are able to

get enough food. So just making sure that they are tracking on their line or only moving up or down one line. So that's probably the easiest way. I know, it's a bit like overarching, and it also might you know, vary from day to day. And also look, we haven't really touched on all We haven't touched on iron, but iron is really important. So just making sure you are offering you know, iron rich foods. I mean, it's not standard practice. We don't have like sat amounts of food

for that first two years of life. Like it's not like they have to have this amount of food because there's so much variation. That's why just you know, watch how they're tracking. Then if they're tracking on the right growth chart, we sort of provided we've been offering a variety of food, we do assume that they're also getting the variety of nutrients require. It's not standard practice to go and for example, do like an iron test on a baby because obviously, you know, require a blood test,

which we don't necessarily want to do. But there are a few signs that you would be looking for, like if baby was you know, sleeping more than they should be or looking quite like tired, lethargic, pale like they would be signs an iron deficiency, and then there might be some intervention. There might be some you know, some supplements put on or more of a focus put on you know, iron rich foods. But it's not like we're not like, okay, they have to be having this amount

of food. And this I guess occurs for baby lead winning and purese. It's for this reason also that the only time I wouldn't recommend baby lead weaning would be for a child that was born like low birth weight or was having any issues gaining weight, because it is very hard to monitor how much they had taken in.

And so you know, if your baby was having issues gaining weight and they were falling off the growth chart, I'd be like, you know what, I'd probably be better just to stick to purage, just so you can be like, Okay, today we offered you know, half a cup of sweet potato and babe eight half of the heart cup. So we know they had a quarter of a cup of sweet potato. We can calculate the calories. We can also look at do we need to add something to it? Do we need to fortify it. Do we need to

add any supplements to it? So because baby led winning, it's like, yeah, it's not a great answer because it's hard to tell, but it's just a general like you know, watching that growth chart and making sure that they're gaining

enough weight. That's why you know, weight is so important and I think can become quite unfortunately a bit of a moment of stress, you know, especially in those early days when you know, obviously baby comes out of hospital, they lose a bit of weight, and then parents you know, might be having issues with supply and stuff. Like the weight is a really great marker just to you know, go okay, well they're tracking, so they should be getting enough.

And then as long as there's no other signs that would suggest deficiency like you know, lethargy and you know, sleeping way more than they should be, we usually go okay, you know, they're not going to intervene without really having to, and premier babies will be put on like you know, iron supplements and stuff for that reason. But yeah, so sorry, a bit of a roundabout answer on that one, but it's.

Speaker 1

A hard Oh no, that's so valuable, Okay, guys, As I mentioned, I will stop us there for this first part one. As we covered so much information in so much detail, it can be quite overwhelming, but I do hope that you found it helpful and useful so far. We will have the allergens section and a couple of other questions in Part two, coming to you next week. In the meantime, I'll pop all the links so far in the show notes, and we'll be back with Part two.

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