Leaving The Baby Food And Moving On
Baby purees are the first food small children get to eat. The midwife will then tell you when it is time to leave the baby food behind and move on. Then solid foods are incorporated into your baby’s diet, and she will also talk about which foods are best for your little one’s development.
In addition, she will teach you how to best introduce food to facilitate digestion.
Over time, the baby’s teeth will grow out and it will learn how to chew. Then it should also get solid food in addition to the mashed or puree. With a little patience and creativity, you can slowly but surely leave baby food behind.
So how do you help your child with this transition?
Leave baby food by switching from purees to food mashed with a fork
If you suddenly stop giving your child purees and offer something more solid, it is highly likely that it will refuse to eat.
Remember that you started by offering only one spoonful of puree. So you can not expect to get acceptance for the solid food you offer just like that.
To prepare you and prevent quarrels with a hungry child who does not want to eat (which is difficult to deal with) here is our advice:
Switch from purees to food mashed with a fork.
We recommend that you do it gradually. In the beginning, you can mix the food less and less each time you put it in the mixer. Gradually, more and more pieces of food are left behind.
Even when you introduce the food slowly but surely, your child may still refuse to eat what you offer. But you can be absolutely sure that this is the best method and that it will soon accept the food.
Remember that sudden changes are not good for children. With small and gradual changes, it becomes easier to leave baby food behind.
Do not panic if your child does not want to eat
Your child will probably spit out food when you lift the spoon to its mouth or leave a mouthful in its mouth without chewing or doing anything at all. It may cough and scare you so you think it is suffocating or simply start crying or getting angry.
If this sounds like your typical scenario that happens every day, do not lose hope. You need a lot of patience to insist on cleaning up. Lift the spoon to your mouth as many times as needed. Sing for your child.
Give it another spoon and encourage it to eat. All those games and distractions that assure you that he or she is eating enough.
Offer the child solid foods that it can already eat
If your midwife says that you can let the baby eat bread, pancakes or soft biscuits, you can serve these in a plastic box. Then he or she can pick up the food himself or herself and bring it to his or her mouth. In this way, the child will learn to start chewing.
Leave the baby food by giving the baby your plate!
Children like to eat from the adults’ plates. Even if your child has no idea what you are eating because he is not used to this food, you may notice that it starts to drool a little if you sit next to it and chew.
The most important thing is that your child sees how you chew, that you eat at the same time and that you like it.
Once you have made the change – do not go back
Once you have given your child solid food, you should not return to serving mashed food. Especially not during excursions like: “I do not want to eat anything else today.”
Even if it bothers you, it is important that the child gets used to the thought that: “This is the food I get and this is what I have to eat.”
Remember that with the incorporation of new flavors, there is a whole host of new dishes to discover. And you have to get used to not giving your child the same food every day as you could with baby food.
In this way, the child gets used to varied food and will not refuse to eat new things. Leaving baby food behind is an exciting new phase for both of you!
