How to Feed a Henry

This week’s Tuesday Tip for Picky Eaters: Don’t wait too long for lumpy food. Recently, I have had several conversations with mommies who are waiting to introduce solids until after their baby is one year old. It is true that most babies do not need the nutrients from solid foods before they turn one. Learning to eat, however, is about more than just nutrition. Sharing a meal together is a cultural and social experience , as well as an important developmental milestone. Research also shows that waiting too long to start solids can have unintended consequences, including increasing the likelihood that baby will become a picky eater. Henry chews on an apple. It turns out that learning to chew is a critical step between six and nine months of age, regardless of whether your little one has teeth. Babies who are introduced to lumpy foods (foods that require chewing) during this stage develop into less picky eaters later. Whether you choose chunky purees or finger foods, b...

UPDATE (10/2/12): Unfortunately, I did not hear back from our original winner. Congratulations to our alternate winner for "The Baby-Led Weaning Cookbook" -- Robin Pfefer. UPDATE (9/29/12): I am happy to announce that Kashia Clopper is the winner of "The Baby-Led Weaning Cookbook". When I was first thinking about using the Baby-Led Weaning (BLW) model for Henry, I was unsure about whether it would really work. I was excited about BLW’s claims of less stressful meals that the whole family could share together. Plus, I was all for encouraging Henry to gain new skills by learning about the shapes, textures, colors, smells and flavors of food. This sounded ideal in theory, but would it work in practice? After some fun but ineffective attempts at letting Henry feed himself, I went in search of resources to learn more about BLW. I needed to learn how to prepare meals for our family in which Henry could participate. That’s when I found “ The Baby-Led ...

We eat fish at least once a week, especially during the summer when we can get fresh locally caught seafood at our farmers market . You may not think of fish as baby food, but Henry devours it. He has happily gobbled up cod, halibut and tuna. He’s also tried seared salmon and barbecued eel when we go out for sushi. The flaky texture breaks into small pieces that are easier for Henry to chew and swallow than other meats. Henry wolfs down wild salmon with both hands. Fish is a great choice for kids since the Omega-3 fatty acids it provides can benefit a child’s brain development, vision, mood and immune system. In addition, fish are a good source of protein and Vitamin D . A 2011 Swedish study found that babies who ate fish before the age of nine months were half as likely to experience asthma or other wheezing symptoms by the time they were in preschool. What do you mean there's halibut on my face? It’s best to choose fish that are low in mercury and have not...

In the summer, we tend to skip the pasta since I don’t want to heat up the kitchen with a pot of boiling noodles. But now that fall is here and the tomatoes are ripe, it is time for Henry to try his first plate of spaghetti. Henry eats pasta for the first time. Henry’s Nana made fresh spaghetti sauce with her homegrown tomatoes just for this occasion. He had a curious time handling the slippery pasta and quickly smeared the sauce on his face. He enjoyed eating the large tomato chunks in the sauce, but he seemed undecided about the noodles. Henry tries out a handful of spaghetti. Henry is definitely improving his eating abilities. A month ago, I’m not sure he would have been able to pick up skinny noodles coated in tomato sauce. But now, his grasping and hand-to-mouth coordination skills have progressed to the point where he is able to manage this challenging finger food.

Many experts encourage parents to keep in mind that food before one is just for fun. At this age, Henry is still getting all the calories and nutrients he needs from his liquid diet of formula. For the most part, only a small amount of solids are making it down to his stomach. If he was being spoon-fed, Henry would be swallowing more. With baby-led weaning , however, he is learning how to get food to his mouth and chew it before he learns to swallow. Starting solids is about exploring new flavors and textures, not about how much Henry eats. The World Health Organization suggests offering food two or three times per day when baby is six to eight months old. Henry joins us at the table whenever he is awake for a meal. He is usually awake for breakfast and dinner, but he is often napping during lunch. If he misses two meals in a row, I just add some vegetable soup to one of his bottles to make sure he gets some flavor variety that day. I do not offer snacks or make-up meals. A...

A few weeks ago, I wrote about Henry’s trouble with avocado . The slices were just too slippery for his little hands to hold. Since then, we’ve found two solutions to the slippery food problem. Solution #1: Mesh feeder A reader suggested a mesh feeder as one solution for this issue. I purchased the Sassy teething feeder . There are similar products made by Nuby and Munchkin, but those weren’t available at the store I visited. We tested the feeder with fresh pineapple to see how Henry would do. The handle is very large and he had a bit of trouble maneuvering it to start. Once he figured out that food was in the mesh side, he started sucking on it and was able to get quite a lot of juice. The next day, I offered him pineapple again, but this time he was uninterested and flung the mesh feeder on the floor. Henry slurps pineapple juice from his new mesh feeder. I have two main complaints about the mesh feeder. First, it is difficult to get clean. You need to remove any...