Solid Starts

We wrote a book! 📘🥳 Pre-order now! (Link in bio) Shining a light on the evidence behind baby led weaning as well as the physiological and developmental benefits of letting baby take the lead at the table, SOLID STARTS FOR BABIES is the first comprehensive book to examine infant feeding from the first bite. Written by our pediatric feeding therapists, dietitian, allergist and double board certified pediatrician-gastroenterologist, our debut book debunks the myth that “baby food” is necessary and shows how, from the moment that baby is ready to begin the transition from breast or bottle to solid food, baby can enjoy almost any food—the same food that you want to eat—with some basic safety modifications. Preorder the book now and you’ll also get one free month of the Solid Starts App to use yourself or gift to someone else. A big thank you to Penguin Random House and the Crown team for believing in us from the start! Let’s go! #SolidStarts #SolidStartsForBabies #blw #babyledweaning #firstfoods #babyled #newmom #newdad #5monthsold #6monthsold #babygifts #newbaby #startingsolids

We launched our new app! Developed by our pediatric pros, the Solid Starts app guides you through all aspects of starting solids so you can more easily raise a happy, healthy eater. With the app you’ll get: ☑️ Guided intro to solids with customizable meals ☑️ Plan for safely introducing common allergens ☑️ Customized tips to help you through the journey Search 400+ foods to learn how to make them safe for babies, according to their age and development. ➡️ Comment APP and we’ll send you a link to have a look! Happy eating, everyone! Jenny Best, founder Kary Rappaport, senior feeding therapist Kim Grenawitzke, senior feeding therapist Venus Kalami, pediatric dietitian Dr. Rachel Ruiz, board certified pediatrician Dr. Sakina Bajowala, board certified pediatric allergist #solidstarts #solidstartsapp #startingsolids #babyfood #babyledfeeding #introducingsolids #parenting #parentingapp #blw #foodforbabies #blw6months #blw7months #firstfoods #firstfood #4monthsold #5monthsold #6monthsold

Free guide! Comment RESCUE and we’ll DM a link to both our infant and toddler rescue guides! While letting babies feed themselves does NOT increase the risk of choking, if it does happen, you must act quickly. Written by Dr. Rachel Ruiz on our team, this guide has pictures and visuals with simple instructions. We highly recommend you post it in a visible place near where your baby eats so you and other caregivers can easily access it. Download our FREE Infant Rescue Guide to help you learn how to identify choking, understand which rescue maneuvers to use, and show you with visual pictures and step-by-step instructions how to perform infant rescue for choking. ➡️ Comment RESCUE on this post and we’ll DM a link to BOTH our infant & toddler guides. ⚠️Note: Maneuvers in this video are for babies up to 12 months of age. #SolidStarts #babyledweaning #blw #firstfoods #infantrescue #firstaid #childsafety #newmom #newdad #newparents #6monthsold #5monthsold #7monthsold #babymilestones #startingsolids #babysafety #babyfood

Fair warning: Red poop is common with beets 🙃 So before you take a look at baby’s diaper and panic, try and remember if baby had a meal with beets in it earlier! This change in color from beets is totally normal and harmless. Beets (or beetroots) come in red, yellow, or white, and sometimes striped with pink, and each variety offers a unique set of phytonutrients. For example, dark red beets are packed with nutrients that support the liver and act as antioxidants. The details: Beets may be introduced as soon as baby is ready for solids. Not sure if baby is ready? See our website (link in bio, search “readiness”). Beets are packed with nutrients, including fiber for healthy digestion and folate, an essential nutrient to fuel a child’s development. Beets can be a choking hazard because they’re slippery and firm – two qualities that increase the risk. To minimize the risk, cook beets until completely soft and cut into age-appropriate sizes, or grate raw beet. Allergies to beets are rare, but possible. By age: ➡️ 6 mos+: Cook the whole beet until it is completely soft and easily pierced with a knife, then peel and discard the skin. If the beet is very large you can serve it whole, cut in half, or even in large quarters. If the beet is on the smaller size (as many pre-packaged beets are), you may want to mash or grate. ➡️ 9 mos+: Offer bite-sized pieces of cooked beet with the skins removed. Try offering bite-sized pieces of cooked beet for baby to try to pick up. If you like, you can also continue with large whole or halved cooked beets for biting and chewing practice. ➡️ 12 mos+: Utensil time! If you have not introduced a fork yet, this is a good time to do so, and cooked, soft beet is a great food for fork practice. Offer bite-sized pieces of cooked beets and pre-load the child’s utensil as needed. Be patient: consistent, independent use of utensils may not happen until closer to 18 months of age. 🤍🤍🤍

How much is too much? 🥛 When it comes to cow’s milk for toddlers, we don’t worry about whether your child will get enough—we worry they will drink too much, displacing nutrition from solid food and setting them on a path of drinking all of their calories. Also, you don’t have to serve milk at all if you don’t want to. Though the AAP recommends cow’s milk for toddlers as a source of nutrients, if a child is meeting growth chart standards, is without health issues that may limit the diet, and eating a wide variety of foods high in fat, protein, vitamins A + D, calcium and zinc, milk may not be necessary. It is okay to offer small sips of cow milk around 11 months of age in an open cup to accustom baby to the taste, as long as it doesn’t displace the intake of breast milk, formula, or iron-rich foods. This practice varies across countries, cultures, and health guidance. Details: ➡️6-12 mos: Stick to breast milk or formula as baby’s main drink. A little bit of cow milk mixed or cooked into solid foods is fine. ➡️11-12 mos: If you’d like, closer to one year of age you can offer small sips of whole milk (no more than 2 oz per day in an open cup) to accustom baby to the taste. It is also fine to hold off. ➡️1-2 years: Limit milk consumption to around 16 oz per day, especially if solids are not going well. If a toddler is eating 3 meals + 2 snacks a day really well and wants more milk, you can offer up to 24 oz per day. If breastfeeding, your child may not need as many servings of dairy in a day. 🌱 How about plant-based milks? Try to select brands that are fortified with calcium and vitamin D, free of added sugars, low in preservatives, and offer similar protein and calorie content to cow’s milk, like: ✔️Soy milk (fortified) ✔️Pea protein milk (fortified) ✔️Oat milk (fortified) V. Kalami, pediatric dietitian, MNSP, RD Dr. R. Ruiz, pediatrician & gastroenterologist ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ❓Is calcium a problem for iron absorption? Can babies outgrow milk allergy? Answers to these and much more at the link in our bio.

More peas please! 🌱 For complete details on how to serve any food to babies, download the Solid Starts app at the link in bio. #SolidStarts #babyledweaning #firstfoods #6monthsold #startingsolids #babyfoodideas #100firstfoods #babymilestones #blw #5monthsold

When spaghetti is life. 🍝🤗 What food will your baby drop everything for? 🎥❤️: Thanks to @lozzaamyy for sharing this adorable video of Isabel, 9 mos. #SolidStarts #blw #babyledweaning #firstfoods #whatmybabyeats #startingsolids #babyfoodideas #100firstfoods #babymilestones #6monthsold #5monthsold #4monthsold

How much water can babies have? 💦 Once baby is 6 mos of age, water may be intro’d in small amounts in an open or straw cup as long as baby is growing and gaining weight appropriately. Why an open cup or straw? This prevents over consumption that may occur if offering in a bottle. What is a “small amount”? The American Academy of Pediatrics suggests offering up to 8 oz (227ml) of water per day for babies 6 to 12 mos of age; however, it is our professional opinion that water is best limited to 2-4 ounces (59-118 ml) a day to avoid displacing valuable nutrition from breast milk or formula (particularly for the youngest babies in this age range). If you’re concerned about hydration, monitor the number of wet diapers and energy levels, and share that info with baby’s medical provider. Generally speaking, babies should have 4-6 good, wet diapers every 24 hrs. ➡️For more info, tap the link in bio. #SolidStarts #babyfeeding #startingsolids #solidfood #5monthsoldbaby #6months #6monthsoldbaby #babyledfeeding #blwmenu #firstfood #feedingbaby #babyledweaning #babyledweaningideas #parenting101 #firstfoods #whatmybabyeats #babyfoodideas #6monthsold #babydevelopment #babymilestones #childdevelopment #100firstfoods #raisinglittles #healthybabyfood #babyled #babyledeating #blwinspiration #newmom #newmomlife #parentingtips

Just start slow. Like other high-fiber foods, serve cabbage in small amounts at first to help prevent gassiness. But don’t let that stop you from introducing this nutrient powerhouse. The details: 1️⃣ Cabbage may be intro’d as soon as baby is ready for solids. Not sure if baby is ready? See our website (link in bio, search “Readiness”). 2️⃣ Rich in fiber to support the gut and vitamin B6 for energy, cabbage has many of the nutrients babies need. And fermented cabbage dishes often have even more antioxidants and probiotics than raw or cooked cabbage. 3️⃣ Cabbage is not a common choking hazard, though thick chunks of raw cabbage or the cabbage core certainly could be. To minimize the risk, cook until soft and serve in strips, shreds, or finely chopped pieces. 4️⃣ Allergies to cabbage are rare, but have been reported. Those who are allergic to other members of the cruciferous family or have Oral Allergy Syndrome may also be sensitive to cabbage. By age: ➡️ 6-9 mos: Let baby munch and suck on long strips of cabbage that have been cooked until soft. If a piece breaks off in baby’s mouth, stay calm and let the child try to work the food forward in the mouth. You can also finely chop cooked cabbage and mix it into a soft, scoopable food for baby. ➡️ 9-12 mos: Serve finely chopped or shredded cooked cabbage, either on its own or as part of a meal that you are sharing with baby. ➡️ 12-24 mos: Offer cooked cabbage as desired in meals and when you feel comfortable with the child’s biting and chewing skills, try decreasing the cooking time in order to offer cabbage with a bit more crunch. ➡️ By 18 months, many toddlers can manage raw cabbage in shreds or thin strips. ⭐️ For more foods (including kimchi and sauerkraut) download the Solid Starts app.

Social graces for baby? There are a lot of “shoulds” in parenting, and having a pristine, clean baby or child at the table with perfect table manners feels like the right thing. But, when it comes to normal infant and child development, the skill to eat with utensils (consistently and accurately), takes time to hone. Learning to eat is so much more than following directions to use a spoon or a fork: baby must figure out the hand and finger skills to grasp the utensil and manipulate it, properly scoop or stab the food with the utensil, and the coordination to accurately bring it to the mouth. It’s a motor, visual, and sensory learning curve–and this takes time. Hands are simply a more efficient way for a baby and young toddler to fill their belly. While practice is important, don’t expect much consistency until closer to 2. Your baby or toddler may go back and forth between hands and utensils, use utensils to start and then move on to hands, or just refuse the utensils all together. All of these scenarios are normal and expected. Have them available at the table, model using them yourself, and for extra practice, play with utensils away from the table, scoping dry beans or rice, forking playdough or slime, and hosting tea parties for stuffed animals. ➡️ For details on how to serve any food to babies, download the Solid Starts app.

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Early exposure matters 🥦 Researchers have identified an important period for introducing chewable foods. Infants are most capable of learning chewing skills if they are exposed to foods which trigger their chewing reflexes as soon as possible after 6 months and well before 12 months. Exposure during this window of time matters and shows us that simply getting older will not lead a child to better chewing, as many previously thought. 6-9 months seems to be the optimal age for introducing chewable foods to most infants according to researchers. This is likely because 6-9 month olds have a set of oral reflexes that make learning to chew easier, they are driven to explore, and it takes time and repetitive practice to build new oral motor patterns so starting early is key. Missed this window? Don’t worry. Chewing skills can obviously still be learned by older children, it just takes more patience and effort. Starting now is better than continuing to wait. Here are 3 things to do if you’re just getting started with chewable foods for your 12+ month old: 1️⃣ Model by eating with them 2️⃣ Be very clear about where the food should go (onto the side gums where molars will be) and what should happen (chewing and smashing the food). 3️⃣ Balance practice with intake. Make sure your child gets some foods that are easier to chew and swallow while also getting plenty of practice with harder to chew foods daily. ⭐️ For more info on how to get started, tap the link in bio for a world of resources.