Do you ever find yourself completely overwhelmed with how to introduce your kids to new and different foods? I mean you want to be the parent who offers your baby real foods but how do you know how to present it? What is “baby led weaning”? Do first foods need to be pureed? Can you give them a whole piece? What about choking? Do I let my kiddo hold their food or should I feed it to them? How much food should I offer? Between the internet and social media you can get sucked into hours of research before figuring out what is best. Well, allow me to share with you one of the best resources I have found on this topic. Solid Starts.
What is Solid Starts? Solid Starts is an amazing resource that covers all things feeding related. It tackles topics such as picky eating and how to pick the best high chair and just about everything in between. They have a ton of free resources available on their website and through social media, a newsletter you can have delivered right to your inbox as well as more personalized guides that are available for purchase. Full disclosure I have never paid for any of their content but have found so much value in all the information they provide for free. You can log into their website https://solidstarts.com or follow them on Instagram, Facebook and Tik Tok.
I am all about using the resources that are already available in the world and keeping up on new and exciting things to try with kiddos. Solid Starts does a great job covering both these areas and has even taught this old feeding therapist a few new things like how to introduce cucumber to you baby or all the different ways to serve kidney beans to babies. The more variety of taste, texture and temperatures of the food you offer from the beginning will help prevent picky eating in the future. It will also allow you to have some options as you work through the typical and inevitable food jags that just about every kiddo has at some point.
Don’t be afraid to step out of your food comfort zone and try some new things. Who knows, you just might like it yourself!
-Tricia-