Wednesday 14 May 2014

Introducing Solids

If you've been following on Instagram you may have noticed that Honey (the latest addition to our family) has started her journey into the world of solid food. It's a very exciting time! With Miss M I relied a lot on the Child Health Nurses and the Mums & Bubs classes they provided as a guide & reference. Unfortunately I've forgotten most of it! And the Mums & Bubs classes are no longer offered :-(

Thankfully my local Maternity Coalition has set up a Birthing and Babies community where professionals offer their expertise and time to educate new (and not so new) mums. This is an invaluable resource in our community and I am so thankful to have access to these classes. My group missed out on a talk focused on introducing solids, but I was lucky enough to catch an impromptu talk with the next group. I've decided to start collating the information I find and my experiences as a resource for anyone who's interested. . .
[EDIT] A nutritionist has been enlisted to give a talk with the next group! For details head to the BaBs Facebook page.

Let me start by saying I am *not* a nutritionist, dietician, nurse, speech pathologist or any other type of medical professional. I am a mum. Please speak with your GP, child health nurse, or relevant health professional to find out what information is current and specific for your individual needs.

Today I'll start with what I've found as great reference sites and some basics. There are so many sites and blogs out there about introducing solids and baby lead weaning so I'll try not to repeat too much, and to recognise any sources I've used.

Raising Children Network
This is a government site which I discovered through the Bounty Bags I was given when Mis M was born. (They weren't offered through the hospital where Honey was born, but I was able to grab some from a local chemist.)
A link to this great hand out from National Health and Medical Research Council.

Queensland Health
If you're looking for an online version of what's in your Little Red Book, this is the site for you. Just be warned that some of the tables appear to be outdated.

Food Safety Information Association
I only just discovered this site and will be checking it out in more detail I'm sure as time goes on. The main things I'm interested in is why the recommendations are to do/not do certain things. For example, honey is recommended to be withheld until after 12 months due to the risk of botulism.
[EDIT] It seems that recent research has deemed the staggered introduction of food groups has had little to no baring on intolerance/allergy. The advice is now iron rich foods first, but otherwise whatever tickles your fancy really! The Kids Menu recently wrote a good article about this.

Today I Ate a Rainbow
There are a lot of 'eat a rainbow' websites out there. Even more images and info graphics if you Google them. This is just somewhere to start. I have slacked off a bit over the last year, but our regular 'rainbow' used to consist of red, orange, yellow, green, blue/purple/black, white. Six colours. Keeping in mind the Go For 2 & 5 philosophy this means one of every colour plus a spare, so whatever is in season or you have on hand.

Do you love a good info graphic? I must admit I'm a little hooked! Here are some great ones I've found
Feeding Schedule - the information here is more like what I received with Miss M. The 'rules' have relaxed somewhat since then, but it's always nice to have a reference.
Baby's First Foods From Around the World - it's nice to see what other cultures do.

Here's some Australian blogs I've found to be worth a look-see
Baby-Led Weaning Oz
My Lovely Little Lunch Box
One Handed Cooks
Let's Eat Speech

I'll do up another post shortly with the basics of what I've picked up from attending the Birthing and Babies groups and asking a few questions. If there are any questions you'd like me to try & find the answers for please let me know :-). I'll try not to take three months to publish like I did this time *sigh*


Details of my tools & toys can be found on this page.
~J

Disclosure: This is not a sponsored post. This post was written for Loving Lunches. No product was received for this post. All opinions expressed are my own, based on personal experience with the product.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Loving your comments, Thank you <3

Pin It button on image hover