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What types of puréed food to start with?
Start with purees of fruit and vegetables such as sweet potato, pumpkin, carrot, peas, zucchini, pear and apple.
Be careful not to quickly introduce too many foods that can cause wind in babies, like cauliflower or broccoli.
Infant cereal is also a great first food; it should be iron-fortified. Particularly for vegetarian/vegan families, the iron-rich plant-based foods are very high in fibre so need to be introduced a bit more delicately.
What is Baby-led weaning?
Baby-led weaning is a completely novel approach to starting solids. It involves skipping the pureed-food stage and moving straight to small solids, which the baby manipulates and self-feeds.
Given the developmental needs required for this, babies will not be taking adequate solids volume until at least 8-9 months of age.
What’s the best approach?
It’s important to follow the lead of each individual baby and to use a combination of both conventional feeding techniques as well as baby-led weaning to help them build independence in feeding skills.
Feed your baby pureed food, while at the same time, letting them explore food independently, both pureed (yes, encourage a mess!) and more textured simultaneously.
Remember: This requires close supervision, up-to-date baby first aid training and a willingness to have messy fun!
More on this topic read: Starting Solids Early here.
Learn more about the Dr Golly Philosophy here.
Shop the Dr Golly age appropriate routines here.
