HerBaby: First food!

Posted on 21 June, 2016

So it feels like forever since I have given you an update on how HerBaby is going and I am so thrilled to tell you he is a happy, healthy, ACTIVE little guy!

He just keeps astounding me with the things he is learning and what he is able to do. Our current venture is all things FOOD!

We started to “expose” him to food at six months old, meaning we were giving him small amounts of things to try. But this quickly ramped up to three full meals a day! I think we are incredibly blessed that Georgie is such a good eater – my husband likes to say “He’s a Stead after all”!

I can’t attribute it to anything we have magically done differently, except that he has been exposed to us eating healthy nutritious food from day one, and is included at the table when we are eating. While he was increasingly interested in watching us eat, I think he really was just destined to be a good eater!

That said, I am very conscious of wanting to help him develop a good relationship with food. As with everything it seems with being a mum, there are so many “rules” of what you can do and what you should avoid. Rather than pull my hair out trying to work out what advice was worth following amongst many of these contradictions, I turned to our very own Kate Freeman, and took my mother’s group along to a session with her all about introducing babies to food.

Kate ran the session out of The Healthy Eating Hub, and we mums were able to sit on the floor with our babies who all want to roll and crawl around. It was a comfortable and relaxed session, both with prepared information and a lot of time for questions and Kate was really generous with her knowledge and personal experiences. I felt really comfortable to ask all the questions I had.

For me, this session was so worthwhile! I highly recommend this for anyone wanting to establish good food behaviours with their babies! While she gave us some fantastic strategies for introducing babies to food, it was her frank and honest sharing of her own personal experiences that we loved hearing.

Here is what the other mums in my mothers group had to say

Dani

“The session was helpful to clarify what we should be doing at not just the different stages of introducing solids, but also tips on how to help them enjoy food and meals as an experience. I liked hearing what worked and didn’t work for her kids. This made it more personal. After the session I have a bit more confidence in what I am doing when it comes to introducing Oliver to solids.”

Karen

“The session was a great starting point for anyone who’s confused about what to offer their baby. It was great to have ideas about what to cook and offer rather than just buy pre-made baby food from the supermarket.”

Lauren

“Her personal experiences and the Q&As were the most informative part for me. I particularly liked that she talked about having feeding issues with her son and how she’s overcoming them. It made her more relatable in the sense that even though she’s an expert, it can still be tricky! Personally I will take on several of her tips and I’ll also be a bit more adventurous in what I offer him. This session made me really excited about introducing my fave foods to him.”

Holly

“The workshop was great. I think beyond the basics, Kate’s personal tips are what I have really taken away most! She was awesome. Perfect for that interactive-type role. Please convey that in your write up! I hope they run more.

I left Kate’s session feeling much more confident with how we will continue to be feeding Georgie! And I have a better idea of what to look out for, and know that if I start to encounter problems I can go to one of Kate’s sessions for fussy toddlers!”

Louise

“It was good that she gave her personal experiences that’s invaluable information. I also liked the steps from tasting to actually swallowing puréed food, and the progression of food texture with a timescale. Since my daughter is still not a fan of spoon eating that was helpful, especially that she could still be in tasting mode, and not yet ready to progress to the next stage. It is nice to know she’s not behind at this stage.”

Lauren K

“I found the session to be informative and enjoyable. Kate is a great facilitator and shared her own personal experiences and challenges, as well as encouraged questions from the group. I’m also keen to try preparing different meals for my son; up until now I had been reluctant to become too adventurous because I thought you could only introduce certain foods once they reach a certain age. I also really liked how Kate shared her favourite quick and healthy meal – it’s great to know you can prepare a healthy and nutritious meal in 10 mins! I would recommend the session to all mums!”

If you’re interested in checking out a session on introducing babies to food, find out more at The Healthy Eating Hub’s website here: healthyeatinghub.com.au

Images supplied by the author