Page 65 - Winter2009

or an overwhelming drudgery in the kitchen. For FEEDING BABY FROM THE TABLE 101
details on the ideal baby feeding principles and Is your baby ready for table foods? The simple way to answer this is
guidelines, see the article “Nourishing a Growing to let baby show you. There are signs and stages for readiness, but the best
Baby,” found in the Children’s Health section at way to know is his just to gauge his interest. Although teeth are indeed a
www.westonaprice.org. As early as four months sign of readiness, some children don’t cut teeth until later and some children
but definitely by six months, puréed foods can with teeth are not ready to feed themselves. Gums are fine for chomping,
be introduced. Meats puréed with broth, soft sucking and masticating. Exploration comes naturally to babies and is all
boiled egg yolks with a touch of grated liver and part of learning, which is really how to view their first encounters with
salt, liver mousse, and ripe banana mashed with food. Below is the basic progression.
whole yoghurt are superior choices for baby’s
nutritional needs. But these first few months go 1. Include baby: The first step is to include baby in meal times early,
quickly; before long, it will be time to include hold him in your lap, give him a baby spoon and talk about the foods
baby at the family meal table and let her eat the in the meal. Eventually, out of simple curiosity, he will grab at food
very same foods the others are enjoying. and want to do what the rest of the family is doing. When the time
The age at which baby starts to feed himself comes, set him upright in the highchair at the family table. And to
depends on his maturity and your own tolerance make this early experience even better, ask Dad or an older sibling to
for mess! Some babies can feed themselves as be in charge of baby and allow Mom to sit and simply enjoy the meal
early as eight months, others not until a year. and company.
A good compromise for moms who find spoon
feeding a baby less stressful than cleaning up a 2. Blend baby’s very first foods: Until eight to ten months, baby’s foods
messy infant and high chair is to feed mashed should be blended and spoon fed. Mashing and blending makes
foods to baby before the family sits down or at the foods easier to digest and ensures that baby gets enough to eat. This
beginning of the meal and then let baby amuse is a time when baby figures out the process of chewing, sucking and
herself with a few pieces of soft vegetables or a swallowing. These skills will develop on their own. As time goes
chicken bone to chew on while the family enjoys on, add new foods with lumpier textures. Blended table food is even
their dinner. appropriate at this time, such as finely cut up vegetable stew, soups,
The one caveat to this way of feeding baby sweet potatoes with liberal amounts of fat or the liver mousse or pâté.
is you must be serving your whole family nour- Invest in a small food processor or baby mouli (http://www.amazon.
ishing, real foods! In other words, offering the co.uk/CKS-Stainless-Steel-Baby-Mouli/dp/B000LCLV28) to make
most nourishing foods to baby means studying this job easier.
up on traditional foods and giving yourself the
time to prepare them in your own kitchen for 3. Let baby grab and choose: When baby reaches eight months—some-
everyone. times sooner, sometimes later—his ability to grab food with his little
pudgy hand will mature. Before you know it, one of his attempts will

DO THE FAMILY A FAVOR—TEACH YOUR BABY TO SIGN

Teaching baby to use sign language has a host of benefits, the best being reduced frustration, especially when it comes
to feeding time. Both of my boys learned basic signs early, such as “food, eat,” “milk,” “all done” (one of the most impor-
tant), “more” and “please” (although not necessary, I do like good manners!). Others we added to their repertoire included
signs for mommy, daddy, banana, cracker, various animals (monkey is especially fun), shoes, etc. Not only do children get
a kick out of it, but some experts believe that learning sign language early actually improves later vocabulary skills.
My little 20-month-old uses his food signs in other parts of life, such as telling me I need to be “all done” with reading
a book because he wants me down on the floor to play. And our oldest, who now has a large vocabulary, will occasionally
include a well-known sign when he speaks just because it comes naturally. I find that it is useful when I am trying to keep
a reminder discreet, such as saying “thank you” for a nice gesture or gift. I simply use the sign to remind Tate instead of
saying, “What do you say?”
Baby sign language materials abound; you’ll find information just surfing the web. However, there are fun tools to help
out. One of our favorites is Signing Time books and DVDs (www.signingtime.com). The songs are catchy and they teach
American Sign Language (ASL). Check out your local library to preview their collection.

WINTER 2009 Wise Traditions 63