Be attentive to the signs that the baby is ready and not letting fear prevent us from starting on time to provide the first solids are the keys to leaving purees behind naturally. The correct development of the jaw, teeth and swallowing depend on the child learning to chew and take solids when the time comes.
As explained by Ana Martínez, primary care pediatrician and member of the Spanish Association of Primary Care Pediatrics (AEPap), the transition to solid food, or to the normal family diet, is carried out gradually between 6 and 12 months of life. At one year of age, the baby should already eat the same as the rest of the family.
Martínez points out that around 6 months of age, babies are already capable of putting their hands to their mouths and sucking and swallowing soft foods. By 8 or 9 months, even if they do not have teeth, they are already able to make chewing movements with their jaws and learn to eat from a spoon.
The main skills or capacities of the baby so that the transition from a milk diet to a more varied and semi-solid diet can begin are that it can remain seated almost without support, put its hands to its mouth and make sucking and squashing movements. food using lips and gums.
To the parents the easiest thing to do is watch for your child’s signs that he or she is ready. That is, they adapt to the characteristics and maturation of your child, without following any calendar to the letter. A baby is already ready to start when she shows interest in food through attitudes such as leaning forward, opening her mouth, looking or directly grasping and sucking on the food.
It is just as important to allow the child to decide when he has had enough, that is, to respect the signals of satiety (he ceases to be interested in food, spits it out, turns his head or falls asleep). “It is not convenient to be obsessed with quantities, since throughout the day there are more opportunities to eat,” explains Martínez.
As for the risk of choking or suffocation, The pediatrician points out that this is a great concern for parents and pediatricians since, although real, it is a danger that only occurs with small, hard foods such as raw carrots, nuts, candies or apples.
“It can also be a cause for fright when the baby gags because too large a piece goes down its throat, but this is not a real danger since what the gagging does is push the food back to the front of the mouth. mouth so that the baby can crush it again,” says Martínez.
HOW TO START
The pediatrician recommends starting the transition to solid food with cooked vegetables, a little soft but not completely falling apart, such as potatoes, zucchini, pumpkin, broccoli, cauliflower or carrots. Regarding raw fruits, he recommends banana, mango, pear or plum and in relation to other foods, he points out the suitability of cooked pasta (spirals, macaroni or lasagna strips), cooked meat, York ham in strips or the omelette.
“The size of the piece offered is important. There is talk of ‘finger foods’, that is, portions the size of an adult finger that fit in a baby’s fist, with a part sticking out, so that an excessive portion cannot be inserted,” Martínez clarifies.
You can also make lots of smaller pieces so that you can pick them up in small handfuls (York or normal ham, meat, fish, fruit or fresh cheese) or crush the chickpeas or peas a little with a fork. “The best thing is for the baby to eat at the same time as the others and thus try some foods from the family menu,” he says.
As Martínez explains, if you start before the birthday of the year, there are usually no problems in the transition to solid food. “If for fear of choking, for comfort or because no one explains to the family the importance of chewing, when a child reaches 2 years of age eating only food in the form of purees and bottles, it is very difficult for him to accept solids”, clarifies the pediatrician.
This rejection of solid foods, Martínez points out, may be due, among other reasons, to the fact that they have become accustomed to that diet and because around the age of two they have much less appetite and this leads to less interest in novelties.
BABY-LED WEANING
According to the pediatrician, the approach is totally different from the classic porridges and purees that is called ‘weaning led by the baby’ (‘Baby-Led Weaning’). Although the method seems easier for babies who are breastfed, because they are used to changes in the taste of breast milk, “this does not mean that those who take bottles cannot make the transition in this way,” explains Martínez.
The pediatrician details these 5 tips for parents:
1. Be attentive to the signs that your child is interested in the food he is eating and let him try it, only sucking on it, this will allow him to get to know flavors.
2. If he already puts things in his mouth, take the opportunity to put ‘something to eat’ in his hand. It will only appear a bit and it will be sucked, savored and swallowed. He will eat little and that way he will see if he feels good and tolerates it. You can gradually increase the quantity and variety.
3. Avoid hard foods that can become embedded in the bronchi or trachea: nuts, candies, pieces of carrots or raw apples. Avoid foods to which either parent is allergic.
4. Make sure the baby continues to nurse on demand throughout the day and night. If you take bottles, you should take 3 or 4 a day, in addition to all those foods.
5. Parents should eat healthy and offer the same food to their baby. Don’t worry about the amounts. The baby knows how much she needs to eat.
TEETHING AND DEVELOPMENT PROBLEMS
According to the pediatrician, it is not necessary to have teeth or molars to start chewing. “If you wait for the teeth or molars to come out (they come out after 12 months) you miss a crucial moment, since it is around 8 or 9 months when babies are more predisposed to try food and chew “, he clarifies.
Martinez concludes that When a baby is slow to chew, always drink fluidsbottles and purees, his jaw and teeth do not develop well and in the long run he may have swallowing problems or the habit of interposing his tongue between his teeth, which causes problems in language (vocalization) and in the position of the teeth. teeth.
As explained to Infosalus by Dr. Abel Cahuana, president of the Scientific Commission of the Board of the Spanish Society of Pediatric Dentistry, regarding chewing in mandibular development, the different orofacial functions influence the correct development of the arches and the pattern facial.
Chewing also influences the health of the teeth.the child who does not chew, has more bacterial plaque and tartar on the teeth”, clarifies Cahuana, head of the Pediatric Dentistry Section of the San Joan de Déu Hospital (Barcelona). The introduction of solids, in addition to allowing the contribution of a variety of food and of different consistencies and flavors, favors a good development and a better state of health of the entire dento-alveolar process, affirms the specialist.
If the child refuses to eat solid food, he will be in a worse health situation. compared to those who chew. “In these situations, the pediatrician will rule out a developmental problem or a neurological swallowing disorder, although in most it is a problem that is more related to rules of education and overprotection,” Cahuana clarifies.