Real Meals with Sophia
Your baby is holding their head up independently and sitting up upright with some support, propping up on their elbows while lying on their tummy, no longer sticking out their tongue when something is put in their mouth, and is at least 4 months old. It’s time. It’s time to start introducing real meals. Real Meals with Sophia follows the milestones of our very own Feeding Therapist, OT, and Lactation Counselor, Bianca Lane’s daughter, Sophia as she travels down the road of real meals.
When starting the real meal process, it is important to remember a few things:
- All babies develop at different rates
- The decision to introduce foods should be a mutual one between caregivers and your pediatrician
- Concerns regarding your child’s development should be brought to the attention of your pediatrician
- Goal of initial food introduction is for exploration, not calorie intake
- Pace should be determined by child and not forced
- Common cues to watch for before presenting spoon: open eyes, leaning forward, opening mouth, reach for food
- Keep flavors simple
- Don’t presume your child has a specific taste preference, offer a wide variety of tastes
- Frequent reintroduction’s of flavors are important to establish variety in repertoire
Spoon Feeding
Here, Sophia is 18 months. Notice increased coordination against the wall of the plate.
It is important to incorporate a spoon from the beginning to increase exposure even if coordination is lacking or understanding of using a tool is not yet present.Good first spoons should be short, easy to grasp and used mostly for dipping into purees. Consider these as an option: num num dipper spoon, ChooMe Dip’n Starter Spoon, grab ease spoon and fork.
And that’s a wrap on our Real Meals with Sophia series. We want to leave you with one last tip: Remember to praise often, model excitement and enjoy mealtime with your baby!
Thank you for following Sophia on her Real Meals journey!
Click below for other chapters!
Real Meals with Sophia: Chapter 12
Real Meals with Sophia: Chapter 11
Real Meals with Sophia: Chapter 10
Real Meals with Sophia: Chapter 9
Real Meals with Sophia: Chapter 8
Real Meals with Sophia: Chapter 7
Real Meals with Sophia: Chapter 6
Real Meals with Sophia: Chapter 5
Real Meals with Sophia: Chapter 4
Real Meals with Sophia: Chapter 3
Real Meals with Sophia: Chapter 2
Real Meals with Sophia: Chapter 1
