This week, we held a brilliant event at Dundrum Town Centre, the last of our brilliantly attended talks, part of the ‘How to Survive Parenthood’ series.
The event was hosted by Cathy Monaghan, Senior Paediatric Dietitian from weaning.ie who has worked at Temple Street Hospital with parents and children for years. Over one hundred attendees listened intently to Cathy’s top tips for optimum baby nutrition.
Here are a few top tips:
Safety First
Never leave your baby unattended while weaning or feeding solids.
When in doubt ALWAYS consult your doctor.
Always listen to your gut feeling when it comes to your baby – don’t let anyone tell you what to do if it doesn’t feel right.
Digestion, Needs and Nutrients
A healthy diet for an adult is NOT the same as a healthy diet for a baby.
At six months, a baby’s stomach capacity is 150ml (5oz) max.
Starting solids – why do we need to do this?
Baby should double their birth weight by 6mths, and triple it by the time they hit one-years-old.
At six months, stores of nutrients like iron, zinc and selenium are down and nutritional requirements are up.
By six months, milk is no longer adequate.
When to start weaning?
You should never start weaning before seventeen weeks.
Do it in a relaxed way, the first 1-2 weeks, there should be no nutritional aims, it is just about experimenting.
Be a responsive and mindful parent
Infants rely entirely on their caregivers to learn what, when and how to eat’ – so lead by example.
The foods and flavours that your baby is eating at nine months of age are indicative of what he or she will like to eat when school-age.
Understand when your baby is full and that on different days they have different levels of satiety.
Their feeding environment is key – keep it pleasant with minimal distractions, your baby needs your full attention.
Stick to feeding routines for all meals and snacks, babies love routine.
When you’re ready to wean
Rather than focusing on recipes and foods, understand your baby’s nutrient needs and choose the right foods around this.
Being mindful of flavours helps develop your babies taste buds to like the foods we want them to like eventually.
In Ireland, we generally start weaning with fruit, in Europe; it’s vegetables. It is better to start with vegetables so that baby learns to like vegetables from the start.
Sugar
Be mindful of sugary foods, free sugars, and labels, here’s a useful chart.
For more in-depth information about your baby’s nutrition, Cathy Monaghan runs classes for weaning.ie.
