Developing a healthy relationship with food from a young age is one of the most important things we can do for our grandkids. A common misconception is that as soon as babies are ready to try “food” the first things to try are purees. That’s what I thought for my kids and I’m sure so many other moms did, too! After my granddaughter was born, my son and daughter-in-law told me about this Instagram account with a course called Feeding Littles, that encourages baby-led-feeding instead of focusing on purees. This course is taught by a dietician and an occupational therapist, and they focus on teaching parents (and grandparents) how to safely introduce whole foods to infants once they’re ready to begin eating foods other than milk! This course brought so much comfort as they specifically teach you how to cut and serve each type of food, based on the infants age and motor skills. I couldn’t believe it when I saw my granddaughter eating whole broccoli and asparagus (and loving it!) as some of her first foods!
Feeding Littles focuses a lot on balance and choices, to encourage healthy eating habits and positive mealtime for the whole family. They have so many resources for the types of foods infants should be exposed to, and even help parents comfortably introduce common allergens at a young age! One of my favorite things they teach is that parents and grandparents aren’t meant to be short-order cooks. What they mean by that is, that the infant/toddler needs to eat what’s on their plate. They don’t need to eat it all (they actually encourage not forcing kids to eat all of the food on their plate) but they don’t get to substitute and have mom or grandma make them a completely different meal. They can have more of one of the items already served (and also avoid one of the items on the plate), but they don’t get to ask for a completely different item. The idea behind this is that kids will learn early on how to regulate what their body needs. Sometimes, they’re deficient on fruit and my granddaughter will eat six whole strawberries and avoid her mac n cheese. Other times, she might need more carbs so she’ll eat what seems like an entire box of mac n cheese!
I also love that Feeding Littles is realistic for parents. They understand that not every piece of every meal is going to be 100% grass-fed organic health food. They instead teach how to pick
Whether you have an infant that’s ready to try food for the first time, or a really picky toddler, Feeding Littles has amazing resources to help guide you and your family. I’ve been amazed to watch some of the foods my granddaughter will eat and I think that is due in large part to the foods she was exposed to early on!
I wish that these resources were available when my kids were litte, but I’m grateful that my granddaughter is able to benefit from all of this help! If you have any feeding tips of your own, we’d love to hear about them!