by Dr. Laura Markham

Feeding your baby real solid food after six months of breastmilk (or formula) is an exciting time, for you and for him. As you approach this transition, there are some questions you'll want to ask yourself.

1. What do I want my baby taking in to his body?
Is organic food worth the extra cost?
How long do we want to wait before introducing sweets?

2. How can I manage introducing new foods to reduce the risk that my baby will develop food allergies by meeting certain foods too early?
How much time do I want to put into food preparation?
Is making my own babyfood worth it?

3. What are my goals for my baby's eating?
This may sound like a strange question -- obviously, you want your child to eat a healthy, well-balanced diet and to enjoy her food.

But there are some other worthwhile goals. To reduce the risk of power struggles around food, eating disorders and obesity later in life, you want your baby to take charge of her own eating as soon as possible.

That may well conflict with another goal you don't even realize you have: a clean kitchen, dining room, high chair, and baby! It may even conflict with an image you have of yourself as a nurturing mother bird spooning food into her chick's open mouth.

But the latest research shows that the sooner babies assume control of their eating, the better. I'm not saying you shouldn't feed rice cereal to your six-month-old, or that she is ready to handle her own spoon immediately. I'm just suggesting that you see the time period of spoon-feeding as limited, and give some thought to foods she can feed herself as soon as possible, such as soft chunks of sweet potato, or thawed frozen peas, or cheerios.

As both a mom and a Clinical Psychologist with a Ph.D. from Columbia University, Dr. Laura Markham offers a unique perspective on raising kids. Her relationship-based parenting model has helped thousands of families across the U.S. and Canada find compassionate, common-sense solutions to everything from separation anxiety and sleep problems to sass talk and cell phones. Dr. Markham is the founding editor of www.YourParentingSolutions.com and www.AhaParenting.com, where she regularly takes on a wide range of challenging questions from parents who struggle with "the toughest, most rewarding job on earth."

On Pregnancy.org, Dr. Markham fields questions from our community members on her Expert Forum and hosts a regular Online Chat on Wednesdays. Click here to check out her Parenting Tips.

Dr. Markham is the author of the Q&A e-book series, Ask Dr. Markham, with editions for all ages from birth to teens, and of the soon-to-be-released, The Secret Life of Happy Moms, which lays out her relationship-based approach to raising kids who turn out great. Dr. Markham lives in Park Slope, Brooklyn, New York, with her husband, 13 year-old daughter, and 17 year-old son.

Copyright © Laura Markham. Permission to republish granted to Pregnancy.org, LLC.

Send Page To a Friend