5 Things Social Media Gets Wrong About Baby-Led Weaning

Rula (0s):

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Hungry Root (1m 53s):

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Marsha Dunn Klein (3m 48s):

First of all, when we're helping babies learn to move from breast and bottle to salads, we wanna find out what do they love and we wanna help them independently learn how to feed themselves with their hands, with their fingers, but also with utensils.

Katie Ferraro (4m 2s):

Hey there, I'm Katie Ferraro, registered dietitian, college nutrition professor and mom of seven specializing in baby-led weaning. Here on the baby-led weaning with Katie Ferraro podcast. I help you strip out all of the noise and nonsense about feeding, giving you the confidence and knowledge you need to give your baby a safe start to solid foods using baby-led weaning. So one thing that I've been working on a lot lately is how can I as a dietitian, better help Gen Z moms get on board with safely starting solid foods with baby-led weaning? So I've been studying a lot about generational differences and different learning styles and in my business we create content about baby-led weaning for all these different platforms.

Katie Ferraro (4m 46s):

So this podcast, which it's one of my favorites because you guys have longer attention spans, you can listen to a whole 15 or 20 minute episode and I do long form YouTube videos on my channel, which is just at baby led weaning, which I also love 'cause you can do like deeper dives and I can on some of those short form video platforms. But unfortunately I still have to spend a lot of time doing that. We capture a lot of content and info that we share on, you know, Instagram reels and TikTok and YouTube shorts. And so it's not that I don't love short form video, okay? And I, it's just not my favorite for all sorts of obvious reasons. It's like literally the same reasons that I will probably never let my kids have social media. I feel like it's just kind of contributing to the brain rot sometimes.

Katie Ferraro (5m 29s):

But I do recognize these short form videos, you know, social media, it's a necessary evil at this point, right? It's a very powerful force for connecting with and teaching. And I'm actually really super grateful for social media. It's helped me grow my business exponentially over the years. But that doesn't mean it's not without its fault. So in today's episode, I wanna share five things that social media gets wrong about baby led weaning. So my goal with my content is always to get in. I like get on the platform, I post and I get out okay, but even then I'm always falling victim. I'm like mindless scrolling and oh my gosh, the stuff that other people say about baby led weaning sometimes is just so wrong.

Katie Ferraro (6m 10s):

So off the wall. But rather than me sit here and tell you what's all jacked up about baby led weaning on social media, I just went on a work trip that was in Ireland and the UK and when I was working with my colleagues, we did a ton of, you know, positive and uplifting and collaborative work. We also did dish a little bit on what bugs us about social media since we all work in infant feeding and baby led weaning. So I'm gonna open this episode up and I'm gonna let my baby led weaning expert friends tell you what they think social media gets wrong about baby-led weaning. And then I'll follow up at the end with some of my own thoughts. So I wanna introduce each person who will be joining us today. I suggest you give each of them a follow on their respective platforms if you spend any time on social media because there are some really talented, some really legitimate credentialed authorities out there teaching about starting solid foods and baby-led weaning despite, you know, all the garbage in the crap that you see on those platforms too.

Katie Ferraro (7m 5s):

So I wanna start with my Irish counterpart, Aileen Cox Blundell. So Aileen runs at baby-led feeding the Instagram account. She's been doing baby-led weaning recipes for a very long time. At this point, she has two fabulous cookbooks. Aileen just spent the less six years of her life getting her equivalent in Ireland of what their registered dietician credential is, plus a master's degree in nutrition because she really wants to bring the nutrition piece to her work, which is helping moms fuel themselves as they help their babies through the weaning process. So here is Aileen Cox Blundell from baby-led feeding.

Aileen Cox Blundell (7m 42s):

My name is Aileen Cox Blundell. I'm a nutritionist and I help moms to wean their babies and feed themselves along the way. I think the thing people get wrong the most is thinking that food before one is just for fun. You see when your baby reaches six months, their iron and nutrient stores start to deplete. So it's really important that we give them lots of iron and nutrient-rich foods to support their growth and development because milk can no longer nutritionally give your baby everything that they need. Sitting at the table and watching your baby eat and explore and touch and taste and feel and smell food is a really fun experience, but it's not just for fun,

Katie Ferraro (8m 21s):

Right on Aileen, I could not agree more. Yes, of course we want you to have fun with feeding your baby, but that statement, food before one is just for fun. It kind of implies that the foods that you pick totally don't matter at all. And of course they do. So yes, have some fun, but use your brain about picking a variety of new foods each week that your baby is going to try. Definitely check out Aileen's Instagram at baby-led feeding for some great info and recipe ideas. Alright, next up is my friend Jessica Cole. She is a Canadian dietitian. Jessica and I have been working on a really fun big international project together, together for a while now, but we actually just got to meet in person for the first time in the UK last week.

Katie Ferraro (9m 2s):

So she did this recording when we met there. And Jessica runs the International Baby-led Weaning Network. So this is a group for healthcare professionals who are working in baby-led weaning. She offers a professional networking opportunity for all of us as well as continuing professional education. So Jessica has guest speakers and trainings for her network. So they cover lots of topics like next month I'm gonna be joining them and doing a Q & A and a training on iron needs. And then like realistic ways that babies can use food to meet iron needs so that you don't have to rely on fortified baby foods. Jessica's website is healthly.com, so it's like healthy with an extra L in there before the Y. And here is her take on social media and baby led weaning. Here's Jessica Cole dietitian.

Jessica Cole (9m 42s):

What bothers me the most about baby-led weaning on social media is seeing the perfectly prepared baby led weaning food. So on a platter there would be crinkle cut vegetables, fritters and pancakes prepared for the baby and the baby would be eating those foods in large quantities. When in reality you just give whatever you're eating to your baby and the baby eats sometimes not at all, sometimes a little bit, sometimes a lot. So it sets up parents for those expectations that they're gonna be eating huge amounts of these perfectly prepared foods.

Katie Ferraro (10m 19s):

A men Jessica, okay, when I see those perfectly cut crinkle, cut veggie platters and fry things, it bugs me so bad. I mean your baby's just gonna swish that little like sweet potato fry have to death with their palmer grasp. Anyway. So why waste your time making it look so perfect in the first place when it comes to trying new foods? I'm a big advocate of done is better than perfect. Okay, you don't need to spend all day prepping special foods for your baby. And hey, if you are a healthcare professional and you're working in this infant feeding space and you're doing baby-led weaning or you wanna do more of it, definitely check out Jessica Cole's international baby-led weaning network for healthcare professionals. Alright, next up we're gonna switch professional gears a little bit. Move away from the dietitians 'cause I got a different type of baby-led weaning expert for you.

Katie Ferraro (11m 2s):

It's my good friend Dawn Winkelmann. She is a speech language pathologist and a pediatric swallowing expert. Dawn also designs all of the feeding gear for easy peasy. So if you've ever used the easy peasy tiny spoons or their award-winning easy peasy tiny cup, that was all Dawn. So she makes these developmentally appropriate feeding gear tools for baby-led weaning and they're gonna help your baby meet their feeding milestones. And here is Dawn's pet peeve when it comes to baby led weaning and starting solid foods when she sees it on social media.

Dawn Winkelmann (11m 32s):

The one thing social media often gets wrong when it comes to baby led weaning is that babies need teeth in order to eat. And that's just not true. Babies can actually chew on their gums long before their teeth come in. And so the important thing to focus on is the size of the food and the texture of the food. So we wanna make sure that it's soft so that babies can mash it onto their gums and be able to learn the important oral motor skills of chewing and swallowing.

OSEA (12m 2s):

Hey, we're gonna take a quick break, but I'll be right back. My oldest girls are just coming into the age where they're now interested in skincare and I've had to kind of start hoarding some of my favorite products. I recently began using OSEA undaria algae body oil, so it officially earned a spot on my bathroom counter, but now I have to hide it in my drawer because the girls are after it. I wasn't really a body oil person before, but this one has completely changed my mind. It's rich and hydrating, but still like somehow super lightweight, never greasy. It soaks in fast and makes my skin feel noticeably softer. That like silky healthy kind of glow, kind of soft that I guess everybody is after, including middle school girls. But the secret is seaweed because OSEA uses a specific type of seaweed called undaria seaweed. It's full of vitamins and minerals and antioxidant. It helps your skin feel more firm, smooth and just better. So seaweed is a nutrient-dense superfood, which I know as a dietician and it's packed with vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, but it also helps replenish your skin's moisture barrier and helps your skin stay looking healthy. Now I love that I'm using a product that's not only high performing. It totally aligns with my values because Osea is vegan, cruelty free, it's climate neutral certified. They even harvest their seaweed sustainably, which just makes me feel good about what I'm putting on my skin because as a dietician I'm a big proponent of like what you put on your body is just as important as what you put in your body. And I was FaceTiming with my brother who, I mean I love him to death, but he literally never says anything nice in New York. And he was told me, he's like, are you doing something different with your skin? It looks really good. Well first he said, did you get a new phone because your skin looks really good. But I think what he really meant was my skin looks really good. You can get healthy glowing skin for summer with clean vegan skin and body care from osea. You get 10% off your first order sitewide with the code weaning when you go to osea malibu.com, you get free samples with every order, which is so cool. And free shipping on orders over $50. Head to OSEA malibu.com and use the code weaning for 10% off.

Ezpz (14m 19s):

I know. So I saw a real just yesterday about a mom saying her baby was cleared to eat finger foods now that he has teeth. And I was like, what? Excuse me. You know some babies are actually born with teeth. Yes, look it up. It's super weird. But some babies don't even get their teeth until after age one and you definitely do not want to wait that long before you start offering table foods. So having or not having teeth, duh, it is not a prerequisite to eat foods. And thank you for that reminder Dawn, if you wanna check out the easy peasy products that Dawn Designs my ezpz affiliate discount code Baby Lead always works for 15% off@ezpzfun.com/babyled. I've got all of my favorite products lined up there on that page. Again, that site is ezpzfun.com/babyled and use the code BABYLED for 15% off.

Katie Ferraro (15m 5s):

Next up is Marsha Dunn Klein, who's an occupational therapist. She's the founder of the Get Permission Institute. So Marsha and her colleagues teach courses for parents as well as healthcare providers about lots of issues related to infant and child feeding. Marsha teaches about her concept of the Positive Tilt. So it's essentially this idea where the baby is leaning into the feeding environment and giving permission to let the adult help the baby participate in the learning to eat experience. So Marsha's all about babies learning through opportunity. I actually just completed her big course, it's called Learning through Opportunity, feeding in Infancy and Toddlerhood. And while I know Marsha wouldn't describe herself as like a strict baby led weaning adherent, she's definitely pro babies being in charge and learning how to eat with their hands.

Katie Ferraro (15m 50s):

Marsha is also a new grandmother, so her grand baby is starting Solid Foods right now and she's like in the thick of it with starting solid foods, but she's also active on social media. So here are her thoughts about what social media gets wrong about starting solid foods.

Marsha Dunn Klein (16m 2s):

One of the things that irks me about the myths on social media about baby-led weaning is that you can only feed your baby striped foods and you're not allowed to use purees or utensils. So I would like to offer another way to think about that. First of all, when we're helping babies learn to move from breast and bottle to salads, we wanna find out what do they love and we wanna help them independently learn how to feed themselves with their hands, with their fingers, but also with utensils. And we wanna help them learn about a whole lot of different textures of foods and some great very nutritious foods coming pure. Let's think about baby yogurt for a minute.

Marsha Dunn Klein (16m 43s):

Greek yogurt, whole, whole milk yogurt is a very nutritious food and you could finger feed this for sure, some babies do and it's pretty messy, but certainly it can be done. We also can offer that food on a preloaded spoon and babies can grab that spoon and feed themselves while also learning about some of those spoon and utensil skills they'll be using later in that first year of life. Also, I think purees can be a wonderful way to provide really great nutrition while the child is learning about open cups. 'cause we really believe that open cups are a very good independent learning skill and a tool for self-feeding.

Katie Ferraro (17m 23s):

Alright, thank you Marsha. Definitely follow Marsha and her team on Instagram at Get Permission Institute and their website online is get permission institute.com. Marsha's got great courses for parents and healthcare providers with very insightful trainings. One of my favorite Marsha courses is her Get Permission approach for Anxious eaters. Anxious mealtimes. She's got wonderful resources for mealtime challenges for toddlers and older children too. Again, that's Marsha Dunn Klein from the Get Permission Institute. Alright, our last cameo today is from Jill Rapley. She is the founding pioneer of the baby led weaning approach. She's the co-author of the original Baby led weaning book. This is like the OG baby led weaning person, you guys. So if you're just getting started with baby led weaning, you have a gut to read Jill's book.

Katie Ferraro (18m 6s):

It's essentially the baby-led weaning Bible. Okay? Her book is called Baby-Led Weaning The Essential Guide. So I was working on a project with Gill in the UK. So we were chatting together about social media and how hard it is to convey, you know, really complex ideas like how babies learn to eat real food when you have a super short video clip. So here is Gill Rapley take on what bugs her about baby led weaning on social media. And again, she's a lady who pioneered this whole approach and literally wrote the book on the topic. So she's got some thoughts.

Gill Rapley (18m 35s):

So one of the things that really bothers me about baby led weaning on social media is when what you see is a portion of food for made for the baby, things cut in a particular way, especially for the baby. It's very clear that either that the baby is eating alone or that the rest of the family are eating something that looks different. It may be the same meal, but it's not been prepared in the way that they can be eating the same foods as the baby. So the whole concept of the baby sharing what he sees, the rest of the family eating is lost.

Katie Ferraro (19m 5s):

Well, thank you Gill. And I get sad too when I just think of those little babies sitting there by themselves eating all alone instead of alongside their family, which is like kind of the whole point of baby-led weaning, right? So do be sure to check out Gill Rapley's book, baby-led Weaning The Essential Guide. I know it's kind of old school to read a book you guys, but when you do, make sure you're reading the completely revised 10th anniversary edition. It's got lots of updated info and newer research about baby led weaning. I wanna say a special thank you to all of our experts who helped with this episode, Aileen Cox Blundell from Baby-led feeding, Jessica Cole from the International Baby-Led Weaning Network, Dawn Winkelmann from Miss Dawn, SLP and ECPZ, Marsha Dunn Klein from the Get Permission Institute, and Gill Rapley, author of the Baby-Led Weaning The Essential Guide.

Katie Ferraro (19m 46s):

I'm gonna link to other interviews that all of these experts have done here on this podcast. I'll put all their contact info on the show notes page for this episode, which you can find@blwpodcast.com/65. And a special thank you to our partners at AirWave Media. If you guys like podcasts that feature food and science and use in your brain, check out some of the podcasts from AirWave Media. Thank you so much for listening, and I'll see you next time. Bye now.

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