Starting Solid Foods? How the Puree-to-Table Feeding Method Can Help
February 2023
Author:
Jennifer Anderson, MSPH, RDN
Coauthors:
Hyemyung Kim, RD, CDN, CNSC, CLC
Erinn Jacobi, M.S. OTR/L
About Kids Eat in Color
Created by experts, Kids Eat in Color is the leading resource for families seeking evidence-based information and strategies on child nutrition and feeding.
Author:
Jennifer Anderson, MSPH, RDN
Coauthors:
Hyemyung Kim, RD, CDN, CNSC, CLC
Erinn Jacobi, M.S. OTR/L
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Inside: Starting baby on purees? Learn what Puree-to-Table Feeding is and how it can get your child off to the right start with eating now and in the future.
Starting solid foods with your baby is an exciting time. You may have many questions though. You may be wondering what the best way is to get your baby started on solids.
There are several different methods of moving from a liquid diet to a solid diet for your baby. In this article you’ll learn about puree-to-table weaning and how to start solid foods using this method.
Some parents also choose to introduce their babies to flavors between 4 and 6 months through flavor training. Starting solid foods does not start in earnest, however, until your baby is showing all of the signs of readiness.
What are the most important parts of starting solid foods?
The three most important parts of feeding your baby are:
Responsive feeding
Variety of flavors and safe textures
Moving to table foods as quickly as possible
Responsive feeding
Responsive feeding is listening to when your baby is telling you they are ready to eat food and when they want to stop eating food. These are referred to as “hunger cues” and “fullness cues.”
Variety of flavors and safe textures
Next is serving your baby a variety of flavors and safe textures. When babies are exposed to a variety of textures and flavors early in the eating experience, they are more likely to eat a wide variety of foods as they get older. (1,2)
Exposing babies to different textures early in eating can also help reduce some picky eating in toddlers. All textures should always be safe in order to prevent choking.
Moving to table foods as quickly as possible
Finally, moving your baby on to table foods as quickly as possible is important for their development. This also helps to reduce the possibility of serious picky eating in the future.
In typically developing infants, introducing lumpy food or table foods no later than 10 months old is important. When lumpy or table foods are introduced later, a child may experience more feeding difficulties and also eat less fruits and vegetables. These challenges can occur by age 15 months and continue even when the child is of elementary school age. (3)
What is Puree-to-Table Feeding?
Puree-to-Table Feeding is the Kids Eat in Color method of helping you move your baby from all breast milk or formula to table foods, by starting with purees and quickly moving to table foods.
In Puree-to-Table Feeding, a parent covers the three most important aspects of starting their baby on solid foods: responsive feeding, variety of flavors and textures, and moving to table foods as quickly as possible.
Parents may start with either a textured puree using a baby food mill or a smooth puree. If they choose to start with a smooth puree, they very quickly move to a textured puree at the earliest opportunity. Parents can often offer more challenging textures to help their child progress.
Then they begin to serve table foods as soon as their baby is ready, generally by 8 months old. This corresponds to the baby’s development of the pincer grasp, although the baby is also able to feed themselves before this.
In this method, a parent may choose to use both purees and table foods early on in the eating experience.
Puree-to-Table Feeding can be convenient because parents can make one meal for the family and modify a portion for the baby.
Flexibility in Puree-to-Table Feeding
Flexibility is the key of this method. There may be times when families choose to spoon feed their child, serve their baby pre-made foods, or allow their child to self-feed homemade foods. The baby may eat pureed foods at daycare and self-feed table foods at home, or any combination of feeding methods.
As mentioned above, there are 3 important parts to weaning your baby. Puree-to-Table covers those 3 bases, plus gives families flexibility to feed their baby in the way that makes the most sense for them in different scenarios.
What is the difference between Puree-to-Table Feeding and traditional spoon feeding?
Traditional spoon feeding does not always use responsive feeding with the baby. Parents may be more likely to overfeed their child when they are controlling the spoon.
This means they are less likely to use responsive feeding and pay attention to their baby’s hunger and fullness cues.
Additionally, the parents can feed the child in such a way that the baby does not have the opportunity to get messy.
Traditional spoon feeding also can heavily rely on smooth purees. While smooth purees can be an important part of feeding for some infants, many infants can get stuck at this stage and not move on to foods that need to be chewed.
This method often relies heavily on pre-made baby foods. Pre-made baby food can be a good option for many families.
Exposing babies to flavors at the family table early (if meals are being homemade) can be important for the baby learning to eat table foods later.
Lack of exposure to flavors, textures and responsive feeding can make a child’s transition to table foods more complicated and may contribute to worse picky eating in toddlerhood.
What is the difference between Puree-to-Table Feeding and baby-led weaning?
Baby-led weaning is a specific method in which a baby self-feeds food from the first meal. This method is specific about how a baby is fed.
Babies are not fed by parents using a spoon, if foods are served by spoon, the baby grabs the spoon and feeds themselves.
Table foods are prepared from the first meal.
A variety of flavors and textures are provided to the infant.
This method and Puree-to-Table Feeding are similar in many ways. By 8-9 months of age, they are almost the same. Puree-to-Table Feeding is more flexible however, as it allows for more puree use and spoon feeding by the parent as makes sense for the family.
It also allows for more varied timelines for children who may not be ready to start eating table foods from the start.
Use the method that is right for you
At Kids Eat in Color, we believe that you can successfully start your baby on solid foods using the method that is right for you. You can also change to a different method, if your first choice is not working out for you.
Created by experts, Kids Eat in Color is the leading resource for families seeking evidence-based information and strategies on child nutrition and feeding.
Jennifer Anderson is a registered dietitian and has a masters of science in public health from Johns Hopkins School of Public Health. In 2019, she founded Kids Eat in Color®, a public health resource that improves child and family nutrition and mental health. Prior to starting Kids Eat in Color® she coordinated youth nutrition programs at a food bank, performed research in inner-city food deserts, and consulted for the USDA national office SNAP-Ed program. Her academic background is in public health nutrition, cultural anthropology, and economics.
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Inside: Starting baby on purees? Learn what Puree-to-Table Feeding is and how it can get your child off to the right start with eating now and in the future.
Starting solid foods with your baby is an exciting time. You may have many questions though. You may be wondering what the best way is to get your baby started on solids.
There are several different methods of moving from a liquid diet to a solid diet for your baby. In this article you’ll learn about puree-to-table weaning and how to start solid foods using this method.
When are babies ready to start solid foods?
Most babies are ready to start solid foods around age 6 months. Your baby will be showing all of the signs of readiness.
Some parents also choose to introduce their babies to flavors between 4 and 6 months through flavor training. Starting solid foods does not start in earnest, however, until your baby is showing all of the signs of readiness.
What are the most important parts of starting solid foods?
The three most important parts of feeding your baby are:
Responsive feeding
Responsive feeding is listening to when your baby is telling you they are ready to eat food and when they want to stop eating food. These are referred to as “hunger cues” and “fullness cues.”
Variety of flavors and safe textures
Next is serving your baby a variety of flavors and safe textures. When babies are exposed to a variety of textures and flavors early in the eating experience, they are more likely to eat a wide variety of foods as they get older. (1,2)
This can also help reduce some picky eating that can be common in toddlers.
Exposing babies to different textures early in eating can also help reduce some picky eating in toddlers. All textures should always be safe in order to prevent choking.
Moving to table foods as quickly as possible
Finally, moving your baby on to table foods as quickly as possible is important for their development. This also helps to reduce the possibility of serious picky eating in the future.
In typically developing infants, introducing lumpy food or table foods no later than 10 months old is important. When lumpy or table foods are introduced later, a child may experience more feeding difficulties and also eat less fruits and vegetables. These challenges can occur by age 15 months and continue even when the child is of elementary school age. (3)
What is Puree-to-Table Feeding?
Puree-to-Table Feeding is the Kids Eat in Color method of helping you move your baby from all breast milk or formula to table foods, by starting with purees and quickly moving to table foods.
In Puree-to-Table Feeding, a parent covers the three most important aspects of starting their baby on solid foods: responsive feeding, variety of flavors and textures, and moving to table foods as quickly as possible.
Parents may start with either a textured puree using a baby food mill or a smooth puree. If they choose to start with a smooth puree, they very quickly move to a textured puree at the earliest opportunity. Parents can often offer more challenging textures to help their child progress.
Then they begin to serve table foods as soon as their baby is ready, generally by 8 months old. This corresponds to the baby’s development of the pincer grasp, although the baby is also able to feed themselves before this.
In this method, a parent may choose to use both purees and table foods early on in the eating experience.
Puree-to-Table Feeding can be convenient because parents can make one meal for the family and modify a portion for the baby.
Flexibility in Puree-to-Table Feeding
Flexibility is the key of this method. There may be times when families choose to spoon feed their child, serve their baby pre-made foods, or allow their child to self-feed homemade foods. The baby may eat pureed foods at daycare and self-feed table foods at home, or any combination of feeding methods.
As mentioned above, there are 3 important parts to weaning your baby. Puree-to-Table covers those 3 bases, plus gives families flexibility to feed their baby in the way that makes the most sense for them in different scenarios.
What is the difference between Puree-to-Table Feeding and traditional spoon feeding?
Traditional spoon feeding does not always use responsive feeding with the baby. Parents may be more likely to overfeed their child when they are controlling the spoon.
This means they are less likely to use responsive feeding and pay attention to their baby’s hunger and fullness cues.
Additionally, the parents can feed the child in such a way that the baby does not have the opportunity to get messy.
Traditional spoon feeding also can heavily rely on smooth purees. While smooth purees can be an important part of feeding for some infants, many infants can get stuck at this stage and not move on to foods that need to be chewed.
This method often relies heavily on pre-made baby foods. Pre-made baby food can be a good option for many families.
Exposing babies to flavors at the family table early (if meals are being homemade) can be important for the baby learning to eat table foods later.
Lack of exposure to flavors, textures and responsive feeding can make a child’s transition to table foods more complicated and may contribute to worse picky eating in toddlerhood.
What is the difference between Puree-to-Table Feeding and baby-led weaning?
Baby-led weaning is a specific method in which a baby self-feeds food from the first meal. This method is specific about how a baby is fed.
This method and Puree-to-Table Feeding are similar in many ways. By 8-9 months of age, they are almost the same. Puree-to-Table Feeding is more flexible however, as it allows for more puree use and spoon feeding by the parent as makes sense for the family.
It also allows for more varied timelines for children who may not be ready to start eating table foods from the start.
Use the method that is right for you
At Kids Eat in Color, we believe that you can successfully start your baby on solid foods using the method that is right for you. You can also change to a different method, if your first choice is not working out for you.
Read more articles about feeding babies
References