Sippy cups, plates that suction to the table, itty-bitty spoons. Baby food makers. Baby-led weaning books. Purees in hair. Crumbs everywhere.
A suddenly overweight dog and a vet who looks at your baby and says “I understand how this happened, but it’s not good.”
That last one might just be me, but I know I’m not the only parent who has found some (or many) challenges moving our babies from breastmilk & formula over to solid food.
Most of our challenges boiled down to a couple questions:
- Am I doing the right thing? (there’s so much conflicting information out there! Should I make sure every grown-up around us knows how to do baby heimlich? Maybe the way [insert friend’s name] is selecting & preparing avocados is better? Read as: lack of confidence & comparison trap.)
- Is my baby’s feeding journey normal? (Is s/he eating enough? Should I be worried that my milk supply suddenly tanked? Are we exposing him/her to a good enough variety? How will we know if an allergy presents? Is that face my baby makes when eating normal?)
After months of focusing on breastmilk supply and scrutinizing bottle ounces on the daycare hand-off, introducing solid food was a mix of fun (smushed raspberries are so cute!) and stress (as perhaps evident from my inner parent monologue above). Kelly Lonergan, a Speech-Language Pathologist (SLP) and owner of Pediatric Feeding Therapy sums this up well:
“One of our most primal instincts as mothers from the moment our babies are born is to make sure they are fed, whether it be nursing, drinking from a bottle or getting them to eat their fruits & vegetables. Most of us enter parenthood assuming that our children will know how to eat and drink, but this is not always the case.”
Kelly has been helping infants, children and adults with feeding, swallowing and speech issues for 15+ years and is passionate about helping families with babies & young children (with & without complex medical needs) get the help they need to overcome feeding challenges. We’ve reserved an hour with her September 28 to share her expertise, answer your questions, and give you solid confidence.
If you are:
- An expecting parent wondering what you need on your registry
- A new parent preparing to start solids
- A parent with a baby who has started eating solids and are working through a food challenge or wanting to get some insight, ideas, or validation
Register for Popins free virtual discussion “Starting Solids: A Solid Foundation” with Kelly Lonergan, SLP on September 28, 10:00 am CDT at https://www.popinsfam.com/events
Bring your questions. Leave with resources for when you hit a hiccup.
Jackie Cook has 15+ years experience building & leading large teams in Healthcare IT. She started Popins based on her postpartum experiences between the Netherlands (baby #1) and the US (baby #2). Popins’s mission is to support your journey into parenthood, so your family can thrive.
Kelly Lonergan is a licensed Speech-Language Pathologist certified in Neuro-Developmental Treatment (NDT) and trained in Supporting-Oral-Feeding in Fragile Infants (SOFFI) method, SOS Approach to Feeding, Beckman Oral Motor, amongst many others.
