British research says feeding babies pureed baby food could cause health problems later in life, and that, in keeping with the World Health Organization's recommendations, babies should be fed only breastmilk or formula for the first six months of life, then weaned onto solids.
According to Gill Rapley, Director General of Unicef's Baby Friendly
Initiative, and the founder of the infant nutrition program Baby Led Weaning, after 6 months children are capable of taking food into their mouths and chewing it, and that feeding them pureed food at this time could delay the development of chewing skills. She also argued that babies fed pureed food had little
control over how much food they ate, thus rendering them vulnerable to
constipation, and the risk of becoming
"fussy eaters" later in life.
Gill says, "Sound scientific research and government
advice now agree that there is no longer any window of a baby's
development in which they need something more than milk and less than
solids."
While some doctors and parents would agree with this philosophy, others may argue that not all babies are ready for solids at 6 months, and that some 4 to 5 month olds demand it - what to do then? Throw the transitional purees out the window, and move right on to steak and potatoes?
Pediatric gastroenterologist David Candy says no. "Some babies could manage this, but others may not
have the oromotor skills necessary to chew the food - they would just
push it out of their mouths." Purees are a generations-old transitional food that does actually help some babies master the chewing and swallowing skills that come more easily to others.
One thing that doesn't help babies anywhere? This kind of "one size fits all" parenting advice. If I had tried to shove solids down my older daughter's gullet at 6 months, she would have been traumatized - she nursed almost exclusively for the first year. But if I had waited any longer than the 4 months I waited to start purees with my younger daughter, she would have starved to death - despite nursing around the clock and eating everything she could get her tiny hands on, from dog hair to carpet fuzz.
Bottom line? Listen to your kid, not "research." You're the only expert in that department.
