Learning to eat
Once you’ve started to notice the signs that your child is ready you can begin to teach them how to eat.
When children first start complementary feeding they don't know how to eat. All they've discovered so far is how to suck from a breast so eating is a skill they'll need to learn. Part of this is getting the hang of how to move their mouth and accept food from a spoon, but learning to eat also builds up your child’s oral muscles and they'll need these for managing bigger pieces of food later on and for speaking, too.
Introduce textures gradually - from smooth...
Learning how to eat might seem like a mammoth task but a large part of it is about introducing different textures gradually. At first, children need to get used to the sensation of solid food in their mouth, learning how to move food from the front to the back and then swallowing. That's why smooth purées are best when your child begins complementary feeding, because they're easy to cope with and digest.
...to a little more texture...
Once your child can manage smooth purées, the next step is to start to learn how to chew and, for this stage, they'll need foods with a little more texture. To get the food ready for swallowing they'll need to move their jaws up and down a bit.
...to chunks and lumps...
When your child is happy with a little more texture, it's time to move on to the third complementary feeding step, and this is about learning to chew mini pieces of food.
...to toddler shapes and textures
Toddlers need fun and variety to keep them interested in their food and although they're ready to chew on more grown-up shapes and textures, they still need a nutritionally balanced diet that's right for them. Toddler cereal shapes will help to keep them entertained while encouraging them to feed themselves, giving them more independence and bringing them a step closer to family mealtimes.
Slowly introduce new tastes
Learning to eat is also about introducing tastes gradually, and at the start of complementary feeding children need to get used to tastes other than milk. children are born with a liking for sweeter foods so naturally sweet flavours are easier to cope with at first. Vegetables like carrot, swede, potato, parsnip, pumpkin, butternut squash, peas and sweet potato, as well as fruit such as pear, apple, apricot, banana and mango are all good options. Introduce these as single tastes to begin with, before moving on to more balanced meals.
All other taste preferences, aside from sweet, have to be learnt so introducing your child to a wide variety of savoury foods early on is important.