Although I usually wouldn’t use bananas as one of the foods that I feed early on I only had bananas in the house and wanted to continue feeding him. I usually like to add bananas later on and cut them up in to 5 or so sections so that the baby can use them as a great finger food however this time I again used a fork to slightly mash the banana. Over the course of the first meal with the bananas I was able to increase the consistency to leave bigger pieces although the banana was still fork mashed.
It seems that moving onto foods that have a thicker consistency such as the yams and the bananas made a difference for helping this little one to learn how to swallow. This is something I commonly see and is yet another reason I really encourage people to avoid using pureed foods. Like I have mentioned in a previous post, it almost seems backwards but the thicker consistency does actually help the baby swallow. This is why I encourage parents and caregivers to look for signs that their baby is displaying and to follow their intuition. You know your child best. This is a process and working together in this feeding relationship you can succeed.
Are you wondering where to start with feeding your baby solid food? Contact Jill, Nurture The Future's Registered Dietitian at [email protected]
Watch a baby self feeding banana: