Baby-Led Weaning with Katie Ferraro
Is your baby ready to start solid foods but you’re feeling overwhelmed or confused about baby-led weaning? Babies can eat so many more foods than we give them credit for and you don’t have to force-feed or spoon-feed to get them to eat real food!
I’m Katie Ferraro, Registered Dietitian specializing in infant feeding and baby-led weaning. I’m a college nutrition professor and mom of 7, and my goal is to help you start solid foods safely using baby-led weaning.
On this podcast I share practical tips on safe food preparation and starting solid foods, as well as in-depth interviews with other feeding experts. Listen to learn how you can get your baby to safely enjoy real food so that you can start enjoying mealtimes again too!
251
3 Easy Responsive Feeding Techniques when Start...
How good are you at reading your baby’s hunger and fullness cues? Do you observe your baby at mealtimes or are you pressuring baby to eat? In this episode my guest Stephanie Cohen, MA, CCC-SLP, CLC is sharing 3 easy techniques we can all start using at mealtimes to ensure we are being responsive feeders.
12 min
252
What is a Combination Food?
When can my baby start eating combination foods? And what is a combination food anyway? In this episode we’re talking about multi-textured foods for baby-led weaning - and when it’s safe for your baby to make this transition with solid foods.
12 min
253
Healthy Bottle Feeding: How to Be Responsive wi...
What is responsive bottle feeding? How can you be a more responsive bottle feeder with your baby and how does that impact infant health and development? My guest is Alison Ventura, PhD a researcher who studies responsive bottle feeding and who will be sharing some easy tips for implementing responsive feeding throughout infancy, whether that’s breastfeeding, bottle feeding or when you start solid foods.
28 min
254
Added Sugars: Which Ones to Avoid for BLW
What are added sugars and why are they bad for babies? In this episode we’re looking at all of the many ways sugar may be hidden in your baby’s food - and how you can avoid added sugars when your baby is learning how to eat real food.
13 min
255
What if My Baby Won’t Swallow Food? Pocketing w...
Have you ever finished a meal and found food hanging out in your baby’s mouth? Are you supposed to go in there with your finger and get it out? How does pocketing happen and what can we do to help babies actually swallow their food? In this episode guest Dawn Winkelmann, MS, CCC-SLP will be walking us through what pocketing is and how we can help babies who don’t want to seem to swallow.
17 min
256
Doing BLW When Someone Else Helps Watch Your Baby
What if someone else helps watch your baby…can THEY do baby-led weaning? If you have a spouse or partner, grandparent or childcare provider who is with your baby during mealtimes, you might be on the fence about letting them feed your baby. In this episode we’re looking at how you can succeed with baby-led weaning whether your baby goes to daycare, stays home with a nanny or if you just need a break!
12 min
257
Picky Eating Prevention Tips with Stephanie Coh...
Does the term “picky eating” make your skin crawl? My guest Stephanie Cohen, MS, CCC-SLP, CLC isn’t a fan of it either - but picky eating IS something parents ask about and as a feeding therapist, she has thoughts. In this episode Stephanie is sharing some easy ways we can foster independence at mealtimes even from our babies’ first bites.
27 min
258
Coconut: How to Safely Offer Coconut to Your Baby
How do you make coconut safe for babies? Can they eat raw coconut…or flaked…and what about coconut milk? In this episode we’re breaking down a few easy ways to offer your baby coconut.
13 min
259
Are you REALLY doing Baby-Led Weaning? Developm...
How do you know if you’re REALLY doing baby-led weaning? Is there a way to MEASURE whether or not you’re adhering to the tenets of baby-led weaning? Emma Studer-Perez is a PhD student in a psychology who recently co-authored a research article about the development of a BLW scale to measure adherence to the core principles of baby-led weaning. In this interview we’re exploring her findings that feeding practices centered around exploration, independence and family are central to success with baby-led weaning.
19 min
260
BLW at Restaurants: Order or Bring Your Own Food?
How do you do baby-led weaning at a restaurant? Do you bring your own food? Do you order food for your baby? Or do you order food for yourself and offer some of that for your baby? There are lots of ways to make baby-led weaning work at restaurants and in this episode we are talking about the pros and cons of bringing your own food vs. ordering food your baby can eat.
5 min
261
How to Handle Misinformation in the Baby Space ...
How do you handle people who spew misinformation when it comes to parenting or raising your baby? In this episode I’m interviewing Jessica Steier, DrPH, PMP and Andrea Love, PhD from the Unbiased Science Podcast about how to handle misinformation in the baby space.
35 min
262
Naturally Low Sodium Foods Babies Can Safely Eat
How can I help my baby have a positive relationship with food? And what should I avoid to help reduce negative associations with food and feeding for my baby? In this episode we’re going through some easy ways to help reduce vomiting, choking, anxiety and stress at mealtimes so that your baby can have the most positive eating experience possible.
24 min
263
How to Use Oral Development Tools for Your Baby...
How strong is your baby’s mouth? Are there exercises or tools you can use to help strengthen your baby’s jaw or help them with tongue elevation or tongue lateralization? In this episode I’m interviewing Dawn Winkelmann, MS, CCC-SLP who is the mastermind behind ezpz’s brand new Oral Development Tools.
22 min
264
How to Reduce Negative Associations with Food &...
How can I help my baby have a positive relationship with food? And what should I avoid to help reduce negative associations with food and feeding for my baby? In this episode we’re going through some easy ways to help reduce vomiting, choking, anxiety and stress at mealtimes so that your baby can have the most positive eating experience possible.
17 min
265
Waste Free Kitchen Tips with Dana Gunders
Almost one-third of all food purchases in the United States go to waste. I know you are spending precious time and money prepping all these BLW foods for your baby and our guest Dana Gunders is intent on making sure you don’t waste food. Dana is a mom of 2 BLW grads, the Executive Director of ReFed and author of the Waste Free Kitchen Handbook. In this interview she’s sharing real actions you can take right now to lower waste in your kitchen. From how to freeze foods for your baby to the right way to store herbs and how to know which expired food is safe to eat, Dana is on a mission to help us lower waste in our home kitchens.
30 min
266
3 Ways You Could Be Holding Your Baby Back at M...
Nobody holds their baby’s development back on purpose…but there are feeding practices that can inadvertently be delaying your baby’s progression towards important milestones. In this episode I’m sharing 3 ways you could be holding your baby back at mealtimes - and then brainstorming on simple tweaks to help get your baby back on track with independent self-feeding.
11 min
267
Top 5 BLW Questions Answered
What’s YOUR biggest burning baby-led weaning question?! Wondering about gagging vs. choking, what to do if your baby breaks off a big bite in their mouth, switching from purees or how to handle allergic reactions? In this episode I’m answering 5 of the most asked baby-led weaning questions from all of 2022.
13 min
268
Will Baby-Led Weaning Work for My Baby
Does baby-led weaning work? Is baby-led weaning safe? And how do I know if this is the right approach for starting solid foods with MY baby?
12 min
269
5 Foods You Can Grow and Your Baby Can Eat with...
What if you could grow the food that your baby eats? Even if you don’t have a green thumb, Brian Brigantti from @redleafranch is pretty convinced you CAN grow some of the super easy starter foods your baby is learning how to eat.
35 min
270
2023 Infant Feeding Trends & Predictions
Nobody really knows what’s going to happen in the next year, but we do know that there will be so many babies getting ready to start solid foods! In this episode, I’m walking you through all of the infant feeding trends and predictions that I see happening in 2023. Here’s to another year of babies starting solid foods safely with baby-led weaning!
14 min
271
Holiday Food Stress Stuff: Coping Tips from @di...
As if food stuff and feeding families wasn’t stressful enough, tack the holidays on and in some families, it’s a recipe for disaster. My guest Libby Ward from @diaryofanhonestmom is here to help us with some coping tips when you hear things like, “I spoon-fed you and you turned out fine…” and other greatest hits from people who don’t fully understand or respect your parenting decisions.
35 min
272
3 Things Most People Forget about Baby-Led Weaning
There are a few things that people forget about baby-led weaning…but your baby can learn to self-feed safely! In this episode we’re looking at 3 things to help you stay in a positive mindset about baby-led weaning so that your baby can be successful at self-feeding when they start solid foods!
10 min
273
Pre-Feeding Skills: What Can My Baby Do Before ...
Pre-feeding skills are a set of accomplishments your baby is going to achieve prior to the time where they are able to independently self-feed. Marsha Dunn Klein, OTR/L, MEd, FAOTA literally wrote the book on pediatric feeding called Pre-Feeding Skills and she’s here to share some activities you and your baby can engage in even before they’re ready to start solid foods.
34 min
274
5 Feeding Practices to Avoid for Baby-Led Weaning
There are so many foods your baby CAN eat…but a few feeding practices that can put them in danger or should be avoided. In this episode we’re looking at 5 feeding practices to avoid for baby-led weaning in order to keep your baby safe and successful at self-feeding when they start solid foods!
14 min
275
BLW Holiday Homework
Got some downtime over the holidays to squeeze in learning about starting solid foods safely?! If you’ve been meaning to figure out baby-led weaning, this episode has a few good ideas for getting yourself up to speed and helping your baby get ready to start solid foods.
11 min