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!

Kids & Family
Parenting
Health & Fitness
151
What To Do if Your Baby Plays with Food with @...
How do you stop your baby from playing with food or throwing food on the floor? Dietitian Dani Lebovitz from @kid.food.explorers joins me to discuss raising adventurous eaters…and why letting your baby drop food on the floor is actually a good thing!
20 min
152
Condiments And Baby-Led Weaning: Do They Mix?
Can your baby eat ketchup? What about barbeque sauce? In this episode we’re exploring common condiments and whether or not they work for baby-led weaning. Listen to learn how to make no sugar, low salt swaps that will add flavor and make swallowing safer for your baby…all with condiments you already have in your kitchen.
18 min
153
Empowering Black and African American Breastfee...
Breastfeeding is hard. And racial and ethnic disparities don’t make breastfeeding any easier for Black and African American mothers. Dr. Toncé Jackson co-founded Cinnamoms to offer support and sisterhood in her WIC agency…but her mission has expanded much further in the parenting space.
25 min
154
Does My Baby Need a Multivitamin?
Are multivitamins safe for babies? And do babies even need to be taking supplements like multivitamins? In this episode we’re going to look specifically at multivitamins, talking about what they are, whether or not they’re safe, which babies might benefit from these and then what could potentially go wrong if we start relying on supplements to meet baby’s nutrition needs.
15 min
155
Is My Baby Neurodivergent? with @on.the.hard.da...
Have you ever looked at your baby’s behavior or activity and thought, “Hmmm…is that normal?” If it’s not typical, what do we call it? In this episode Megan Champion from Mothers Together and @on.the.hard.days shares her experience raising Neurodivergent children and how her community supports moms who are doing the same.
33 min
156
Airplane Snacks: Portable travel food ideas tha...
17 min
157
Baby Tooth Brushing and Oral Care with @firstgr...
How healthy are your baby’s gums and teeth? And why does it even matter if they’re just baby teeth and are eventually going to fall out anyway?! Ashley Lerman, DDS is a pediatric dentist and a new mom and she’s here to answer all of your questions about baby tooth brushing and oral care.
31 min
158
Are Produce Washes Helpful or Hogwash for Food ...
Nobody wants to give their baby a foodborne illness…but do you need to be buying produce washes to prevent disease? In this episode we’ll look at some produce washes including what they do, what they claim to do, and whether or not they’re any better than good old fashioned friction and running water when it comes to making fruits and vegetables safe for your baby to eat.
10 min
159
Storing Breastmilk Safely with Lara Vu, MPH, CL...
If you’re a pumping mom, where do you store your expressed milk? If you’re a working pumping mom and you go to an office or worksite, this is a major issue. The lunchroom refrigerator next to Bob’s bologna sandwich? Laura Vu, MPH, CLES started her company Mila’s Keeper to create an attractive, effective, easy-to-use solution for longer, safe breastmilk storage. In this episode she’s sharing basic tips about safe breastmilk storage for pumping moms.
23 min
160
Tree nuts: do I have to offer all of them or is...
Unsure about how to introduce the potentially allergenic food tree nuts to your baby? Confused about WHICH tree nut to start with, HOW to prepare it, and how OFTEN to incorporate it? Listen in as I simplify the research on tree nut allergies & provide you with the confidence and knowledge you need to safely introduce this potentially allergenic food.
14 min
161
How This Tube Fed Baby Also Safely Started Soli...
What if your baby was silently aspirating on milk? Wouldn’t take a bottle…squired and refused milk at every feed. This was Brooke Tibbett’s experience with her second baby who eventually ended up requiring a tube feeding for nutrition at 6 months of age. In this interview Brooke shares her family’s experience transitioning their tube fed child to solid foods and how they helped wean her off of the tube and into independent eating using baby-led weaning.
47 min
162
Does the Order of Allergenic Food Introduction ...
Does it matter whether you offer your baby peanut before egg or milk before shellfish? In this episode we’re exploring the time-sensitive considerations about early introduction of potentially allergenic foods for your baby and whether or not it matters what order you offer these foods in.
10 min
163
A Few Surprising Things About this Podcast...Lo...
36 min
164
3 Reasons to Ditch the High Chair Tray...and 1 ...
Your baby doesn’t need a high chair tray. That’s right…in most cases, your chair can be modified to bring your baby right up to the table to join your family at meals, even from the baby’s first bites. In this episode we’re looking at 3 distinct reasons why you should skip the tray with one important situation when that is just not possible.
14 min
165
LifeVac: Do Choking Rescue Devices Work? with B...
If your baby is choking on food will one of those choking rescue devices actually work? In this episode I’m interviewing certified CPR instructor Brandon Doerksen about whether a choking device replaces CPR for choking rescue or is used as an adjunct. Listen to learn how the choking devices work to dechoke your baby (or not) and the one thing that all parents and caregivers should do before their baby starts solid food.
16 min
166
Hard Facts on Soft Yolks: Are Runny Egg Yolks O...
Is it safe for babies to eat runny egg yolks? At a restaurant, probably…but at home, no. In this episode we’re covering egg safety and how to safely prepare eggs for baby-led weaning which includes not serving runny egg yolks, runny egg whites or runny scrambled eggs. We’ll also address some common home prepared recipes that you might not realize have raw egg in their ingredient list and should also be avoided for babies.
12 min
167
Are 360 Cups Ok? with Dawn Winkelmann, MS, CCC-SLP
17 min
168
Is My Baby Eating Too Much Too Early?
Is my baby overeating or eating too much too early after starting solid foods? In this interview I’m answering 3 moms’ questions about their concerns of babies overeating and addressing what typical consumption might look like at the various ages and stages of baby-led weaning…and why it’s ok if meals or days deviate from that routine.
13 min
169
How Heavy Metal Levels in Baby Food Have & Have...
Five years ago Consumer Reports tested heavy metal levels in 50 popular baby foods and found that more than ⅔ of them contained concerning levels of heavy metals. When they retested some of the same products this year, not much had changed. In this episode James Rogers, PhD who oversaw the Consumer Reports testing on both occasions is talking about what has and has not changed in the commercial baby food market in the past 5 years with regards to heavy metal levels.
38 min
170
Twins, Triplets and Quadruplets: How These Moms...
If you have a few mouths to feed at one time, then baby-led weaning is REALLY going to behoove you. In this episode we’re looking at the ways in which a baby-led approach particularly benefits families with multiples. We’ll talk about food swiping, when multiples are ready to eat on different timeframes, and how you can consolidate efforts to save time and money whether you’re feeding twins, triplets, quadruplets (or more!)
23 min
171
How to Handle Information Overload in the Baby ...
Are you overwhelmed by info about how to raise your baby? Pregnancy and parenting expert and author Sharon Mazel has some simple tips on how to handle information overload in the baby space.
20 min
172
How Essential are Fatty Acids for Babies?
How do the essential fatty acids in fish foods help your baby’s still developing brain? In this episode we cover both EPA and DHA exploring how your baby can safely get these fatty acids…even if your family doesn’t eat a lot of fish.
12 min
173
Back Blows for Babies: When Do I Administer CPR...
What if my baby chokes on food?
24 min
174
Can Cinnamon Cause Lead Poisoning? Applesauce P...
Today’s episode is a little different - there’s not a lot of breaking news in the infant feeding world. But if you have been following the news perhaps you’ve heard about the applesauce pouch lead contamination story.
41 min
175
Why Does My Baby Yawn During Mealtimes with Daw...
Is your baby yawning in the middle of their meals? Are they tired? …just bored of your food? What gives?! In this episode SLP Dawn Winkelmann is exploring some reasons about why your baby is yawning at the table…and it’s not what you think!
14 min