Baby-Led Weaning with Katie Ferraro

#150: Can you continue breastfeeding when you start baby-led weaning? Absolutely! And in this special episode Heather Dvorak, IBCLC joins Katie to talk about how to succeed at both breastfeeding and baby-led weaning simultaneously.   Heather Dvorak is an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant who helps parents succeed at breastfeeding in her private practice. But Heather is also a mom...

#149: What are the drawbacks of using baby food pouches? In this episode I’m joined by pediatric swallowing expert and speech language pathologist Dawn Winkelmann, MS, CCC-SLP to talk about why your baby does not need to suck puree food out of a pouch. Ms Dawn and I are breaking down the limitations of pouches from cost, developmental and nutrition standpoints. While pouches are certainly convenie...

#148: Can babies with cleft lip, cleft palate or cleft lip and palate successfully do baby-led weaning? July is National Cleft and Craniofacial Awareness month and in this episode I’m joined by Vikash K. Modi, MD. Dr. Modi is a Pediatric Otorhinolaryngologist and Co-Director of the Cornell Cleft & Craniofacial Program. He’s explaining the difference between cleft lip and cleft palate and why cleft...

#147: What if you are the only one who wants to do baby-led weaning? It can feel isolating when other people don’t understand why you are choosing to skip traditional spoon-feeding with your baby. There are many benefits to baby-led weaning, but helping others understand what those are can feel overwhelming. In this episode I’m helping walk you through 4 essential steps for helping those around yo...

#146: Should your baby be sleeping through the night before you start solid foods? And how does a baby's sleep schedule adjust when you begin feeding real food? Sleep is SO important for babies (...and by extension, their parents!) but what comes first: setting your baby’s sleep schedule or starting the transition to solid foods? In this episode I’m joined by Aubrie DeBear from @babysleepdr. Aubri...

#145: Are you worried that your baby isn’t eating enough with baby-led weaning? If you’re stressed about how much and how often your baby is eating, this episode is for you! In this episode, we’re talking all about the fear your baby isn’t getting enough with baby-led weaning and division of responsibility in feeding.     If you’re ready to raise an independent eater and prevent picky eating then...

#144: Do you ever take a look at all of the crazy baby food items for sale today and wonder: how did they get here? What did people feed their babies before the advent of commercial baby foods? Do babies need to eat pouches? Do I need to buy baby food? As a new mom who also happened to be a food historian, my guest Amy Bentley definitely did. She is a professor in the department of Nutrition and F...

#143: Fritters are an easy way to help your baby safely eat smaller pieces of food early on in baby-led weaning. You can incorporate cooked whole grains, proteins and various types of cooked vegetables in fritters that your baby can then self-feed. In this episode we’re talking about the components of a basic baby-led weaning fritter recipe as well as substitution ideas if your baby doesn’t eat eg...

#142: You should wait 3-5 days between introducing new foods. You should cut up food really small to reduce choking risk. Babies have to learn to chew before they swallow and baby-led weaning means no spoons and no purees. Myths about baby-led weaning are ENDLESS, and there’s nobody better than Gill Rapley to help debunk these BLW myths! Gill Rapley is the co-author of the original baby-led weanin...

#141: How do I know if my baby is ready to start solid foods with baby-led weaning? What are the reliable signs of readiness to self-feed that we should be looking out for as the baby approaches 6 months? In this episode as part of our BLW Basics series we’re going through the signs of readiness to start solid foods for babies. Listen to this episode to learn: What if my baby isn’t sitting indepen...

The first ever NATIONAL BABY-LED WEANING DAY is July 1, 2021. But why? Well, July 1 is right at the 6 month mark in the calendar year. If your baby was born January 1, on July 1 your baby would be 6 months of age. In this episode Gill Rapley is going to explain the other reliable signs of readiness to eat that your baby should be demonstrating, but with BLW day we’re driving awareness to the impor...

#139: What nutrition and feeding changes happen when your baby turns 1 year old? What foods should a toddler eat that are different than in infancy? In this episode we’re looking at your 12 month old baby-led weaning baby, who is about to not be a baby anymore! This episode covers topics about monitoring growth in the 2nd year of life, how to wean your baby off the bottle, how calorie and nutrient...

#138 What do you do if other people don’t agree with the way you have decided to feed your baby? It can be especially hurtful when you’re feeling judged by other moms about doing baby-led weaning or bypassing traditional spoon-feeding. In this episode Chriselle Lim is joining me to talk about how to deal when others don’t get why you are choosing to feed your kids a certain way. Chriselle is a sty...

#137: Will my baby get enough iron if I do baby-led weaning? And what are the best high iron foods for babies to eat? Your baby can eat real foods that have iron (and you do not have to feed iron-fortified baby foods foods if you don’t want to!) Babies CAN get adequate iron from natural food sources of iron, including both plants and animal foods. In this episode we’re looking at some of the myths...

#136 Early introduction of peanut protein for babies helps prevent against peanut allergy. But how do you safely introduce peanuts if thick globs of peanut butter are a choking hazard for babies?  Greg Murphy, serial entrepreneur and food allergy dad is the founder and President of Puffworks, a company he started when he decided he wanted to improve on existing puffed peanut butter snack foods. Li...

##135: Does my baby need a toddler milk or a toddler formula after turning 1? What if you’re worried about growth or brain development or immunity, do these products make toddlers healthier? The answer is no, you don’t need to be buying these formula products and I’m breaking down every reason why. In this episode we’re looking at toddler milks, the fastest growing sector of the US formula market....

#134 - Dry meats and breads can be a choking hazard...but adding sauces, dippers and toppers is an easy way to make these foods safer for baby-led weaning. I’m joined by Aileen Cox Blundell of @babyledfeeding who is sharing some super sauce ideas for BLW. The commercial sauces you buy at the store also tend to be too high in sodium for babies to eat, so Aileen is dishing on making dips and homemad...

#133: What’s the deal with dripping food? Dripping food is our control-freak way of regulating the pace of baby’s eating...and while it may seem harmless (and cleaner!) dripping can actually interfere with your baby’s ability to learn HOW to eat independently and to recognize and respond to their own hunger and fullness cues. In this episode we’re talking about the draw-backs of dripping food piec...

#132: What can you do to get ready for starting solid foods before your baby is ready? Take an infant refresher CPR course. Getting your infant CPR skills up to snuff is incredibly important when preparing to start solid foods and baby-led weaning. Choking is a very rare - but real - risk, and knowing CPR can save your baby’s life. In this episode I’m interviewing Brandon Doersken, who along with...

#131: Are you struggling to cook for your family with food allergies? In this episode, I’m joined by Kathlena who is The Allergy Chef to talk all about dairy-free cooking.  Kathlena has almost 200 allergies and intolerances and created The Allergy Chef to help families navigate cooking while considering food allergies. She and her team have published cookbooks, do nation-wide outreach, create free...

#130: Do you need to have Benadryl at the ready when introducing your baby to solid foods? I’ve always recommended parents discuss with their pediatrician and know their baby’s Benadryl dose in the event they need to use it when introducing allergenic foods. But Dr. Phil Boucher has a much different take. He does NOT recommend using Benadryl and has some very good reasons why he prefers an alterna...

#129 Did you know that varying degrees of eczema in your baby can impact food allergy risk? In this episode dermatologist, BLW and food allergy mom Rebecca Hartman, MD, MPH is joining me to talk about how eczema and food allergy risk are linked. Dr. Hartman is part of the Evereden skincare brand’s team of “Moms in Medicine”. She helps co-create formulas and in this episode is also breaking down wh...

#128: There are no dumb questions when it comes to food allergy awareness! In this episode my colleague pediatrician Ron Sunog, MD and I are answering YOUR questions about introducing allergenic foods to your baby. What if the parent has a food allergy, will the baby inherit it? How much of an allergenic food do you introduce in order for it to “count”? What about feeding babies with peanut allerg...

#127: How can babies be plant based and still meet their nutrient needs? In this episode I’m joined by Whitney English, MS, RD and Alexandra Caspero, MS, RD - two dietitians known collectively as @plantbasedjuniors. Whitney and Alex are sharing their expertise about raising plant-based children, including how families who don’t eat animal products can introduce allergenic foods.  The Big 8 allerge...

#126: When did allergenic food introduction become about feeding babies supplements and powders and stick-packs? What about good old fashioned food? Research demonstrates that early introduction of allergenic foods helps prevent food allergies...but those studies were done with FOOD - not gimmicky subscription model supplement programs! My fellow FOOD FIRST colleague, Dr. Ron Sunog and I have team...