Starting solid foods: does the feeding method matter?. Issue 8 (3rd August 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Rapley, Gill
• Is Part Of: Early child development and care. Volume 188:Issue 8(2018)
• Page Start: 1109
• Page End: 1123
• Publication Date: 2018-08-03
• Subjects: Weaning -- complementary foods -- pureed food -- spoon feeding -- self-feeding -- baby-led weaning; Child development -- Periodicals; Children -- Services for -- Periodicals; 155.405
• DOI: 10.1080/03004430.2016.1250080
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0300-4430

Abstract

ABSTRACT: The weaning period, in which complementary foods are introduced into the infant's diet, can be challenging, with dislike of novel foods known to be common. However, even though at six months (the current recommended age for the introduction of complementary foods) most infants are able to feed themselves with graspable pieces of food, the majority of the research to date assumes the use of spoon feeding and pureed food. The potential impact of the format of the food and the feeding method on the development of food preferences has not been explored. This paper describes the development and piloting of a coding scheme to examine infants' responses to their first solid food offered in two formats – whole and pureed – and by two methods – self-feeding and spoon feeding, and its first use. The findings for the 10 infants in the study point to some important differences between the two feeding methods.