Baby-Led Weaning & Healthy Eating
In the name of Allah, most gracious, most Merciful
A couple months before I got pregnant with our son, my husband and I made a decision to change our eating habits. We both liked the idea of eating healthy and trying to eat foods that would actually be fueling our body and providing the necessary nutrients. At first, we were super strict about it! We cut out pasta & breads, dairy, processed sugar, processed foods and we pretty much went vegan.
For the first few months, we did really great! When Ramadan came around though, we went to a couple of iftars at the Masjid and we enjoyed a few meals with family members…and needless to say, we weren’t able to maintain the same way of eating that we had been before. We did plan to slack a little bit though, because we knew that we wanted to partake in these Ramadan activities. But we kind of went even more off the tracks than we had planned and it has been difficult getting back on.
Though we still eat much more healthily than we did before we had made that decision, almost two years ago, we’re still working to find our sweet spot in the healthy eating spectrum! Nonetheless, there has been plenty gained throughout our ongoing experiment and process! The most important thing for us has probably been the increase in awareness and intention when it comes to what we’re putting into our bodies! Another super important gain has been our shared decision and commitment to do our best in avoiding sugar and processed food when it comes to our son.
We follow somewhat of a 80/20 rule when it comes to our eating. We eat mostly healthy and wholesome food but we do allow ourselves to indulge, on occasion, in eating out, sweets and other foods that we generally choose not to eat. With our son, however, the ratio looks more like 95/5. We try to be more diligent in only offering him foods that are nourishing and healthy. He has had ritz crackers, goldfish and graham crackers. He has had homemade apple pie, and he has even had an occasional bite of a homemade cookie or brownie.
I’m not trying to make it seem like we’ve figured it all out and I’m definitely not trying to judge any other parents! Each of us has to make the choices that work best for us and our family. I’m writing these suggestions to share what has been helpful for us in maintaining and encouraging our toddler in eating healthy:
1. Make it colorful.
We’re not talking about M&M’s of course but fruits and vegetables, different grains, some meat on occasion. The colorful foods tend to have a lot of nutrients. As your little one gets a bit older and starts being more aware of colors, they’ll find it quite fascinating as well. You don’t have to bring a rainbow to every meal but it is a good goal to aim for something green at least once a day and perhaps one other color at each meal.
2. Offer variety.
As your baby grows, you want to introduce them to a variety of tastes and textures. If you and your family (baby included) have a few favorites that you feel comfortable with, that’s great! You can mix and match with those. It’s also not a bad idea to try something new every once in a while.
3. Swap it out and circle back.
If you notice that you have offered your baby a particular food and they are avoiding it or spitting it out. If they don’t seem to like what you are giving them, don’t feel devastated that your little one doesn’t like their veggies. Don’t force them to eat it and instead, swap it with something else. If they are not interested in avocado, maybe they’ll like sweet potatoes? If they don’t like broccoli, maybe carrots will suit their taste buds? The key here is to keep cycling back to those things they didn’t seem to care for. Every couple weeks, you can try again…who knows maybe they’ll like it next time?
4. Hold back the sugar.
A lot of premade baby snacks have a lot of sugar in them and a lot of finger-food type snacks that we offer (think animal crackers or goldfish) have a lot of sugar as well. That’s not to mention cake, cookies, lollipops and the like. There are lots of parents who give their little one’s sweets and still maintain a mostly healthy diet. For us though, it has been really important to us to hold back the processed food and sugar. Ultimately sugar and processed foods do not add nourishment and though they may be convenient, they do much more harm than benefit. If possible, it is better to withhold these sorts of foods at least for the first few years.
5. Model it first.
If you want your child to eat healthy, you too need to make an effort to eat healthy. That doesn’t mean you can’t treat yourself to something here and there or that you have to hide in the closet when you do. Rather, it means that the majority of the food you are choosing to consume is healthy and that you and your family, for the most part, have a well-balanced diet. The goal is progress not perfection!
Question for the comments: What does healthy eating look like for you with your family?
Thank you for stopping by ‘Nourishing Our Home’. Please be sure to pop in every Monday and Thursday for new posts. Also, if you found this to be relatable and beneficial, please help me out by sharing with your family and friends.