Baby Led Weaning Basics

When it's time to start solids, a growing number of parents are turning to something called baby led weaning — saying no to spoon feeding and letting their babies eat what the rest of the family is having for dinner. What is baby led weaning? How can you introduce foods safely? And what are some of the benefits — and potential drawbacks — of this method?

View Episode Transcript

Featured Expert

Additional Resources

 

Episode Transcript

Natalie Gross 0:06
When we think about baby food, many of us picture mashed up veggies in a glass jar since that's probably what most of us grew up eating. But now more and more parents are turning to something called Baby Led Weaning, saying no to spoon feeding and letting their babies eat what the rest of the family is having for dinner. So really, "baby food" is just any food at all. What exactly is baby led weaning? And what are some of the benefits and the drawbacks of this method? I'm talking with an expert and a panel of moms today who are here to share their experiences and advice to help you decide whether this is the right method for your family. This is Newbies.

Natalie Gross 0:49
Welcome to Newbies, everyone. Newbies is your online on the go support group guiding new others through their baby's first year. I'm Natalie Gross. I'm a mom to a three year old boy and a baby girl. We've got a great show today talking about baby led weaning. Now if you haven't already, be sure to visit our website at newmommymedia.com and subscribe to our weekly newsletter, which keeps you updated on all of the episodes that we release each week. Another great way to stay updated is to hit that subscribe button and your podcast app wherever you're listening. And if you're looking for a way to get even more involved with our show, then you can check out our membership club called Mighty Moms. That's where we chat more about the topics discussed here on the show. And it's also an easy way to learn about our recording so that you can join us live. I'd like to introduce our panel of mom guests who are with us today. We have Hillary Renner and Victoria Wasson. We will also be meeting our expert Carrie Bruno from The Mama Coach a little later in the show. Mamas, thank you so much for being here. Let's kick it off with some introductions. Tell us about you, your family and your experience with baby led weaning Hillary, do you want to kick us off?

Hillary Renner 2:15
Sure. My name is Hillary Renner. I am a mom of two. I have a three year old girl and a just turned one little girl. And I did baby led weaning with both of my girls. So I definitely would not say that I'm an expert, because every baby does things so different. But yeah, I'm excited to be here and to talk about it a little bit.

Natalie Gross 2:36
Awesome. Thanks so much for being here. Victoria. What about you?

Victoria Wasson 2:39
My name is Victoria Wasson. I'm a 32-year-old wife and mother of two living in Harpers Ferry, West Virginia. I work full time in finance and my husband and I have been married for 10 years in May. Two beautiful redheads we have ragged my daughter she is five. And Liam, my son will be two. My husband and I decided on baby led weaning after I had read about it in a mom's group on Facebook. And then I did research about it. Both of us at the time, or we were both commuting over an hour each way to work. So it was kind of a perk of it to just feed my baby what we were already eating. Both kids enjoyed it. And then my daughter from the day she turned six months and then my son was about seven months because he was not able to sit unassisted until then.

Natalie Gross 3:30
Okay, yeah, well, I was gonna ask when in your parenting journey, you guys found out about baby led weaning, and how did you ultimately decide it was right for you and your baby? So Victoria, that sounds like you already answered my question. So Hillary, what about you? Did you know about this during pregnancy? Or after you'd already had the babies?

Hillary Renner 3:45
You know what? That's a really good question. And I was trying to think about that, like prepping, like just thinking about this, recording this and I really don't remember. I knew before we started any foods at all with with Ellie, my three year old that I wanted to do baby led weaning. And I think most of my information and like the influencing, if you will came from like Instagram. There are a lot of really good accounts out there that are like baby led weaning forward. And I was also breastfeeding. So a lot of those accounts really, like mesh those two things together really well. And it worked out for us. It also just so happened that my daughter turned six months old in April 2020. And we all know what we were doing in April 2020, which was you know, nothing. So it worked out that like we could be home and we didn't have to worry like too much about you know, taking her out places and, and that kind of thing. Like we were able to be home in like a really controlled environment to try this. So it worked out really well for us.

Natalie Gross 4:51
Great. Did either of you get any pushback from pediatricians or you know, weird looks from grandparents or people who may have expected your baby to eat mashed up foods instead.

Victoria Wasson 5:01
So yeah, I definitely got some, some side glances from the pediatrician. And then, of course, my mother in law was not very on board. And she actually watched our kids two days a week. So that was kind of a struggle. She really had never heard of it before. So we really kind of had to train her to say, this is what we're doing. This is how our kids are going to eat, you just have to make sure that it's like finger length, and that it's not like something perfectly round that they could choke on. But I mean, it was it's kind of a learning process. Because I mean, we as parents, we were still learning as well with our first with Regan, because I'd never done it before. And I've only read about it on the internet and the moms groups. And so it is it's a lot of training and trying to get family on board with it when it's not the quote unquote, norm. And for everybody around you.

Natalie Gross 5:53
It's interesting, you mentioned that pediatrician kind of gave you a sideways look, because my daughter just turned six months and I took her to the pediatrician and they were like, alright, is she eating table food now? Like, is she eating what you eat? And I was like, oh, okay, like, I guess she just turned six months, like two days ago, you know, you're gonna ease into it. And they're like, Nope, just feed her what you eat, just feed her anything. I'm like, Oh, okay. So I was kind of surprised. It was the opposite of what I had expected. Hillary, what's your experience?

Hillary Renner 6:22
Um, my pediatrician was so so kind. And like, we had a lot of issues starting out with Ellie with weight gain. So at that point, I just felt like my pediatrician was a really good mom friend that I could just like, talk about anything with, which was really great. And she, I had mentioned it to her. And she was like, yeah, she had four kids. At that point, it was actually pregnant with her fifth. So she's a saint, I think. But she's like, Yeah, she's like, I wish I had known about it with my oldest. She's like, I did that with the rest of mine. And it worked out really well for us, like, let me know, if you have any questions, we're happy to help. You know, and that was it. She didn't, you know, she said, just just don't give her any honey and watch her salt. And I was like, alright, girl, we can do this. As far as like grandparents went, my mother in law was like, super into the baby food thing. So it was hard for her to get where I was coming from. And I really tried when we didn't live near them. And like I said, it was it was kind of during the pandemic, so we didn't see them a lot. But whenever we were with them, I just didn't want to deal with the confrontation, frankly. And I just like fed her things that were like, quote, acceptable baby table foods, you know, like, oh, we'll have oatmeal today. And applesauce, and you know, like, so it was still table food, but it was, you know, like what seemed to be a little bit more acceptable. My parents, when we started feeding, Ellie, doing baby led weaning, we went out to visit them. And this was like, one of the big bomb fails that I remember in my first year of parenting. Because we went out to eat and we went to a Mexican restaurant. And I was like, Oh, well, you know, we'll get her like some refried beans, and rice. So girl is like Chow and down, right? And she's having great time. And then she starts screaming, like screaming. And I was like, Why in the world and I could not figure out what it was. Well, the beans were really spicy. And I had so I was like, oh, no, I'm so like, I felt so bad as I was like, I wasn't my big, like, one of my Big Mom fails in the first year. But like my parents were super like, you know, whatever works for you guys. And if you think that that's what's best for your family, then by all means, do it. And we'll support you as best we can, which I really appreciated.

Natalie Gross 8:51
Great. Well, thank you so much for sharing your experiences. We're gonna take a quick break. And when we come back, I'll be talking with our featured expert today, Carrie Bruno, so stay tuned.

Natalie Gross 9:07
We are continuing our conversation today on baby led weaning, I am excited to introduce Carrie Bruno. She is our featured expert today. She's a registered nurse, lactation consultant and founder of the mama coach. I'm gonna let her tell you more about that company. But basically, it's designed to guide families through every stage of their parenting journey by providing evidence informed education infused with non judgmental support, compassion and empathy. And Carrie is coming to us from Calgary, Alberta, Canada today. So Carrie, welcome to newbies.

Carrie Bruno 9:35
Yes. Thank you so much for having me.

Natalie Gross 9:37
Absolutely. Well, I'm excited to chat all things baby led weaning because my daughter just turned six months old. So I'm in this stage of life right now. So in your opinion, what are the benefits of baby led weaning for parents and baby?

Carrie Bruno 9:52
I think that the biggest benefit is that it's what we call responsive feeding. And so I'm a lactation consultant. And I believe that responsive feeding actually happens from the very beginning, we can be doing this even with our babies with milk. And so first off, what responsive feeding is, is it's teaching our child, our children to listen to their bodies. So I eat when I am hungry, and I stopped when I'm full. And this is the life skill. And there's research that shows us that, when we, if we can teach our children this, it will, it can decrease the risk of obesity, it can decrease the risk of heart disease, and it's just so good for our children's competence to to learn how to listen to their bodies. And so with milk, it starts in the beginning when we are so if you're breastfeeding, for example, I teach a lot about like watching your baby feed, because they'll tell you when they're done. Right. And we it's not like you, you force the nipple back in their mouth. And, and like more and more and more we don't write, we do follow the baby's lead when it comes to breastfeeding. And then with bottle feeding, it can be done as well, with pace feeding. So I don't know if you've heard of that. But instead of tipping the bottle up, the baby's going to drink the whole bottle whether they want it or not, because they have that second sucking reflex and they like to suck, so they'll just finish. Versus if we prop the baby up a little bit more upright, hold the bottle more parallel, it mimics breastfeeding. And it's that stop start stop start motion and they'll they too will stop when they're done. And then the continuation on of that is baby led weaning where we start to introduce foods and our job as parents is to choose healthy, great first options. And then we let our child lead. And they you know, they experiment they learn, but they learn to regulate and eat when they're hungry and stop when their fault.

Natalie Gross 12:02
What are signs that a baby is ready to start baby led weaning or is it just when they turned six months or a certain age?

Carrie Bruno 12:08
No, I think that it's it's a it's a few things. So just like everything, I think in parenting, we'd love to give numbers right? Like all they should start solids, when they're six months, they should crawl when they're nine months and walk when they're one. And we're humans, we're all having our own human experience. And there's a range of quote unquote, normal for everything, right. So it's not age related, they do say between four and six months, is when you can start watching for the signs and thinking about introducing food, obviously, you're gonna talk to your healthcare provider about that. But as far as signs, there's a few. So we want babies to be able to sit with minimal support. They want to you want them to be interested. It's such a cool, I think, transition and experience to be sitting with your child. And I don't know if your baby does this. But when you're eating, they start kind of moving their mouth like how you do and they're watching you bring your food from the plate to your mouth that are excited there may be reaching for it, that's a really good sign that they're starting to think about being ready to try reaching and grabbing so the child can reach pick up objects and bring them to their mouth independently. head control. This is a big one. And they need to be able to hold their head upright and steady. And obviously that's like a safety thing. I always think back to my grandpa, when my son was little like he was like barely holding his head. And of course Bessie and not sleeping great. And it was my grandpa's like he thought he needed pablum. And I'm like, grandpa, he can't even hold his head. It's definitely that that needs to be there. They need to have head control. They need to be able to open their mouth wide. And then they need to have that loss of the tongue thrust or extrusion extrusion reflex. And what this is, it's interesting because a lot of parents like oh, he doesn't like it. And it just means no, that reflex is still there. And so what I'm talking about is when something touches your child's tongue or their lips, they're gonna stick their tongue out and push that food right out of their mouth. It's actually a protective reflex for babies. So that if something comes in their mouth, they don't choke. And it disappears around that four to six month mark, but it's really hard to feed a baby who still has that because they're going to just stick their tongue out and spew the, the food back out. Milk is different because if you think about how a baby drinks milk, breast or bottle, that nipple is not resting on their tongue. It's resting on the roof of their mouth so they bypass Assa reflex. It's different. So you want that to be gone as well.

Natalie Gross 15:05
Okay, all good points there. What are some good first foods parents can start with

Carrie Bruno 15:09
this is something that's really changing as well, which I think is cool, right? Like, I think back to even a few years ago, and we used to, you know, think that infant cereal was always the first thing that we should start with. Now we know it's not so much about like, what we're offering. It's just the we want to pick iron rich foods, and you want them to be safe. So it really like lots of people start with just exactly what they're eating, but just in a baby safe version, meaning like, you're not going to give your your child something that they could potentially choke on. And what I mean by that is, maybe you steam it, maybe you cut it into strips, like some examples are like, you could give your child a chicken drumstick with the skin removed, and let them experiment, you could give your child like you've removed the gressel Like, say you slow cooked or pressure cooked ribs, and remove the gristle you could let them learn to pick it up, bring it to their mouth, it's it's full of nutrition. And it sounds wild to a lot of people. But it really can be the foods that are already on our plate. So like a Friday, that's like sliced instructor scrambled, sweet potatoes that are steamed or baked salmon, there's just lots and lots of options toast with meat puree spread a spread on them, like it doesn't have to be, you know, we go from what is it like that kind of that version of they have infant cereal, and then we start vegetable purees and then we start meat purees and then we start fruit, it's not like that it can. It's just about offering a variety. And let safe foods and letting them experiment and try.

Natalie Gross 17:14
What are some good things to remember when you talk about making them like baby safe baby proof, right. So I've heard like finger length, maybe if you're cutting something into strips like meat or something like that,

Carrie Bruno 17:25
So they can eat a lot of what we're eating, we just have to do a few extra things to make sure it's safe because as adults, we can handle small pieces. And we can handle crunchy foods. Because we have teeth and we have practice. Babies are different, you want to cut food into strips, roughly the size of like one of your fingers. And if you notice that your baby is like gumming the food and kind of make breaking it down into smaller pieces, train them for a full piece, you want the baby to be able to hold the piece of food in their hand. Well, some of it is stick stick sticking out the top of their little fist. And if you are offering slipped strips of like slippery food, you could even try like leaving the peel on one side. Like for example, if they're having mango, you could leave part of the peel on so that they can hold on to and it's not going to slip. And the last thing is that foods offered needs to be able to pass like what I call the squish test. So can you easily squish it between your two fingers? If the answer is yes, then that tells us that the food is soft enough for that your child who doesn't probably have teeth or enough teeth to to actually chew and break down food, it will dissolve in their mouth. And so I think when we're learning this as parents, we want to cut the food as small as possible, thinking then they won't choke. It's actually the opposite. You want it to be long enough big enough that they can hold on to it and gum it. Because sometimes if we give them really small pieces, they're at risk of choking, which leads me to kind of the choking versus gagging.

Natalie Gross 19:20
Yes. I can't give me other times I you know, pulled out my phone just in case I had to call 911 with my son that horrible.

Carrie Bruno 19:30
I know this. It's something I think that starting solids with your child is so exciting, right? I loved it. But it's also nerve wracking because you're scared they're going to choke. And so gigging is a normal reflex. And our babies our kids, they actually have a heightened gag reflex to help prevent them from choking. And so if your child starts to gag, the back of their throat actually close it Is, which usually forces that food to the front of their mouth so it can come out. And so if your child is gagging, it's actually best not to interfere. Because if you scare them, it could lead to choking. So you want to stand close, and be ready to assist them if they needed to. So if your child's gagging, what would it look like, they're going to open their mouth and kind of stick their tongue out and their face would appear red, and they're going to be coughing, and sputtering. And so if they're doing that, you're letting them do their job, that's what they're doing is they're gonna spit that food out. Versus choking. On the other hand, it's, it's a lot different. This is when your child's airway is either partially or fully obstructed, which impacts their breathing. And this is where we need to help them as parents and isn't often like the research with baby led weaning, if you're doing it properly, introducing soft foods and watching them this, they're not more likely to choke then, if you do purees, it's it's it's okay to do baby led weaning, it's not unsafe. But you just want to be careful in terms of making sure that the food is soft when you're introducing it. But signs of choking is they look terrified, they're scared, and they're not making noise, Kay. If they're wheezing, or they're quiet, they need help. And if you were to experience that, you would call 911, or your emergency number ASAP, and you would start first aid. But the likelihood of this happening is not, I don't want to scare people, I just think it's an important skill set to have as a parent to take a CPR and choking class. Because then you can kind of know you have the scale, put it in your back pocket and then just go back to enjoying introducing new foods to your baby, if that makes sense. And maybe I should just talk about a few things like that aren't great to her to offer as as first foods. And so one thing is like not better. So it's a great option like we we know now that we don't want to wait to introduce not betters like peanut butter. Obviously, this is something you want to talk to your family doctor about. Because if you have risk factors, it's a bit of a different story. But you don't want to put like thick chunks of not butter on anything. thin, thin coats on like a toe strip would be ideal. But you don't want chunks if not better. Because think about how sticky it is. Right? It's hard to move that around in their mouth. raw vegetables, chunks of raw vegetables. Also not a great idea. chunks of meat or cheese, you'd be better to give like if you're for example, meatloaf, like a strip of meatloaf versus small chunks, dried fruit, harder sticky candy, which I don't think anybody's offering that is first food hotdogs just because they're like the size of the child's airway right there and their risk of a choking risk. Popcorn, like nuts and seeds, whole peanuts, whole grapes, you want to slice them you want to peel them those skins are hard, like even thinking about blueberries right? Super healthy, but they are not a great first food whole because of the risk of choking you would be better to squish them so that they pass that squish test, cut them and squish them. And then let the child pick them up and eat them.

Natalie Gross 23:49
Okay, thank you so much for sharing this important information. Carrie, we're going to take another quick break and then bring on our moms Hillary and Victoria back into this conversation

Natalie Gross 24:05
All right, welcome back Moms. I'm curious, did your kids struggle at all with gagging or choking like we just talked about how did you help them push past that? If so,

Hillary Renner 24:14
I was super paranoid about it. Just being a nurse and being like a CPR instructor and everything like honestly I was very paranoid probably more than I should have been. My oldest ally she gagged a lot. And maybe I just wasn't as well informed about like, you know, sizes and shapes of things. You know, like we've talked about, but she gagged a ton. And I always like my heart would start racing a little bit whatever it happened. But Lina my my one year old. I can only think of maybe one time that she get maybe one and I don't like the girl loves food. So like I'm not I don't know, she just she always was like downhill for it. And I was like, alright. But yeah, that was one thing that I was super nervous about.

Natalie Gross 25:07
Yeah, it always scared me with my son too. And I thought it was normal that every baby just gagged. And so that's what I would tell my mom friends and then come to find out. It's not everybody's baby. And so I didn't know if I was doing something wrong. So, Victoria, what's your experience with that?

Victoria Wasson 25:23
So I completely agree, like, it is scary, it gives you anxiety. I felt like in my husband and I's relationship, like he was always super paranoid about it. And like, if the kid even make a noise, it's like, oh, my gosh, I'm joking. I'm like, no, they're still making noise. We're still good. And I think, to me, I had to keep reminding myself, that, okay, I've got to overcome not only my fear, but my husband's fear as well. So I was like, I need to be the strong one and be like, Okay, we're gonna focus, like, they're still breathing, they're still making noise. My daughter did gag quite a bit. With my son, I think we only had one choking incident, like actual choking incident. But they're so good. And I think we forget how resilient our kids are, that they automatically have that reflex to get it back up. And like they know. And that's one of the things with the baby led weaning that I love is the fact that they're learning and they're teaching themselves how to chew, and do everything. So I mean, it's kind of one of those things that as a parent, you want to protect your child and be able to fix everything, but it's like, okay, they have to learn and do this on their own. And I'm gonna sit here for safety precaution. But they're still doing great with it. Yeah.

Hillary Renner 26:41
And you think about, like, when they're learning to walk to, like, you don't like prevent them from falling. I mean, you do to an extent, but like, you let them experiment a little bit like they stand up, and then they put their hands off the couch, and then they reach for another thing, you know, and like, you're there to keep them safe and like, be a boundary and be a guard if they need you. But like, you're still encouraging them to develop that skill on their own. So really good point. Yeah, yeah, to think about that, like with the feeding thing, like, eating, eating is a skill and like, frankly, there are still some foods that I just don't like to eat. There's art. So like, overcoming that, and whether it be because I don't like the texture, or the taste, or whatever it is, like, it was something that I learned. And it's something that they have to learn and I can't learn it for them. So I have to let them try.

Natalie Gross 27:35
Really good point there. Carrie, some proponents of baby led weaning will say no purees at all. Why is that? And what is the harm, if any, and spoon feeding your baby as well, in addition to maybe introducing some of these foods we've talked about?

Carrie Bruno 27:49
Oh, you know, I think I would actually disagree here because I think that there is no right one right way to do things. I think that there you can do a combination, if that's what feels right for your family. I know lots of parents that choose this route. And they they introduce foods for their children to experiment and learn with on their tray every single meal, but they also choose to give them a few tablespoons of purees I think that's okay. You know, but like you mentioned, there's there's other opinions out there. But I think that's parenting in a nutshell. There's a million opinions and you're gonna find what works best for you. Yeah,

Natalie Gross 28:31
So fair. Well, does anyone have a favorite baby led weaning recipe to share or maybe a type of food that worked really well for your baby?

Hillary Renner 28:39
Both of my girls were sweet potato fiends and in my oldest and her one year old cake smash it out let me start with this. So within baby led weaning, you know, you give them a variety of things. And one thing that's been made a big point, to me that has made a real impact is not like incentivizing food, like sweet foods in particular. So like, I've allowed both of my girls to, you know, have cupcakes and Ellie now has eats chocolate and you know, like that kind of thing. So it's never been a big deal. But now neither of my girls are really drawn towards sweet food. And even when I offer it to them, they don't typically eat it. So in Ellie's one year old cake smash pictures, she's not eating the cake. She is eating the sweet potato banana pancakes that are and my photographer was so amazing that she told me she you know, she said she's like some babies don't like the cake, bring some food. You know, that's not a pouch. Don't bring a puree, you know, bring some food that we can line up behind the cake so it looks like she's digging into the cake and eating it. Which like protip if you have a baby doing a cake smash do it. It really matters. So I made I would make it was like steamed sweet potato and banana. Just mash it all up. together and throw it in a frying pan and I made them like, like silver dollar pancakes size. And sometimes I added eggs to them just for like a little bit of extra protein. I usually fried them in coconut oil. That was like our be all end all for both girls, they both love them. Still Ellie will still like just hounding them down.

Natalie Gross 30:20
That's a great idea. Victoria?

Victoria Wasson 30:24
I wouldn't say I really necessarily have a specific recipe that I would ever give the kids because they literally ate anything that I would meal prep. But I did love putting like a banana if you cut it like in half, and then if you run your finger down the middle, it comes into three like perfect little length.

Hillary Renner 30:40
Isn't that the best mom hack you've ever seen?

Victoria Wasson 30:43
I would put them in the freezer. And then I'd set them out for like five minutes. And then after that, like it was the best teething thing ever.

Natalie Gross 30:49
Yeah, that's awesome. Well, lastly, as we wrap what are some good resources that you would recommend to other moms listening who might be interested in trying out baby led weaning, based on this conversation? I know, we've already mentioned Instagram, and maybe some influencers there. So what are some good resources that helped you

Hillary Renner 31:06
Some of the ones that were really influential for me, the biggest account was solid starts. And they actually have an app now that's free. And they have a database with like, every type of food imaginable, like stuff that I've never even heard of, and how to prep it for your baby when it's safe, like for them to eat it. And that kind of thing. That was a really good resource for me, as my girls have grown a little bit and we've kind of gotten past that like initial phase. Feeding littles has been a really good account Instagram account that I followed, and then yummy toddler food has been the other one. Yummy, toddler food has a lot more like recipes when they get a little bit older than like the immediate baby led weaning stuff. But those are like the big three that I've followed that have really helped me in this like journey of teaching my girls how to eat well.

Natalie Gross 32:07
Yeah, I love Feeding Littles. Second there.

Victoria Wasson 32:10
I'm definitely going to check that one out. But I think the major thing that I did, I really found it on Facebook and then ended up I think it's just baby led wieners for beginners. And it was just amazing to have a support group of other moms like coming and asking questions and having other people answering and showing like, here's what I make for my kid for breakfast, here's what I do for lunch, here's what I do for dinner. Just really nice to get other ideas as opposed to like I think you sometimes just get in a rut of I'm going to just keep making the same foods and talking with one of my other friends recently, it's like you forget that your kids might like foods that you don't like. And so if you're eating foods that you like, your kids aren't going to experience. And so I think at one point, I even just downloaded a list of a 101st baby foods for them to try. So that way we knew we were actually getting variety in their diet and everything and they were eating different things that we may not think of on a daily basis.

Hillary Renner 33:08
That's such a good point, Victoria. Yeah. And thinking about foods like a little bit. unconventionally, too, was a was something that kind of took me by surprise. Like, I don't remember where I saw it. But this lady was like, Why can't you serve cherry tomatoes with breakfast? I was like, oh, yeah, there are no food rules. I can give them cherry tomatoes or whatever, you know, who cares? So you know, that's, that counts as an exposure to that food, and maybe they won't eat it, maybe they will, maybe the dog will enjoy it. I don't know. So that was one thing that was like the big example that really stuck out to me is like, you know, there aren't any food rules just because traditionally we do it one way doesn't mean that's the only way it can be done.

Natalie Gross 33:49
Carrie, do you want to talk about resources on this topic that you offer on your website or through your network as we wrap?

Carrie Bruno 33:55
Oh, that's really nice. And so I lead a team of over 130 registered nurses. Some of us are IPC LCS, as well globally. And we offer a starting solids workshops. So we do it in a group setting online. We do it in person, but we also do one on one session. So let's say you're the parent, where you're like, I'm not sure how I want to feed my baby, I feel really nervous about it. We can do that for you. You can reach us through our website, you can see the map and find your closest mama coach. The other thing we do is a combined starting solids workshop with a CPR and choking class so that you can learn the skills and decide how you want to feed your baby. And then you have that skill that you have tucked away in your back pocket about emergencies. And lots of parents really like that.

Natalie Gross 34:47
Great. Thank you so much, Carrie for all of this wonderful information. Thank you to Hillary and Victoria also for joining us. listeners. You can find out more about Carrie Bruno at themamacoach.com Also check out newmommymedia.com where we have all of our podcast episodes plus videos and more.

Natalie Gross 35:15
That wraps up our show for today. We appreciate you listening to Newbies. Don't forget to check out our sister shows Preggie Pals for expecting parents, Parent Savers for moms and dads with toddlers, the Boob Group for moms who get breast milk to their babies, and Twin Talks for parents of multiples. Thanks for listening to Newbies, your go to source for new moms and new babies.

Disclaimer 35:40
This is been a New Mommy Media production, information and material contained in this episode I presented for educational purposes only. Statements and opinions expressed in this episode are not necessarily those of new mommy media and should not be considered facts. While such information and materials are believed to be accurate. It is not intended to replace or substitute for professional medical advice or care and should not be used for diagnosing or treating healthcare problem or disease or prescribing any medication. If your questions or concerns regarding your physical or mental health or the health of your baby, please seek assistance from a qualified health care provider.

Love our shows? Join our community and continue the conversation! Mighty Moms is our online support group, with parenting resources and helpful new mom stories you won’t find anywhere else! You’ll also have a chance to be featured on our shows.

Become a Mighty Mom!