More practical advice from Professor Karen Campbell

The more practical strategies you have at your disposal, the easier feeding your baby will be.

Here, Professor Karen Campbell shares a few more of her own practical tips.

Prepare extra portions

When preparing fruit, vegetables and meats for your baby, make extra portions and freeze in ice cube trays. Once the cubes are frozen, store them in ziplock bags so you can easily access them.

This is an economical way to make sure that you always have something fresh and home-cooked to offer your baby. This will also mean you don’t need to cook at each meal and that you’ll have easy on-the-go meals ready for your baby.

How to tell when baby has had enough to eat

No child can be forced to eat. Babies are excellent at knowing when they have had enough. Therefore, watch your baby’s facial expression and body language when feeding. Your baby will tell you when they have had enough.

Children’s appetites change, mostly in response to how much they’re growing. This means that some days they will eat a lot, and other days not so much. Try to be relaxed about feeding and resist encouraging your child to eat. They will eat if they’re hungry.

Be patient when introducing new foods

Similarly, don’t despair if they spit food out or throw food away as that’s normal. Your baby might not be hungry or they may be unsure about a new taste or texture. The key is to keep trying. A food previously rejected is often eaten with delight after the fifth or fiftieth messy offering.

Give baby a place at the table

At six months, most babies are big enough to sit comfortably in a highchair for meals. Once in the highchair your baby will be free to explore their meals. It’s highly recommended that you are also eating meals and snacks with your baby.

Bibs, plastic mats, vinyl flooring, face washers, and paper towels are all great things to have at hand for the next two years! Eating should be exploratory, messy and as stress-free as possible.

Your task

For more practical advice about how to tell when a baby has had enough to eat, watch this video.

You may also want to share your own practical tips and advice in the comments.