Food is for fun, until they are one?

What's the truth in the saying?

You may have heard the phrase ‘food is for fun until they are one’, but is it true?

A quick answer is yes, and no! But mostly yes.

Some people don’t like the phrase because it could be inferred that parents don’t have to worry about introducing foods until their baby is one, or that babies don’t need more nutrition than milk until one, which is false. But to my mind, the phrase doesn’t say don’t give food; it’s saying take a relaxed attitude, don’t worry about how much they eat, instead let them taste and explore. And that is a great approach, backed by research. Let’s unpick it a bit more.

When do babies need more than milk?

After six months babies start to need more than milk, but this is a gradual process from six to twelve months, with solid foods becoming more important, and the amount of milk decreasing. Milk continues to be the main source of nutrition, containing fats, calories, and other nutrients during this time, and remains an important part of the overall nutritional intake for babies older than twelve months too.

Starting solids as a developmental stage

Around six months babies start to be physiologically ready to pick up, eat, and digest solid foods. It can take several months for babies to get the hang of eating and gradually build up what they eat. Every child is different.

There are large individual differences. Some children go straight to three meals a day and some are still picking and maybe only eating twice a day by twelve months. We accept that rolling, sitting up, crawling all happen at different times for different children, within a window. It is the same for starting solids.

A time to explore

“It’s useful to think of the period for 6-12 months as a time when your baby will go from just having milk to having three meals a day, and ideally eating family foods and joining win with family meals.

In the early months of eating solids in particular, it’s more important that your baby experiences a wide range of different foods, tastes and textures than that they eat specific amounts.”

P 204 Let’s talk about feeding your baby. Prof Amy Brown

This 6-12 month period is an opportunity to let babies explore, touch, smell, taste, and play with food

There is no portion size guidance nor nutritional levels given for babies under 12 months. Some resources may all give calorie amounts. However it is important to recognise that these are estimated, given only as guidelines, and, in the case of the World Health Organisation’s documents, intended to support children at risk of malnutrition. Their emphasis is still on responsive feeding, and not being prescriptive.

“In practice, caregivers will not be measuring the energy content of foods to be offered. Thus, the amount of food to be offered should be based on the principles of responsive feeding (guideline #8), while assuring that energy density and meal frequency are adequate to meet the child’s needs (see # 3, below). Table 1 shows examples of sample diets and the approximate quantities of local foods that would meet the energy needs described above. It is important not to be overly prescriptive about such guidance, however, recognizing that each child’s needs will vary due to differences in body size and growth rate.”

WHO Guiding principles for feeding non-breastfed children aged 6-24 months (My emphasis.) file:///C:/Users/cathw/Downloads/9241593431.pdf

“Not all children will need the number of meals shown. As it is not possible to know which children have higher or lower energy requirements, caregivers should be attentive the child’s hunger cues when judging how often and how much to feed the child.”

WHO, as above

There are no guidelines on amounts or portion sizes for under ones for two reasons:

1. there is a huge variety in how much they eat that is within the bounds of normal, and

2. it doesn’t help.
   

A tight focus on nutrition can backfire

There is good research to show that a relaxed approach, where babies are allowed to explore, feel, smell, taste, and play with a wide variety of foods, helps them to eat more, in quantity and range.

If there is a focus on the amount babies eat this could lead to babies overeating, and parents encouraging babies to override their feeling of satiety (feeling full). There is also the risk that parents will give babies what they will eat, and lots of it, and that may mean foods of lower nutritional value. It also may result in babies receiving a narrow range of foods early on.

Offering food from around six months, when showing signs of readiness; providing a positive environment; offering a variety of foods; increasing the number of mealtimes and the amounts in response to your baby’s individual needs, all these things will eventually lead to a baby eating what they need.

“Many breastfed babies do not want anything to do with other foods until eight or ten months, sometimes longer. They are healthy and happy, their weight and height are normal, and they are hitting all the developmental milestones. They have all they need with the breast and therefore want nothing else.

Others, do things backwards; they accept baby food for a while and then seem to change their mind. If you leave him well enough alone, in a few weeks or months the baby will once again be interested in other food.”

My child won’t eat. Carlos Gonzales

Key points:

• Starting solids is not just about nutrition. Starting solids is a time to develop positive relationship with food.
  

• Responsive parenting, responding to a child’s physiological and psychological needs, has many benefits. If you follow your baby's pace with weaning you can't go wrong, especially if you let them be the one to put the food in their mouth.
  

• Solids are introduced around six months, following the signs of readiness. Some may show signs of readiness a little before six months, and some after, even 7 months. There is no magic switch. Every child is different.

  
  

• Milk continues to be a highly nutritious food source, especially for fats and calories. Solid foods are added, complimentary, to milk feeds.

  
  

• Parents should consider offering a wide range of foods, not just vegetables, to give babies experience of tastes and textures, and a variety of additional nutrients. It is a time for exploration, to help babies get comfortable and skilled eating a variety of foods.
  

• Parents should not worry if their child doesn’t eat because they are poorly, for a week or more. Baby will take more milk.
  

Food is for fun until they are one is still a useful mantra.

Although it may not technically be true, having this saying can help parents relax and follow their child’s lead, especially when they hit periods of illness.

Cathy is a perinatal educator and trainer. She has developed and led Starting Solids Workshops for parents for 100s of families, and trained others across the world to do them too.