At FoodieKid, we know firsthand how different each and every baby can be when the time comes to start solid foods.  After all, it was our founder Christine’s experience with her two sons’ very different eating styles that led to the creation of Simple Starters.  She noticed that there were not many flexible baby food offerings available and wanted to give parents an option that would allow them to customize the texture of their baby’s food, from traditional puree to diced for those who follow baby-led weaning or have older children.  So we were excited for a ‘social distanced sit down’ with baby-led weaning guru and Solid Starts founder Jenny Best to discuss the “starting whole” movement and her passion for setting babies up to have a healthy relationship with food as they grow.  We had a few questions for her which we would love to share with you:

FK: Can you tell us a bit about Solid Starts, and what made you create the platform for parents?  

JB: I built Solid Starts out of necessity. I had had a terrible experience introducing solids to my firstborn, Charlie, who became a very picky and unhappy eater. Truthfully, I didn’t know what I was doing at the time and make a lot of well-intentioned mistakes many parents make. Two years later, when my twin babies came around, I knew I wanted to do things differently and focus on “real” finger foods, loosely following the baby-led weaning principles. But there was no free digital resource that was satisfying and trustworthy. So I started doing the research myself and eventually put together a team of nutritionists, feeding therapists, doctors, dietitians, and allergists and we are building the first instructional food database for babies. When we are done it will house 1,000 foods. The database will be free, forever.

FK: Where did the baby-led weaning method of baby feeding come from and what makes you so passionate about it?

JB: Baby-led weaning is a way of introducing solid food that skips over purées and spoon-feeding entirely and relies on a baby’s natural instinct to bring food to their mouth. The method was coined by Gill Rapley, a public health nurse in the U.K., and tends to be popular with parents who subscribe to Montessori-style rearing where independence of the child is a priority. 

Having done both exclusive spoon feeding and baby-led weaning, I can tell you the difference is eye opening. Studies show that babies who are given the opportunity to self-feed a wide variety of food early on are less likely to become picky eaters and to be more open to new foods later on. That has certainly been my experience. My fraternal twins, who have self-fed from day one of starting solids are the happiest little eaters. It turns out we humans like to have control—even at 6 months of age. :)

FK: What is the most important piece of advice you would give parents who are considering giving baby led weaning a try? 

JB: To watch videos of babies self-feeding. We have thousands of them on our website and Instagram account and I find that once parents see babies working with the food well that their confidence increases dramatically. And to read up on gagging and choking, of course. We have a lot of info on that on our site. All babies gag for a couple of months when starting solids. While uncomfortable to watch, gagging is actually good: it teaches your baby where to move food in the mouth and that too-big pieces need to be chewed.

We often make decisions from a point of fear here in the U.S.. But that fear—fear of choking, fear of allergies, has taken on an unprecedented level and, I would argue, irrational if you look at the studies and statistics. Babies were born knowing how to eat and their natural development around 6 months is all about putting things in their mouth. As long as what you are serving is safe and healthy, there’s no reason not to trust that development process.

FK: Why do you think Baby led weaning is so intimidating to many parents, and what advice do you give to them?

JB: In the U.S. I find it’s just a hangover from the Gerber baby generation and comfort with jars and pouches of baby food. And in the decades of commercial baby food production, we became very fear-based as a society when it comes to our babies. We became more afraid of choking. Of allergies. And even of mess. 

Look, before the 1920’s, there was no “baby” food – it’s a relatively recent invention. Before the days of Gerber and Beechnut, food was just food. Sometimes mashed, sometimes strained, and sometimes just pre-chewed by mom. But babies were getting a variety of textures. And so the idea of real food is startling to many people now.  There’s a great book on this, by the way, called The Invention of Baby Food by Amy Bentley. Highly recommend it.

FK: If a parent themselves has a limited palette, how do they ensure their kids are getting a variety of foods if they simply feed them what they eat?

JB: Great question. You should absolutely offer foods you yourself don’t like to give your child the opportunity to decide for themselves. If another parent is present who can model eating those foods the other parent doesn’t eat, that’s ideal. But the idea is to make sure that a wide variety of foods are offered. 

FK: Is BLW an all or nothing way of feeding? I.e. Can you supplement traditional puree feeding with baby led weaning and vice versa?

JB: Not in our opinion. Our campaign, #FingerFoodFirst, encourages parents to put the priority on finger foods to let baby self-feed but there’s no one right way. You can combine spoonfeeding and finger foods (though if that is done for a long period of time it may confuse your baby), or you could start with purees and quickly move to finger foods. But by 9 months of age, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics, all healthy, normally developing babies should be self-feeding with finger foods.

FK: You feature a wide range of foods on your site, from the common drumstick to ostrich meat. What is the ‘strangest’ thing you’ve fed your kids? 

JB: It’s true! One day we’re eating grilled cheeses, the next ostrich burgers. What’s normal in one food culture can be shocking to another. And there’s a big lesson there for all of us when it comes to coaching and teaching our children to be open to things—and people—that may seem foreign to them. The food that stretched our comfort level the most was roasted grasshoppers. We were gifted a tin from Merci Mercado and we had to try them. So here’s an example of a food that is totally common in SO many countries but something that shook me to my core. And you know what? The kids love them. 

FK: The past month has seen people from across the country demand change to end racism and create a more just, fair and inclusive world.  In what ways can a platform like Solid Starts help to support those efforts and build a better world for our babies to grow up in? 

JB: I have found in my career in food and farming that information about food—whether that’s breastfeeding or starting solids—is really inaccessible. And field dominated by white women (present company included). That’s why our instructional food database is free. I want every parent to be able to get the info they need to feed their baby real food. So we’ve always had a strong accessibility focus to our work. Our guides and webinars are also free to families in need. Feeding our children shouldn’t require a degree in investigative journalism—or $200 in the bank.

As the Solid Starts platform has grown, so too has our social responsibility. Every day there are 25,000 people listening to us. Next year that’s projected to be 250,000 people. Hundreds of thousands of people buying what we suggest they buy. Following people we suggest they follow. It’s an enormous responsibility.  We recently announced that we will not partner with any corporations that do not have women of color on their senior leadership teams. This is to incentivize those watching us to do better, to look inward, and to make sure Solid Starts is not unintentionally furthering a system that is hurting so many people. We also recently hired a skilled coach in this area to support and guide us so that we remain focused on doing the work in a meaningful way.   

For more information on Solid Starts and to access their food database, click here.

To learn more or shop for Simple Starters, click here.