Peterson Wendy Jo - Born to eat: whole, healthy foods from babys first bite

Praise for

BORN TO EAT

Born to Eat answered all my questions about baby-led weaning. Leslie and Wendy Jo will help parents raise children who feel good about food and their bodies, which is preventative medicine at its best. I wish this book had been around when my daughter was a baby! Highly recommended for new parents.
Katja Rowell, MD, author of Helping Your Child with Extreme Picky Eating

What comes over in this easy-to-read book is that moving on to solid foods should be a positive experience, and that we can trust our babies to know their own bodies. By choosing healthy foods and being present and purposeful at shared family mealtimes, we can feel confident to sit back and let our children make their own discoveries and decisionsbecause we are all Born to Eat .
Gill Rapley, PhD, coauthor of Baby-Led Weaning

Born to Eat emphasizes two of the most important aspects of child feeding that also happen to be lacking in our society today: connection and trust. Leslie and Wendy Jo combine their professional experience with their parenting wisdom to remind us that feeding our children is supposed to be a simple, fun, and nurturing experience, rather than one of stress, guilt, and worry. Born to Eat protects a childs ability to self-regulate their intake and nurtures their innate curiosity of food. For any parents considering the baby-led weaning approach or an approach that fosters a healthy relationship with food for the entire family, Born to Eat is a must!
Lindsay Stenovec, MS, RD, CEDRD, owner of Nutrition Instincts & founder of The Nurtured Mama Club

Problem solved! Born to Eat is like a trustworthy friend showing you the ropes of feeding your infant with love and compassion. As new parents, we care deeply about doing what's best for baby, but food can be especially overwhelming. Read this book and experience the joys of watching your child explore eating with curiosity and engagement. Leslie and Wendy Jo give you the information you need and the permission to make it work for your family through the years.
Rebecca Scritchfield, author of Body Kindness

Born To Eat is a must-read for anyone thinking about trying baby-led weaning. It's a practical guide that provides simple, actionable steps for each stage of the process and addresses all of the common questions and fears that many parents have.
Lindsay Livingston, RD, founder of The Lean Green Bean blog

Disclaimer

This book contains suggestions and advice for starting solid foods with your infant. It is not a substitute for medical care or medical advice. All infants and families are different, so please discuss this process with your pediatrician and other members of your support team.

Copyright 2017 by Leslie Schilling and Wendy Jo Peterson

Illustrations by Holly Kennedy

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without the express written consent of the publisher, except in the case of brief excerpts in critical reviews or articles. All inquiries should be addressed to Skyhorse Publishing, 307 West 36th Street, 11th Floor, New York, NY 10018.

Skyhorse Publishing books may be purchased in bulk at special discounts for sales promotion, corporate gifts, fund-raising, or educational purposes. Special editions can also be created to specifications. For details, contact the Special Sales Department, Skyhorse Publishing, 307 West 36th Street, 11th Floor, New York, NY 10018 or .

Skyhorse and Skyhorse Publishing are registered trademarks of Skyhorse Publishing, Inc., a Delaware corporation.

Visit our website at www.skyhorsepublishing.com.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available on file.

Cover design: Jenny Zemanek

Cover photo credit: iStock

Print ISBN: 978-1-5107-1999-6

Ebook ISBN: 978-1-5107-2001-5

Printed in China

To CC and Anya:

Because of you, weve embraced our own good-enoughness knowing that is the surest way for you to claim your own. Never forget that you are fearfully and wonderfully made, our loves. You two brought Born to Eat to life, and we pray that you will confidently enjoy each bite this life has to offer.

And

To B and B:

Youre the most supportive and loving copilots two rule-breaker women could ever ask for. Thank you for not only trusting us on this journey with your favorite baby girls, but also showing the world there are Born to Eat dads, too.

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

The simple act of eating has become so overly complicated. It can be nerve-racking simply to attempt to feed ourselves well, much less our children. It doesnt have to be that way.

Parents are some of the most talented, selfless, and overwhelmed people out there. Were parents; we know! What mom, dad, or caregiver wouldnt want to reduce anxiety around feeding and increase our confidence in nourishing our kids? As nutrition experts (and moms) whove worked in the dietetics field from pediatrics to pro sports, were cutting through the hype and fads to make feeding better for baby and, hopefully, less stressful for mom and dad. We believe that infants (and adults) are Born to Eat .

Born to Eat is a philosophy that we feel supports a lifelong, healthy relationship with food and body that begins with a self-feeding approach as an infant. This is the process that we use with our own kids not just because it makes sense and has been around since the dawn of man, but because it has a growing body of research to support it, as well. Infants supported in this approach are eating healthy foods and becoming natural eaters most likely with incredible feeding confidence and self-regulation skills. We believe that self-feeding whole foods is a successful method. Our entire population wouldnt exist if it wasn't.

In our society, people are constantly bombarded with confusing and conflicting messages from social media, the Internet, well-meaning friends, or even health professionals. We, Wendy Jo and Leslie, have taken the research and coupled it with our professional and personal experiences to start clearing up the nutritional mumbo-jumbo that can make us overthink food, feeding, and trusting our bodies for a lifetime. This is one of the main reasons we decided to write Born to Eat . That, and the fact that we are Born to Eat .

Our Journeys to Self-Feeding

Leslies daughter was five days old when friends came to visit. They didnt come empty-handed, eitherthey came with food, really good food, and the book Baby-Led Weaning by Gill Rapley and Tracey Murkett. They spoke of how they were using baby-led weaning with their son, and right away Leslie was interestedpartly because the thought of making baby food was absolutely daunting and partly because eating real food (as much as possible but dont get crazy) was her motto. Being the geeks Leslie and her husband are, they studied the emerging research on baby-led weaning and interviewed experienced professionals before starting their daughter, CC, with her first piece of steak, egg, avocado, etc. It just made sense: no pricey pastel blenders or pures in ice cube trays while baby learns about taste, texture, and develops fine motor skills by eating whole foods Where do we sign up?

Its not easy; learning a new skill never is. Leslies family is one that likes to cook most meals and sit down to eat together. This was a very helpful habit already in place. Regardless, it takes time and its messy, but oh so worth it. Today, Leslies daughter will eat a brownie or donut andget readyleave some on her plate. They have no doubt that allowing her to develop her innate feeding skills and body trust through a self-feeding approach played a very important role in that.