Baby-Led Weaning with Katie Ferraro

#92: Have you ever looked at your baby’s high chair and wondered, “Who in the world designed this thing?” In this episode I’m joined by Kirsti Vandraas, a physiotherapist and ergonomist who works closely with Peter Opsvik, designer of the Tripp Trapp and Nomi high chairs.  Kirsti is taking us on a tour behind the design of Opsvik’s Tripp Trapp and Nomi high chairs, including how they promote freedom and fellowship at mealtimes from baby’s first bites. From the absence of a tray, to the inclusion of an adjustable footplate and why European versions of these chairs do not include straps, prepare yourself to learn more about your child’s chair design than you ever thought imaginable! Listen to this episode to learn:  How American and European safety standards differ and how that results in different expectations about what a high chair is for and what role it plays in the family...particularly important is why Peter Opsvik designed the Tripp Trapp and the Nomi to NOT have a tray and instead come right up to the table for family meals. How straps can be encumbering and don’t promote freedom or function at meals. Kirsti uses her ergonomics background to explain the benefits of allowing children to climb in and out of their chairs, and she shares about her own grandchildren teaching her when they were ready to have the guard from the infant feeding chair removed. Why an adjustable footrest or footplate is essential for torso control and she shares great analogies about stable feet supporting a “victorious” posture...something we can implement even from baby’s first bites.  Shownotes for this episode can be found here: https://www.babyledweaning.co/podcast/92 Links from This Episode: Peter Opsvik’s company page at opsvik.no - here you can learn about the Tripp Trapp and Nomi design, features and benefits as well as Peter’s other iconic design work Stokke has sold over 12 million Tripp Trapp chairs - this is an investment but certainly one that grows with your child. Click here for the Tripp Trapp High Chair (this is an affiliate link). The Nomi is the next generation high chair Peter Opsvik designed and dedicated to his grandchildren. It is available in a number of colors with varying wood choices to suit your aesthetic and design preferences. Click here for the Nomi High Chair (this is an affiliate link). Follow @peteropsvik on Instagram  Baby-Led Weaning with Katie Ferraro program with the 100 First Foods™ Daily Meal Plan, join here: https://babyledweaning.co/program   Baby-Led Weaning for Beginners free online workshop with 100 First Foods™ list to all attendees, register here: https://babyledweaning.co/baby-led-weaning-for-beginners 🌱 🌱🌱🌱 🌱 Not sure about which foods to offer your baby next? Get your copy of my original 100 FIRST FOODS list on my free online video workshop called BABY-LED WEANING FOR BEGINNERS. 💯 💯 💯 💯 💯 Want guided help on how to make all of the 100 FIRST FOODS™ safely for your baby? My program BABY-LED WEANING WITH KATIE FERRARO has a 100 FIRST FOODS daily meal plan and everything else you need to start solid foods safely with baby-led weaning. CLICK HERE TO JOIN. 👀 👀 👀 👀 👀 Be sure to follow @babyledweanteam on Instagram and our Baby-Led Weaning YouTube channel for more information about helping your baby transition to solid foods safely. 🙏 🙏 🙏 🙏 🙏 If you learned something from this episode and like this podcast, your review means the WORLD to us and helps other parents find this important evidence-based infant feeding info. Click here to leave a review on Apple podcasts or rate this show on Spotify podcasts and thanks for being a part of this amazing and supportive baby-led weaning community! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Discover how to effortlessly start baby-led weaning with pantry staples you likely already own. Learn about safe spices, canned fruits and vegetables, and versatile legumes perfect for little ones. Get inspired by practical strategies from a 10-day pantry challenge and tips on reading labels. The importance of nutrition and proper preparation methods shines through, making mealtime enjoyable and safe for your baby. Plus, receive helpful resources for easy meal planning and ideas to incorporate into your kitchen routine!

#90: Parents of picky eaters know that by the time the next baby rolls around they’re looking for any solution to avoid picky eating in the new baby. Baby-led weaning doesn’t promise to prevent picky eating, but it sure can help minimize the severity of the picky eating.In this episode I’m joined by my oldest daughter Molly, a “recovering” picky eater who has 6 younger siblings who are BLW grads. Molly will be the first to share that lots of foods are “not her favorite” but we make it work.Molly and I are chatting about some tips for incorporating your older kids in the kitchen when your new baby is learning how to eat...plus some ideas on how to encourage that picky eater to be more adventurous in the context of their BLW sibling.Listen to this episode to learn: How to get your older kid more involved in meal prep...because children who help prepare foods are more likely to EAT them! Language to use for your toddler when introducing the baby to a new food...any chance you have to talk or explore foods for kids of ALL ages is beneficial! Why toddlers like the “challenge” of trying new foods & how you can gamify this to help expand your older child’s palate as the new one is learning how to eat Shownotes for this episode can be found here:https://www.babyledweaning.co/podcast/90Links from This Episode: Little Partners Learning Tower - we have 2 of these that you pull up to the counter so your toddlers and bigger kids can safely help you cook. Linking to this tower on Amazon here (this is an affiliate link). Check out Dani Lebovitz’s books about fruits and vegetables… she has tons of resources for getting kids more aware about produce, teaching them in age appropriate ways & her site with all of her resources is here and she’s on Instagram @kids.food.explorers  Baby-Led Weaning with Katie Ferraro program with the 100 First Foods™ Daily Meal Plan, join here: https://babyledweaning.co/program   Baby-Led Weaning for Beginners free online workshop with 100 First Foods™ list to all attendees, register here: https://babyledweaning.co/baby-led-weaning-for-beginners 🌱 🌱🌱🌱 🌱Not sure about which foods to offer your baby next? Get your copy of my original 100 FIRST FOODS list on my free online video workshop called BABY-LED WEANING FOR BEGINNERS.💯 💯 💯 💯 💯Want guided help on how to make all of the 100 FIRST FOODS™ safely for your baby? My program BABY-LED WEANING WITH KATIE FERRARO has a 100 FIRST FOODS daily meal plan and everything else you need to start solid foods safely with baby-led weaning. CLICK HERE TO JOIN.👀 👀 👀 👀 👀Be sure to follow @babyledweanteam on Instagram and our Baby-Led Weaning YouTube channel for more information about helping your baby transition to solid foods safely.🙏 🙏 🙏 🙏 🙏If you learned something from this episode and like this podcast, your review means the WORLD to us and helps other parents find this important evidence-based infant feeding info. Click here to leave a review on Apple podcasts or rate this show on Spotify podcasts and thanks for being a part of this amazing and supportive baby-led weaning community! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

#89 The freezer aisle at your grocery store has some fabulous foods you can feed your baby. Yes of course there are ultra-processed convenience foods there too that babies shouldn’t have, but don’t totally discount the freezer aisle!In this episode I’m walking you through 5 of my favorite freezer aisle finds that work great for feeding babies. If you’re currently only “shopping the perimeter” at the store, you’re going to want to take a listen and see if any of these 5 foods you might serve your baby!Listen to this episode to learn: Cauliflower rice Hash brown potatoes Ezekiel bread Frozen fruit Edamame  Shownotes for this episode can be found here:https://www.babyledweaning.co/podcast/89Links from This Episode: Baby-Led Weaning with Katie Ferraro program with the 100 First Foods™ Daily Meal Plan, join here: https://babyledweaning.co/program   Baby-Led Weaning for Beginners free online workshop with 100 First Foods™ list to all attendees, register here: https://babyledweaning.co/baby-led-weaning-for-beginners Other Episodes Related to This Topic:  Episode 33: Salt: 3 Easy Ways to Minimize Sodium for Your Baby is here  Episode 75: Canned Foods that CAN Work for Baby-Led Weaning is here 🌱 🌱🌱🌱 🌱Not sure about which foods to offer your baby next? Get your copy of my original 100 FIRST FOODS list on my free online video workshop called BABY-LED WEANING FOR BEGINNERS.💯 💯 💯 💯 💯Want guided help on how to make all of the 100 FIRST FOODS™ safely for your baby? My program BABY-LED WEANING WITH KATIE FERRARO has a 100 FIRST FOODS daily meal plan and everything else you need to start solid foods safely with baby-led weaning. CLICK HERE TO JOIN.👀 👀 👀 👀 👀Be sure to follow @babyledweanteam on Instagram and our Baby-Led Weaning YouTube channel for more information about helping your baby transition to solid foods safely.🙏 🙏 🙏 🙏 🙏If you learned something from this episode and like this podcast, your review means the WORLD to us and helps other parents find this important evidence-based infant feeding info. Click here to leave a review on Apple podcasts or rate this show on Spotify podcasts and thanks for being a part of this amazing and supportive baby-led weaning community! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

#88: Your baby is a blank slate. And starting solid foods is actually an opportune time to think about what YOUR family’s food story is going to be!In this episode I’m joined by Chef Julia Nordgren, MD a pediatrician turned food advocate and culinary expert. She’s talking us through some of the tougher issues that parents face when it comes to feeding kids: from baby’s first bites through to the teenage years.Dr. Nordgren is one of my favorite feeding experts. She comes to EVERY interview brimming with ideas on how to raise kids who LIKE food and with tips and tactics that everyday families can incorporate...even if you didn’t go to culinary school!Join Chef Julia Nordgren as she outlines some easy ways to help craft our family’s food story. From setting “guardrails” about snacks to getting even the little kids cooking with you in the kitchen (without making you lose your mind!) I think you’ll really enjoy her approach to building a foundation of a healthy relationship with food for all the little people in YOUR family!Listen to this episode to learn:  How to set “guardrails” about sensitive food topics like snacks...and why she prefers to avoid “food rules” that tend to backfire Why it’s ok to feel overwhelmed by the responsibility of providing meals for your family on TOP of everything else...but how you can still make food & feeding fun! What kind of foods babies can eat early on in self-feeding that most other parents and healthcare professionals don’t realize that they can! How handing your baby a piece of fruit or a vegetable at the grocery store can be a rewarding and easy learning experience (that doesn’t require a device!) Shownotes for this episode can be found here:https://www.babyledweaning.co/podcast/88Links from This Episode: Dr. Julia Cooks website is here: https://www.drjuliacooks.com/  The New Family Table: Cooking More, Eating Together, and Staying (Relatively) Sane is available on Amazon (this is an affiliate link) here https://amzn.to/3gOipwB  The Great Courses’ How Superfoods Work audiobook with Dr. Julia Nordgren https://www.audible.com/pd/How-Superfoods-Work-Audiobook/B08B46DVWW   Baby-Led Weaning with Katie Ferraro program with the 100 First Foods™ Daily Meal Plan, join here: https://babyledweaning.co/program   Baby-Led Weaning for Beginners free online workshop with 100 First Foods™ list to all attendees, register here: https://babyledweaning.co/baby-led-weaning-for-beginners 🌱 🌱🌱🌱 🌱Not sure about which foods to offer your baby next? Get your copy of my original 100 FIRST FOODS list on my free online video workshop called BABY-LED WEANING FOR BEGINNERS.💯 💯 💯 💯 💯Want guided help on how to make all of the 100 FIRST FOODS™ safely for your baby? My program BABY-LED WEANING WITH KATIE FERRARO has a 100 FIRST FOODS daily meal plan and everything else you need to start solid foods safely with baby-led weaning. CLICK HERE TO JOIN.👀 👀 👀 👀 👀Be sure to follow @babyledweanteam on Instagram and our Baby-Led Weaning YouTube channel for more information about helping your baby transition to solid foods safely.🙏 🙏 🙏 🙏 🙏If you learned something from this episode and like this podcast, your review means the WORLD to us and helps other parents find this important evidence-based infant feeding info. Click here to leave a review on Apple podcasts or rate this show on Spotify podcasts and thanks for being a part of this amazing and supportive baby-led weaning community! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this enlightening discussion, a seasoned mom shares her top seven baby-led weaning mistakes, aiming to ease the journey for new parents. Discover the dangers of dangling feet during meals and why messy experiences are vital for babies. Learn how feeding directly on the table can frustrate little ones and the importance of practicing with an open cup. The podcast also debunks common myths surrounding purees and emphasizes a relaxed approach to feeding. Get ready to navigate the world of infant feeding with newfound confidence!

#86: How do professional chef moms cook for their babies? Well...turns out, they’re a lot like us! In this episode two-time Food Network Chopped champion Chef Tatiana Rosana is joining me to share some real-life easy to implement BLW meal prep ideas.Tatiana and her wife are doing baby-led weaning at home with their 8-month-old son Arlo. And since she’s in the thick of it, Tatiana is giving us some great ideas on how we can streamline BLW prep at home, employing some of the same techniques that work in her professional kitchen that babies can benefit from too.We’re chatting about her appearances on Chopped and Beat Bobby Flay and the pressure to perform your craft at work vs. prepping food for your baby at home. And Tatiana is also breaking down some of the upcoming foods that Arlo is going to be trying as well as what’s she’s thinking to make as she plans ahead to prepare short ribs and lamb and black beans for baby Arlo and his BLW journey.Listen to this episode to learn:  Easy meal prep ideas to streamline the workflow when you’re making new foods for your baby How she stays motivated to try new foods with Arlo even though she makes food for a living in her role as an Executive Chef at the Envoy Hotel in Boston! Why she and her wife struggled early on in Arlo’s BLW journey and how things have improved the more practice he has had with self-feeding  Shownotes for this episode can be found here:https://www.babyledweaning.co/podcast/86Links from This Episode: Follow Tatiana on Instagram @chef.tatiana & her family account featuring son Arlo @hello.its.arlo Watch Tatiana on Beat Bobby Flay episode “Getting Nutty”   Baby-Led Weaning with Katie Ferraro program with the 100 First Foods™ Daily Meal Plan, join here: https://babyledweaning.co/program   Baby-Led Weaning for Beginners free online workshop with 100 First Foods™ list to all attendees, register here: https://babyledweaning.co/baby-led-weaning-for-beginners 🌱 🌱🌱🌱 🌱Not sure about which foods to offer your baby next? Get your copy of my original 100 FIRST FOODS list on my free online video workshop called BABY-LED WEANING FOR BEGINNERS.💯 💯 💯 💯 💯Want guided help on how to make all of the 100 FIRST FOODS™ safely for your baby? My program BABY-LED WEANING WITH KATIE FERRARO has a 100 FIRST FOODS daily meal plan and everything else you need to start solid foods safely with baby-led weaning. CLICK HERE TO JOIN.👀 👀 👀 👀 👀Be sure to follow @babyledweanteam on Instagram and our Baby-Led Weaning YouTube channel for more information about helping your baby transition to solid foods safely.🙏 🙏 🙏 🙏 🙏If you learned something from this episode and like this podcast, your review means the WORLD to us and helps other parents find this important evidence-based infant feeding info. Click here to leave a review on Apple podcasts or rate this show on Spotify podcasts and thanks for being a part of this amazing and supportive baby-led weaning community! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

#85: Sardines are one of the best baby foods out there. You might personally not like sardines...a lot of people don’t, but don’t discount sardines for baby-led weaning.Sardines are packed with nutrition, they represent unique taste and texture opportunities for your baby, plus sardines are an easy way to introduce your baby to one of the potentially allergenic food categories: fish.I’m going to make a sardine lover out of you in this episode! Join me as I walk you through the best ways to select and serve sardines to your baby safely. I’m also sharing some of the exact types of canned sardines you can get for your baby and additional baby-led weaning recipes for safely feeding your baby fish, including sardines! Listen to this episode to learn:  WHY sardines are a nutrition powerhouse and how they contain 2 specific nutrients that you can’t get almost anywhere else in the diet HOW to select sardines because there are a lot of options on the shelves at your grocery store, but just a few of them really are appropriate for baby-led weaning HOW to offer baby sardines: do you add extra oil, serve in marinara sauce, spread on low sodium sauce. And what about eating the bones and the skin? Spoiler alert: you can! Shownotes for this episode can be found here:https://www.babyledweaning.co/podcast/85Links from This Episode: FDA Advice for Fish for Pregnant Women and Small Children: https://www.fda.gov/food/consumers/advice-about-eating-fish Wild Planet Wild Sardines in Water, No Added Salt: https://wildplanetfoods.com/product/wild-sardines-in-water-no-salt-added/ Wild Planet Wild Sardines Skinless & Boneless Filets in Extra Virgin Olive Oil https://wildplanetfoods.com/product/wild-sardines-skinless-boneless-filletsin-extra-virgin-olive-oil-4-25oz/   Baby-Led Weaning with Katie Ferraro program with the 100 First Foods™ Daily Meal Plan, join here: https://babyledweaning.co/program   Baby-Led Weaning for Beginners free online workshop with 100 First Foods™ list to all attendees, register here: https://babyledweaning.co/baby-led-weaning-for-beginners 🌱 🌱🌱🌱 🌱Not sure about which foods to offer your baby next? Get your copy of my original 100 FIRST FOODS list on my free online video workshop called BABY-LED WEANING FOR BEGINNERS.💯 💯 💯 💯 💯Want guided help on how to make all of the 100 FIRST FOODS™ safely for your baby? My program BABY-LED WEANING WITH KATIE FERRARO has a 100 FIRST FOODS daily meal plan and everything else you need to start solid foods safely with baby-led weaning. CLICK HERE TO JOIN.👀 👀 👀 👀 👀Be sure to follow @babyledweanteam on Instagram and our Baby-Led Weaning YouTube channel for more information about helping your baby transition to solid foods safely.🙏 🙏 🙏 🙏 🙏If you learned something from this episode and like this podcast, your review means the WORLD to us and helps other parents find this important evidence-based infant feeding info. Click here to leave a review on Apple podcasts or rate this show on Spotify podcasts and thanks for being a part of this amazing and supportive baby-led weaning community! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

#84: Have you heard the recommendation to wait 3-5 days between trying new foods with your baby? Did you know that there is no evidence or research to back this guidance up? In fact, waiting unnecessarily long periods of time between new foods all but ensures that babies WON’T get the diet diversity that other research shows they really NEED to succeed with growth and development.Introducing 1 new food per day is perfectly safe for your baby. Carina Venter, PhD, RD is joining me on this interview to tell you why you do NOT need to wait 3-5 days between new foods for your baby. And if that’s the recommendation you’re hearing from your pediatrician, Carina also breaks down why doctors are still perpetuating this outdated notion despite the emerging body of literature that supports more rapid exposure to new foods. Carina Venter is one of the most recognized authorities in the area of pediatric food allergy prevention and research. She’s on many of the nutrition advisory panels that study the evidence about starting solids and put forth recommendations for new food and allergenic food introduction. If you’re not already convinced that babies can eat a greater variety of foods than most doctors would give them credit for, this interview with Carina Venter is going to make a believer out of you too!Listen to this episode to learn:  The racist connotations of the term “food desert” and why “food apartheid” is a preferable alternative How parents can challenge the rhetoric of nutrition and food that needs to look or be a certain way in order to be “normal” or “healthy” The “why” behind her book Black Food Matters: Racial Justice in the Wake of Food Justice and what it means for parents today  Shownotes for this episode can be found here:https://www.babyledweaning.co/podcast/84Links from This Episode: Follow Carina Venter, PhD, RD on twitter: https://twitter.com/ventercarina View Dr. Venter’s allergy-related research publications here: https://profiles.ucdenver.edu/display/14733584  Dietitians earn your FARE Certificate of Training in Pediatric Food Allergy in this 9-month (32 CPE) course Carina co-teaches for FARE Dietitians join IDANA: International Network for Diet and Nutrition in Allergy here  Baby-Led Weaning with Katie Ferraro program with the 100 First Foods™ Daily Meal Plan, join here: https://babyledweaning.co/program   Baby-Led Weaning for Beginners free online workshop with 100 First Foods™ list to all attendees, register here: https://babyledweaning.co/baby-led-weaning-for-beginners 🌱 🌱🌱🌱 🌱Not sure about which foods to offer your baby next? Get your copy of my original 100 FIRST FOODS list on my free online video workshop called BABY-LED WEANING FOR BEGINNERS.💯 💯 💯 💯 💯Want guided help on how to make all of the 100 FIRST FOODS™ safely for your baby? My program BABY-LED WEANING WITH KATIE FERRARO has a 100 FIRST FOODS daily meal plan and everything else you need to start solid foods safely with baby-led weaning. CLICK HERE TO JOIN.👀 👀 👀 👀 👀Be sure to follow @babyledweanteam on Instagram and our Baby-Led Weaning YouTube channel for more information about helping your baby transition to solid foods safely.🙏 🙏 🙏 🙏 🙏If you learned something from this episode and like this podcast, your review means the WORLD to us and helps other parents find this important evidence-based infant feeding info. Click here to leave a review on Apple podcasts or rate this show on Spotify podcasts and thanks for being a part of this amazing and supportive baby-led weaning community! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

#83: Does baby-led weaning mean you feed your baby the same foods the rest of the family eats? Are you supposed to eat every meal together with your baby? Do you bring the baby to the table or are they in the high chair and how long should a feeding even last? You probably KNOW that family meals are beneficial - and that babies can start eating with the family from their first bites...but the actual LOGISTICS of how you make this happen can be a little tricky. In this episode I’m walking you through 5 main considerations about having your baby at family meals for baby-led weaning. We’re covering the WHERE, WHAT, WHEN, WHO and WHY about family meals for early eaters and how you can make them happen at your house without losing your mind or having to short-order cook for your baby! Listen to this episode to learn:  WHERE?: Where’s the safest space to feed your baby? And how come my fancy high chair didn’t come with a tray? What if I have a bar or counter height table, how does the high chair work then? WHAT?: Do babies eat the same foods you eat? How do you modify foods safely so babies can enjoy parts of the family meal even early on in BLW? WHEN?: When are babies eating with us? Is it every meal? How long should a feeding be? How often do we feed them? WHO: Who should be around when the baby is eating? Why is my baby staring at me during mealtimes and what does that mean? WHY?: Why are we even worried about whether or not babies are eating with us? The benefits of family meals extend way beyond diet diversity and nutrition quality. Check out this episode for the exact steps on how to get your baby to eat with your family! Shownotes for this episode can be found here: https://www.babyledweaning.co/podcast/83 Links from This Episode: HIGH CHAIRS mentioned in this episode (these are affiliate links): Stokke Tripp Trapp high chair is ⁠here⁠ Nomi high chair is ⁠here Baby-Led Weaning with Katie Ferraro program with the 100 First Foods™ Daily Meal Plan, join here: https://babyledweaning.co/program   Baby-Led Weaning for Beginners free online workshop with 100 First Foods™ list to all attendees, register here: https://babyledweaning.co/baby-led-weaning-for-beginners 🌱 🌱🌱🌱 🌱 Not sure about which foods to offer your baby next? Get your copy of my original 100 FIRST FOODS list on my free online video workshop called BABY-LED WEANING FOR BEGINNERS. 💯 💯 💯 💯 💯 Want guided help on how to make all of the 100 FIRST FOODS™ safely for your baby? My program BABY-LED WEANING WITH KATIE FERRARO has a 100 FIRST FOODS daily meal plan and everything else you need to start solid foods safely with baby-led weaning. CLICK HERE TO JOIN. 👀 👀 👀 👀 👀 Be sure to follow @babyledweanteam on Instagram and our Baby-Led Weaning YouTube channel for more information about helping your baby transition to solid foods safely. 🙏 🙏 🙏 🙏 🙏 If you learned something from this episode and like this podcast, your review means the WORLD to us and helps other parents find this important evidence-based infant feeding info. Click here to leave a review on Apple podcasts or rate this show on Spotify podcasts and thanks for being a part of this amazing and supportive baby-led weaning community! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices