Monday was a big day, Jack managed to roll over front to back AND sit unaided long enough and stable enough for me to take photos :)
We have got him a fantastic high chair, it's a Stokke Tripp Trapp, a chair that grows with your child. I was lusting after one for ages but they are very expensive. But I thought I'd have a look on Ebay and happened upon one that was in the finish we wanted, bidding closing in 20 minutes and collection only from just up the road! It was fate, so we bid on it and won. We've been sitting Jack at the table with us for dinner since Sunday and he has started sleeping better. We don't think it's a coincidence. I reckon that being included in the family meal is helping him settle in the evenings as he doesn't feel he is missing out on anything. We didn't need to introduce solids early, just sit him at the table!
I've been thinking about some of the reasons parents give for early weaning, notably "my baby is interested in food and watches us eat". I've always taken issue with this. 4 month old babies are fascinated by everything their parents do. Their main way of learning is observation and everything that their parents do is interesting, even a smile from mummy is the most exciting thing in the world! Also, the mouth is the most sensitive part of the human body, babies learn a great deal more about things by putting them into their mouths than simply looking at them or holding them. They learn what the thing smells and tastes like as well as getting a more detailed idea of its texture and hard/softness. They also find it soothing to press things against their gums when teething.
Some of the things Jack has put into his mouth, or tried to, in the last two months:
his own feet,
clothes and muslin squares,
toys,
books,
the TV remote control,
an xbox controller,
people's fingers,
a plate! (I was eating a sandwich with him in my lap and he leaned forward and sucked the rim of the plate I was holding!)
Things he has watched me doing with great intensity:
eat,
fold laundry,
brush my teeth,
talk on the phone,
sing.
Does this mean he is ready to do all of these things? Hardly!
And just how, exactly, do people think that their 4 month old baby knows what food is? They have no idea that we get nourishment from it. In their world view food comes from the breast, a bottle or a cup. It's possible that if they have been cup-fed they recognise us drinking as receiving nourishment, but there is no way they can possibly understand that solid food from a plate is our way of filling our tummies.
Parents who follow baby led weaning (BLW) have noticed that the first few weeks or months their children are simply playing with the food, it isn't until about 9 months old that they truly seem to know that the food can fill them up and give them energy, once they have had chance to experiment.
I know it shouldn't bother me how other people choose to raise their children, but I can't stand ignorance when it comes to children's health. It's frustrating that there isn't really anything I can do about it, so I just have to vent here.
We have got him a fantastic high chair, it's a Stokke Tripp Trapp, a chair that grows with your child. I was lusting after one for ages but they are very expensive. But I thought I'd have a look on Ebay and happened upon one that was in the finish we wanted, bidding closing in 20 minutes and collection only from just up the road! It was fate, so we bid on it and won. We've been sitting Jack at the table with us for dinner since Sunday and he has started sleeping better. We don't think it's a coincidence. I reckon that being included in the family meal is helping him settle in the evenings as he doesn't feel he is missing out on anything. We didn't need to introduce solids early, just sit him at the table!
I've been thinking about some of the reasons parents give for early weaning, notably "my baby is interested in food and watches us eat". I've always taken issue with this. 4 month old babies are fascinated by everything their parents do. Their main way of learning is observation and everything that their parents do is interesting, even a smile from mummy is the most exciting thing in the world! Also, the mouth is the most sensitive part of the human body, babies learn a great deal more about things by putting them into their mouths than simply looking at them or holding them. They learn what the thing smells and tastes like as well as getting a more detailed idea of its texture and hard/softness. They also find it soothing to press things against their gums when teething.
Some of the things Jack has put into his mouth, or tried to, in the last two months:
his own feet,
clothes and muslin squares,
toys,
books,
the TV remote control,
an xbox controller,
people's fingers,
a plate! (I was eating a sandwich with him in my lap and he leaned forward and sucked the rim of the plate I was holding!)
Things he has watched me doing with great intensity:
eat,
fold laundry,
brush my teeth,
talk on the phone,
sing.
Does this mean he is ready to do all of these things? Hardly!
And just how, exactly, do people think that their 4 month old baby knows what food is? They have no idea that we get nourishment from it. In their world view food comes from the breast, a bottle or a cup. It's possible that if they have been cup-fed they recognise us drinking as receiving nourishment, but there is no way they can possibly understand that solid food from a plate is our way of filling our tummies.
Parents who follow baby led weaning (BLW) have noticed that the first few weeks or months their children are simply playing with the food, it isn't until about 9 months old that they truly seem to know that the food can fill them up and give them energy, once they have had chance to experiment.
I know it shouldn't bother me how other people choose to raise their children, but I can't stand ignorance when it comes to children's health. It's frustrating that there isn't really anything I can do about it, so I just have to vent here.
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