Weaning: what if the little one ate like mom and dad?

Vegetable broth, semolina, a tablespoon of oil… the preparation of the first baby food represents for i parents kind of small ritual semi-sacred to be scrupulously respected according to the instructions of the pediatrician and often seasoned with a thousand doubts and questions.

But what if mom and dad first thought about what they should eat and then adapted that dish to the needs of the little one? To many it will seem almost science fiction and yet this could really be the turning point, in terms of healthy eating, of course, but also of family menu management.

«Too often, parents focus on what to prepare for the child and thus lose sight of what is really important at mealtimes, that is, the sharing of food, which is the basis of the principle of the food pyramid “.

To suggest this unprecedented perspective is Verdiana Ramina, a very popular dietitian on social media (Instagram @ verdy75) with over 139,000 followers, and today the author of the book “Weaning for the whole family” published by Gribaudo. The volume, conceived as a sort of vademecum able to answer all the questions and doubts of parents, also offers several menus based on quick and delicious recipes suitable for the whole family. And so, a soft polenta with a spoonful of hummus to be consumed during the first months, it can be transformed into baked polenta stick for the older ones, or a ‘omelette all heritage it can be crushed and reduced to cream and become a tasty condiment.

The purpose? Sit down without stress, young and old at the same table.

We have done some questions to Verdiana Ramina to better understand what this new approach consists of complementary nutrition some children. Here’s what he told us!

How did you come up with the idea of ​​studying a weaning menu that was designed for parents and then adapted to the needs of the little ones?

“I have begun to take care of the moms who came to me both in pregnancy and post-partum and I noticed that, during the weaning phase of the young, they often tended to neglect themselves and their diet. I understood that, for the well-being of the whole family, weaning had to be based on sharing meals. We must not think that when a child begins to eat, it is necessary to create a world apart, made of specific foods that we would never dream of eating. My book is meant to make parents today understand that it is possible to start one weaning all together following small rules ».

Can adopting this meal-sharing approach also help to prevent children from becoming overly selective with food?

«The problem of selectivity is very recurrent today and, in part, it can originate from weaning. The classic new food insertion scheme with a very strict scheduling it limits the ability of children to experiment with new tastes. I recommend a weaning that is not based on the insertion schemes of the past, which have no scientific basis, but aimed at guaranteeing as much as possible the variety according to the season ».

When is the right time to start complementary nutrition? Are there any parameters to understand if the child is ready?

«The classic parameters are now widely known: the baby has reached more or less 6 months and is able to sit upright. However, it is also important to take into account the so-called extrusion reflex, through which the little one pushes food or spoon out with his tongue. If this reflex is present, the baby is not yet ready. Another important parameter, to which we tend to give little importance, concerns the child’s interest in food. If the little one has never seen his parents at the table, he cannot have shown any interest, so I always recommend that the little ones be assisted at the time of the meal “.

Many parents still wonder whether traditional weaning or self-weaning is better …

“In reality they are all valid, only one must not be chosen in favor of another. The Traditional weaning is necessary in the first stage: we always start from dad with a homogeneous texture, then gradually we move on to a concept of autosvezzamento. That is, the child is led to discover the food with his hands and at this moment the parent should not be afraid that he will get too dirty and must not intervene too much. In fact, there is also talk of guided weaning: the parent must be an intermediary, proposing the food with a correct cut and cooking but without replacing the will of the child. Airplane with the spoon to make him eat the last bite, for example, makes no sense because that spoon will never make a difference. You have to trust the self-regulation ability which in children up to 2 or 3 years is very strong ».

You are very popular on social media: based on your experience, what is the greatest concern of parents when it comes to weaning?

“The most common are two. The first is that the baby don’t eat enough, a hard-to-die legacy. Parents must be reassured that even if the child misses a meal, it is not a problem, because there is breast milk or formula which integrates from a caloric point of view. The other fear is instead that of suffocation: a fear that can be managed by distinguishing, for example, the small retching that the child can manifest by encountering greater consistencies – which is absolutely normal – from the actual suffocation, which is the silent one, in which the child does not emit sounds. It is important that the fear of suffocation does not hinder the child’s ability to progress in nutrition, meeting different consistencies ».

Many parents, due to lack of time, often find themselves resorting to ready-made foods in the weaning phase, such as baby food or vegetable purees which are more practical. What is the secret to reconciling a healthy diet and a busy life?

«The secret is precisely that of think first about what we have to bring to the table. I always say: once you have thought about what you adults want to eat, you can look for the little variation for the child. In the early days, maybe you can choose a vegetable that, once mashed, can also be good for the child. Or you can focus on a couscous to eat dry and to prepare instead with a little broth, so as to make it more creamy, for the little one. There menu planning that I also propose in the book has precisely this purpose: I realized that for parents who go to work in the morning and return in the evening, the thought of what to put on the table can become a trouble if dealt with at the last minute. It can be difficult at first to plan a weekly menu but, once you get the hang of it, it only benefits you, because all week you solved the problem of what to prepare».

In the gallery above some tips and recipes taken from the book “Weaning for the whole family” of the dietician Verdiana Ramina.