
For decades, this was the widely accepted way to feed a baby: Sit them in a high chair, pop open a jar of mushy pureed peas, scoop some onto a tiny spoon, make an 'open wide' face, and'whoosh'make it fly like an airplane into the baby's mouth. No longer. Over the past 10 years or so, a method called 'baby-led weaning' has caught on among many parents. Its proponents claim that infants don't need to be spoon-fed baby food. In fact, they don't need to be spoon-fed anything. Parents should give them big hunks of real food to paw at and chomp on as soon as they're ready to start solids, even if they have only one or two teeth. Just throw an entire broccoli crown or chicken drumstick at your six-month-old and see what they do with it. (The process is called 'weaning' because as the baby eats more solids, they're supposed to drink progressively less breast milk or formula.) By following this method, you can supposedly reduce the risk that your child will grow up to be a fussy eater or an...
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