Mothers' experiences with complementary feeding: Conventional and baby‐led approaches

Abstract

Aim: Lifelong eating behaviours are shaped in infancy with the introduction of solid foods (complementary feeding). A conventional approach to complementary feeding, encompassing spoon feeding of pureed foods, has long been the standard.Baby-led weaning is a contemporary approach whereby the infant is encouraged to choose what and how much they eat. Mothers navigate decisions about what and how to introduce foods to their infant in diverse ways. This study set out to explore the complementary feeding approaches of women. Methods: A qualitative study utilising photovoice and focus groups generated data that provided insight into women's lived experiences of complementary feeding. Thirteen women were purposively sampled and data were analysed in line with descriptive phenomenology. Results: Three recurrent themes emerged from the data. Women's approaches to complementary feeding were mediated by "trust," "convenience" and making decisions that were "value based versus practical based." Trust manifested in various forms including trusting the infant, trusting women's own instincts and the tension between social pressures and trust of self. Conclusions: Differences between women following a conventional vs baby-led approach were also seen in perceptions of convenience, and the decision-making process. This study provides insight into how and why women choose certain feeding practices and can be used to better equip health professionals to work with new mothers in providing realistic and nuanced feeding support. K E Y W O R D Sbaby-led weaning, complementary feeding, infant feeding decisions, qualitative methods

Parental considerations during complementary feeding in higher income countries: a systematic review of qualitative evidence

“…Actual and perceived health properties of the food. Providing a healthy diet was voiced as a priority in most studies that addressed the choice of complementary foods (26,31,(33)(34)(35)(37)(38)(39)(40)(41)(43)(44)(45)(46)48,50,(53)(54)(55)(56)(57)(58)(59)(60)(61)(62)(63)(64) . Parents shared a desire to provide a balanced diet with foods from all groups that will secure a sufficient intake of nutrients.…”

“…The idea that infants were no longer satisfied by a milkonly diet was often cited by mothers and fathers as a compelling cue to give the baby's first solid foods (25)(26)(27)(28)(29)(30)(31)(32)(33)(34)(35)(36)(37)(38)(39)(40)(41)(42)(43)(44) . Signs that indicated hunger were crying, increased consumption of milk and disturbed sleep.…”

“…Certain mother-related considerations also contributed to the decision to introduce complementary foods (26,28,(39)(40)(41)44,(49)(50)(51) . Mothers who breastfed conveyed the need for babies to be fed by other people too, so that they could return to work (28,39,41,44,50,51) . Additionally, some mothers shared that they were excited to see their children eat family foods (26,40) .…”

Parents’ Perception of the Complementary Baby-Led Weaning Feeding Method: A Validation Study

“…The last factor, fear of establishing BLW, can become a determining factor when implementing this feeding method. This factor can be represented in the international literature as concern [24] or lack of trust from parents [2,25]. Thus, these factors can be considered representative of complementary feeding with the BLW method.…”

The first 1000 days: A critical period of nutritional opportunity and vulnerability

“…This issue of Nutrition & Dietetics includes a collection of original nutrition research that spans these critical first 1000 days of life and beyond. In addition to papers related to pregnancy, 7‐10 infancy 11‐13 and the preschool years, 14 there are papers related to schoolchildren, 15 adolescents 16 and young adults 17,18 …”