Chewing is a crucial skill when you want to move from baby food to food at the table. Parents can help their children learn to chew by providing a variety of textures and foods that are suitable for them.
Review a baby’s readiness to eat textured foods before you introduce them. Baby signs that your baby is ready to start eating soft foods are crawling on the ground, standing up straight, and trying to eat the food (not always successfully but at least making an effort).
Learning to chew takes practice. It is not something babies can learn instantly, or even in a short time span like one month. Research shows that babies still have the ability to chew even after they turn three years old. Babies who are in the crawling stage or standing stage can explore different textures with baby foods. Small pieces of soft food can be helpful for older babies to encourage jaw mashing and side-to–side tongue movement. Children who have been eating chunky foods before 10 months are more likely to be able to transition to table food.
Gerber’s Lil Bits recipe series is crafted with soft food pieces that are suitable for babies. It also has a gradual increase in texture to help develop their chewing skills. Gerber experts reviewed more than 20 hours worth of video footage showing babies eating and chewing food. They also tested approximately 30,000 spoonfuls to determine the best size food pieces for chewing.
We set high standards for our baby food and are passionate about making it.” a company statement notes. “Only farmers are allowed to work with us. We use safe cooking techniques that ensure our products are safe for children’s development. Our products have been tested with tiny taste testers, who test them with their babies. All of this is done to ensure that baby food is delicious and nutritious.”
The Gerber Lil’ Bits collection includes 11 fruit and vegetable options and six dinner options, resulting from more than 80 taste tests to ensure baby approval. Recipes include Chicken Itty-Bitty Noodle, Garden Vegetable & Beef, and Autumn Vegetable & Turkey.
For more information, and to share photos of your baby’s first chewing efforts, please visit .gerber.com/learntochew”>www.gerber.com/learntochew.
