The World Health Organization (WHO),1 the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC)2 currently recommend 6 months of exclusive breastfeeding and then the introduction of solids while breastfeeding continues. Exclusive breastfeeding means no other food or drink.
Your baby is now 6 months old. You are excited to start solid. But how?
First thing first, your baby needs to be able to hold their head steady and be able to sit upright with good trunk stability to start solid. In this blog post, we will talk about proper sitting position for infants to start solid successfully.
A proper sitting position means that your baby is:
Able to hold their head up straight and steady without tiring
Sitting at a right angle (bum and pelvis are positioned directly under the hips)
Torso is upright and airway is unrestricted
The shoulders are positioned just slightly in front of the hips
Arms are unrestricted and free to move
They can lean forward, and turn to slightly to the left or right without major restriction
Their feet are supported with a foot rest
Tip 1 - Babies sit in upright position
Make sure the back of the highchair is set to a fully upright position. If they are in a reclining position, it’s not only uncomfortable, they are at a higher risk of having a piece of food get stuck in their airway and cause choking. If your baby is still small and cannot lean on the back support, you can roll up towel to wrap around baby’s hips to support them.
Tip 2 - High chair tray position
Make sure the high chair tray is positioned about halfway between your baby's belly button and the breast. This will ensure they can rest their elbows comfortably on the tray and can reach for things easily.
Tip 3 - Have a foot rest
Babies should have their feet supported by some type of foot rest when eating. This can either be a built-in high chair foot rest, or you can create your own using a stack of old magazine or phone book. The foot rest is important to provide core stability. Imagine to eat with your foot lift up, it would certainly be harder to for you to eat.
References
1. World Health Organization 2014, Exclusive breastfeeding. http://www.who.int/nutrition/topics/exclusive_breastfeeding/en/index.html
2. National Health and Medical Research Council 2012, Infant Feeding Guidelines. Australian Government, Canberra. Available at https://nhmrc.gov.au/about-us/publications/infant-feeding-guidelines-information-health-workers
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