Feeding
Feeding, from first latch to family meals
Feeding covers more ground than any other subject in the first three years, and it changes shape completely every few months. What begins as a question about latch and supply becomes a question about purée or finger food, then about cups and cow's milk, then about a toddler who ate broccoli for a fortnight and has now renounced it.
These guides follow that arc. The early ones deal with milk, including what to do when feeding does not start the way it is supposed to. The later ones deal with the part nobody warns you about: that appetite drops after the first year, that refusal is developmental rather than personal, and that most mealtime conflict comes from adults crossing into the half of the job that belongs to the child.
How to Burp a Baby: Positions, Timing and TechniqueThe three holds, why rubbing upward beats patting, and why a minute or two is enough. Written by somebody who was taught to do it for twenty minutes.
Does a Baby Need to Burp After Every Feed?No. The one randomised trial found burping didn't reduce colic and roughly doubled spit-up. What to do instead, and why night feeds aren't worth the trade.
What If Baby Won't Burp?Some babies never burp, and that's ordinary. Reading the baby and not the clock, the sequence to try, and what to do when the wind is lower down.
Do Breastfed Babies Need to Be Burped?Much less often, and some never need it. Why the latch decides how much air goes in, the situations that put air in anyway, and the wind burping can't reach.
Do Formula-Fed Babies Need to Be Burped?More often, because a bottle puts more air in. The four places it gets in, why paced feeding beats any winding technique, and anti-colic bottles judged.
Can a Baby Sleep Without Burping?Yes, and don't wake her. Why a baby on her back can't choke on milk she brings up, why that isn't a reason to change her sleep position, and what to skip.
Why Does My Baby Cry When I Try to Burp Her?Position, pressure, interruption, or something else. Why almost everybody pats too hard, why your shoulder ends up in her stomach, and how to tell which.
Why Does My Baby Spit Up When Burping?Half of all babies do it, peaking at four months. Why firm winding makes it worse, what the one trial found, and the only question that matters: does she mind?
Burping vs Reflux: What's the Difference?Wind is air going the wrong way; reflux is milk. Knees up against arching back, why silent reflux gets missed, and the line where it becomes a medical question.
When Can You Stop Burping a Baby?Four to six months for most, and earlier for many. The four signs she's done, why you simply stop and never taper, and what solids change.
Breastfeeding and Special Needs (Part 1 of 2)What makes feeding harder, protecting supply in the first hours when the baby can't feed, the adaptations for each mechanism, and who belongs on your team.
Breastfeeding and Special Needs (Part 2 of 2)Keeping a supply going for months, feeding alongside a tube, reading growth charts for a baby with a condition, returning to work, and deciding when to stop.
Why Should You Use a Nursing Pillow?A feeding aid and never a sleep surface: deaths have been recorded. What it does for your posture, how to choose one, and why you may not need one at all.
Why Should You Use a Feeding Arm Support Pillow?The most skippable item in the category, and what it fixes. Why static load causes the pain, when a nursing pillow is the better buy, and the rules.
Tackling the Transition to Whole MilkWhole milk at twelve months and not before, why 500ml a day is too much, blending it in over a fortnight, and a straight word about toddler and plant milks.
10 Easy, Fun Toddler SnacksTen snacks that are fast, get eaten, and are cut correctly. The shapes that cause choking, how often to snack, and what to do when everything is refused.
How to Make Vegetables Less of a Food FightThree reasons toddlers reject vegetables, why pressure and bribery backfire. And the division of responsibility that ends most of the fighting at the table.
Easy Lunch Ideas for Mama and BabyOne thing cooked once, in two forms. Five bases that feed two people, the assembly plate for bad days, and how to eat while feeding a baby.
Sippy Cup vs Straw Cup: When to Use EachThe spouted sippy cup is the one dentists like least, and we sell it. What each cup makes the mouth to do, why grazing is the real risk, and when to start each.
Bandana Bib, Cloth Bib or Silicone Bib? When to Use Each OneThree bibs, three different jobs: drool, liquid, and the catch pocket. What each is for, when it takes over, and how many of each you need.
Why Use Food-Grade Silicone for Baby's Utensils and CutleryWhich standard the phrase refers to, platinum-cured against peroxide-cured, why the twist test is unreliable, and what deserves paying for.
Why Use a Teething Ball to Help During Teething?What to avoid counts for more than what to buy: amber necklaces, benzocaine gels, homeopathic tablets. Then counter-pressure, why refrigerate and never freeze.
Why Should You Use a Magic Clip (Dummy Tape Holder)?Soother holders have a safety standard because the failure mode is strangulation: EN 12586 caps length at 220mm. What to check, and the one absolute rule.
Breastfeeding Basics: Monitoring Your Milk SupplyDiapers, weight and behavior are the three real measures. Five normal things routinely mistaken for low supply, and the signs that need a call today.
Easy, Fun Smoothie Ideas for Moms and Babies on the GoOne formula, six combinations, and the constraints that matter under one. How to make them work for a baby and how to make them fast enough to repeat.
How to Wean Your BabyOne word, two jobs: starting solids and stopping milk feeds. The readiness signs, dropping one feed every few days, getting off the bottle, and the hormone dip.
When Can Babies Start Solids?The three readiness signs that appear together, what gets mistaken for them, why six months and not four, and why delaying much past six has real costs.
What Are the Best First Foods for Babies?Bitter vegetables first while the window is open, iron as the real priority, and the allergen advice that reversed after LEAP: introduce early and keep going.
How Much Should a Baby Eat? Portions by AgeMeals and milk by age, why her own fist beats a tablespoon, and why intake is judged across a week. Plus the milk mistake most people make at one.
Baby-Led Weaning vs PuréesWhat each approach involves, what the trials found, where each helps. And the safety rules that are identical for both.
When Can Babies Eat Finger Foods?Finger foods from six months, in strips until the pincer grasp arrives. The squash test, the shapes to quarter lengthwise, and gagging against choking.
Baby Refusing Solids: What to DoRefusal at six months, nine months and after a year are three different problems. What's behind each, what helps at every age, and what makes it worse.
Starting Solids: What to Do If Baby GagsGagging is loud and protective; choking is silent. Why babies gag so much at first, what to do and not do, and learning the infant choking response first.