Safer Baby Food
- Alex Kelly
- Nov 19, 2024
- 4 min read
Updated: Apr 2
empowerment to choose your own
It’s great to find trusted sources and recommendations, after all - it takes a village, right? However, I also encourage you to empower yourself to learn how to read labels and choose products yourself, that you personally feel comfortable serving - that’s going to look different for everyone.
Or better yet, make your own!!!
Some things to look for:
real, simple, organic ingredients
no added sugar
baby food & heavy metals
There are quite a few accounts dedicated to testing products for heavy metals, and (what feels like) an endless amount of class action lawsuits against multiple baby food companies. While it’s important for consumers to do their own research in order to make personal informed decisions, and hold companies accountable, it’s also important to not let yourself be overcome with fear and anxiety. We must remember that anyone can file a class action lawsuit, it doesn’t always mean there’s merit. And when it comes to heavy metal testing, there are lots of factors that must be considered.
Many of these accounts seem to find heavy metals in everything they test, which can leave readers wondering “is anything safe?!”
If you see a positive testing from an individual brand that you love and trust, I always encourage reaching out personally. You can learn a lot about a company based on their transparency, and then gauge your trust based on their communication and action. I also think it’s fair to give companies a chance to respond instead of writing them off completely, as the initiative and heart behind a company speaks more volume than a single test - IMO.
And here’s the deal...there’s no many questions that need to be asked and answered when it comes to testing.
Are the numbers given?
Are the full lab reports given?
What are the testing methods?
How many batches were tested, and how were the samples handled?
Many times just one single sample is tested, and since heavy metals are everywhere (air, soil, water, etc.), how do we know that one sample wasn’t incidentally contaminated? Ideally dozens of samples, if not more, should be tested to get an accurate picture.
the problem with baby food & jaw development
ADD/ADHD
Bed Wetting
Delayed Speech
Overweight/Obesity
Learning Difficulties
Vertigo/Clumsiness
Restless Legs
Aggression/Defiance
Teeth Grinding
Snoring
Mouth Breathing
Noisy Breathing
Daytime Sleepiness
Nightmares/Night Terrors
Allergies/Asthma
Anxiety
Frequent Illness
Stunted Growth
Crooked Teeth
Swollen Tonsils/Adenoids
Forward Head Posture
Recessed/Stunted Chin
Dark Circles Under the Eyes
Teeth Grinding
Drooling
Research has discovered that many of these problems may actually be symptoms of a Sleep-Related Breathing Disorder, which stems from a very correctable deformity and dysfunction in the child’s oral and facial structure due to improper jaw development and tongue placement.
Ever since the Industrial Revolution people, especially children, aren’t chewing the way they use to. With the development of soft baby foods, pouches, chicken nuggets, puffs, yogurt melts, etc., we are seeing a weakening of children’s tongues and jawbones.
Soft foods are “pre-chewed,” which causes the child to simply place the food in their mouth and swallow. There is no pressure put on the jawbone, which tricks it into thinking it is not needed - therefore stunting its growth.
As for the tongue, it is weakened because it is not being exercised by positioning food for chewing. Through this process the jawbone and tongue can shrink, while the rest of the head continues to grow - which results in closing off the child’s airway.
There are many other culprits such as daily sucking on objects (i.e pacifiers, thumbs), decrease in breastfeeding, improper tongue placement due to weak tongues/jaws or tongue ties - to name a few.
the benefits of baby lead weaning
As mentioned, with the development of soft/pre-chewed baby foods like pouches, puffs, chicken nuggets, yogurt melts, etc., we are seeing a weakening of children’s tongues and jaws. That is not to say we should never serve these. There is a time and a place (we utilize them for on-the-go snacks often), but there is immense benefits of baby lead weaning, and a Weston A. Price diet, being the primary focus.
Starting at 6 months you can serve your baby REAL food (although I find they typically do better once they’re sitting up solidly on their own). I recommend downloading the Solid Starts app. You can search any food item and it will tell you how to properly serve for the age of your baby.
baby ready to start solids? consider the cup you choose
When babies area ready to start solids, typically between 6-8 months, they are usually ready to begin learning how to drink from cups. In order to promote proper jaw development and tongue placement, it is recommend to skip sippy & 360 cups, and go straight to a straw and open cups.
Ideal cups include:
Non-Valved Straws
Valved straws promote more of a suckling motion than sipping which is needed to help develop a mature swallow and facial development. Valves create an abnormal motor pattern. You want your child to have a rounded lip and suck with control, no force. You don’t want your child to have to bite and brace in order to drink. Many cups have their valves in the tip of the straw (example Zak) vs at the very bottom. Cups like these you can easily trim off the valve - turning it into a regular straw.
Thin Straws
Thin straws bring up a smaller portion of liquid which makes it easier/safer to swallow. Thicker straws can be more difficult to drink out of when it comes to tiny baby/toddler mouths, it can also cause a child to drink too much liquid too quickly lowering their capacity for solids.
Short Straws
A short straw allows the tip of the straw to just reach the tip of the child’s tongue. This allows the tongue tip to reach UP in order to develop a mature swallow pattern.
Hard Straws
If child has a habit of biting/chewing on soft straws, then a harder straw may be a better option.
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