In this “Follow-Up” mini-episode, Dr. Mona revisits the topic of starting solids and baby-led weaning with guest Jenna Helwig—Food Director at Real Simple magazine and author of ⁠Baby-Led Feeding (paid link)⁠. Together, they bust common feeding myths, share simple meal prep hacks, and discuss how to take the guilt and pressure out of feeding your baby.

Whether you’re team puree, team baby-led weaning, or doing a bit of both, this episode is a reminder that responsive feeding and a stress-free environment matter far more than rigid rules.

• Purees and finger foods can coexist: Combining purees with baby-led weaning is safe and does not make a baby more likely to choke.

• Responsive feeding matters most: Regardless of the feeding method, the priority is respecting your baby’s pace and cues when they show they are full or need a break.

• Baby-led weaning isn’t a guarantee against picky eating: Picky eaters can develop using any feeding style, so focus on creating a pressure-free environment instead.

• You don’t need to cook new meals daily: Simplify mealtime by serving simple, single-ingredient foods like eggs and avocado, or by offering leftovers.

• Cook one meal for the whole family: Save time and stress by adjusting the texture or salt content of your own meal for the baby rather than short-order cooking.

• Prep vegetables early in the week: Washing and chopping vegetables ahead of time makes it effortless to add healthy options to busy weeknight dinners.

• Prioritize meal planning over heavy meal prepping: Planning just four dinners a week removes the mental fatigue of deciding what to cook every evening.

• Drop the mealtime guilt: Releasing rigid expectations and lowering stress allows both you and your baby to actually enjoy mealtimes together.

Want more? Listen to the full, ⁠original episode⁠.

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00;00;00;03 – 00;00;21;10

Dr. Mona

Welcome back to the follow up. It’s me, Doctor Mona, your online pediatrician and mom friend. And today we’re revisiting an old favorite of the PedsDocTalk podcast. In less time than it takes your baby to explore an avocado and squish it in their little cute fingers, realize they don’t like it, and drop it while staring you dead in the eye.

 

00;00;21;14 – 00;00;40;05

Dr. Mona

Tell me how I know. It has been a while since we talked feeding on this show, and since we first recorded this one, my own kids have grown into a three year old and a six year old. We did baby led weaning for both of them. After a brief stint of spoon feeding. So this topic is personal for me and I wanted to bring it back around.

 

00;00;40;08 – 00;01;11;29

Dr. Mona

Here’s something I need caregivers to remember. Caregiver involves spoon feeding usually means what people describe as crazy. With the grown up feeding the baby off a spoon, baby led weaning. I like to talk as self feeding can involve periods too. The real difference is the baby’s self feeds and controls the pace. Both can raise amazing eaters. The problem is not the method, it is when a parent or caregiver shoves the spoon back into the baby’s mouth without letting the baby pause, swallow and show they are ready for more.

 

00;01;12;01 – 00;01;34;28

Dr. Mona

Baby led weaning or self-feeding skills tend to sidestep that automatically, since the baby is in charge. This follow up is from my conversation with Jenna Hellwig and by the way, her book about solid foods and baby led weaning was my go to for my kids. She’s also the food director at Real Simple magazine and author of the bestseller Baby Let Feeding, My Book that I love.

 

00;01;35;01 – 00;01;53;03

Dr. Mona

Download the full episode. If you love this conversation, subscribe so you never miss another one. And tag us at PedsDocTalk, the PedsDocTalk podcast and Jenna Hellwig to let us know you’ve listened. Let’s get into it.

 

00;01;53;06 – 00;02;11;24

Dr. Mona

How can parents approach baby led weaning in a simplified way and actually enjoy it? Because I feel like there’s just so much stress around mealtimes, especially when parents are starting out, that it actually takes away the joy of meal times, which can inadvertently cause mealtime struggles.

 

00;02;11;28 – 00;02;34;12

Jenna Helwig

There are so many moms out there who have these rules about starting solids that are really not based in anything scientific. You know, there are a lot of baby led weaning rules that are like, well, you can never let a puree pass to your child’s lips. If you do that, then it’s not baby led weaning. And you have to just like go back to breast milk or formula and start all over.

 

00;02;34;15 – 00;02;57;00

Jenna Helwig

Like, that is not true. Or this idea that if you also feed purees, your baby’s more likely to choke when they try a finger food. Also not true. So to me, one of the biggest ways of reducing the stress of starting solids is by saying that you can do it either way, or do it both ways together. You do not have to do just baby led weaning to be a good parent.

 

00;02;57;06 – 00;03;15;29

Dr. Mona

Whether you are puree feeding or baby led weaning, that matters way more to a child’s eating habits. And you know, all this stuff and I see picky eaters and both. Right. I think marketing baby led weaning is like, oh, if you baby led wean your child won’t be picky. I think is false advertising because we absolutely see picky eaters in both methods.

 

00;03;16;01 – 00;03;34;02

Dr. Mona

This comes down to the concept of allowing self control. Whether we are putting a spoon in their mouth, or whether you are allowing your baby to feed themselves. The difficult reality is, is that when you are spoon feeding, you’re more likely to set the pace versus allowing the baby to swallow and then show indications that they’re ready for another spoon.

 

00;03;34;08 – 00;03;50;23

Dr. Mona

But both principles everyone can lead to a child who enjoys food, enjoy meal time. But the kicker here is that Jenna is going to get into is that we also have to enjoy and simplify meal times too. Like if we’re coming into it as like this is stressful and oh my gosh, like I have to think about this and that or the other.

 

00;03;50;26 – 00;04;09;00

Dr. Mona

They’re going to sense that energy and they’re not going to love meal times either. And my goal is to make mealtimes not stressful for families because I love meal times. Like I think it should be enjoyable, but I understand that so many listening probably find it very stressful. Especially starting out. Or maybe you have a toddler who you find it stressful or to, you know.

 

00;04;09;03 – 00;04;32;01

Jenna Helwig

Absolutely. And I think that your point there about, you know, spoon feeding and how that can still be baby lead is really important, you know, and like it’s really about feeding responsibly. Like and that’s the technical term. But like following your baby’s cues, they’re like if they close their mouth and turn away, you know, don’t make the little airplane to get more into their mouths.

 

00;04;32;01 – 00;04;54;02

Jenna Helwig

Like, you know, really, it requires more attention and connection with your baby, really getting to know them. Their facial expressions, which I think is really cool, actually, you know, just having to pay that much attention and just, you know, pick up on their smallest signals, I think is really one of the special things about parenting and feeding.

 

00;04;54;04 – 00;05;11;00

Dr. Mona

Oh, I agree, and, you know, I know you’ve written the book about baby love feeding. What do you think the biggest mistake a parent makes when approaching meal prep? Maybe. And baby led feeding. Like, how would you you have a platform here? How would you want parents to simplify this process.

 

00;05;11;02 – 00;05;36;01

Jenna Helwig

Yeah. Good question. Okay. So I think there are a couple of mistakes. So we’ll talk first about simplifying. But then you know we can also talk about like some things that I see out there that maybe aren’t so safe for your baby. So love it. But in terms of simplifying, I am all about, you know, making a little bit extra of things, using the freezer or defrosting things can stay in your fridge for a few days.

 

00;05;36;01 – 00;05;58;09

Jenna Helwig

Like it’s okay, you don’t have to make something different for breakfast seven days a week for your baby. Yeah, I mean, we all. Yes, variety is great, and this is a time when your baby is more open to new flavors then possibly he or she will ever be again. But you know, you have to make things easy on yourself too.

 

00;05;58;11 – 00;06;23;12

Jenna Helwig

So I would say, first of all, don’t expect that you have to live up to this ideal of variety every single meal, every single day. Yeah, leftovers are there for a reason. Use them. And then secondly, single ingredient finger foods are also wonderful. And there are lots that you don’t have to cook like avocado and berries, hard boiled eggs.

 

00;06;23;12 – 00;06;34;00

Jenna Helwig

You do have to cook, but so simple, so nutritious. Making a scrambled egg, you know that’s going to take you 45 seconds and wow, your baby is getting such excellent nutrition there.

 

00;06;34;02 – 00;06;48;00

Dr. Mona

Absolutely. These are all already great tips. And like I said in your books you always talk about ways to kind of make things simple, especially in that baby led feeding book. What else did you say you were saying? Like, obviously this, but there was other strategies as well.

 

00;06;48;02 – 00;07;10;03

Jenna Helwig

Yes. So the other thing is, you know, one of the beautiful things about baby led feeding is that you can bring the baby to the family table earlier. So it’s important that the foods that you serve are a safe shade, safe texture. But the goal is to just be making one meal for everyone. And that’s why baby led feeding.

 

00;07;10;07 – 00;07;24;01

Jenna Helwig

And then also in real baby food, there’s a whole chapter of family meals. So after like the first month or so of your baby starting salad, you can just be making the same thing for everyone. Just being conscious of, like, sodium and texture and shape.

 

00;07;24;04 – 00;07;42;07

Dr. Mona

Yeah. And I think that’s, I think why it can be stressful for parents when they’re being told, hey, feed your baby where you’re eating. But then the safety thing obviously is a huge reality. Obviously. Yeah. Although we do agree that you can feed your baby what you eat, there are some stuff that you can’t such as like whole nuts and the globs of peanut butter, things like that.

 

00;07;42;07 – 00;08;03;06

Dr. Mona

But yeah, simplifying the food prep and not having to make many meals for everybody is the goal. I mean, that is what the goal is for even life after infancy and childhood is that you’re not making, you know, the short order cook, like you’re not making five different meals for everybody in your home is the goal. And that can start from the moment you start small is that you’re saying, hey, we’re going to do this.

 

00;08;03;06 – 00;08;22;02

Dr. Mona

And, you know, like you said, single ingredient vegetables. Like, if you’re making something and there’s a carrot, you can make the carrot as a baby led weaning style. And so it’s the same thing you’re eating, but maybe you’re eating it as more of a hard carrot or something, you know, like there’s just different ways to make it simplify, but also be what you’re eating in a way, too.

 

00;08;22;05 – 00;08;39;26

Jenna Helwig

Yes. I think that exactly what you just said, you know, if your baby can’t eat exactly what it is you’re eating, depending on what it is you’re cooking, pull out some of that, like the carrots or the vegetables, you know, even the chicken, like, shred the chicken for, you know, after it’s cooked, you shred it and then you could add the sauce to yours.

 

00;08;39;29 – 00;08;52;26

Jenna Helwig

Although your baby would probably appreciate the sauce too. But, but I think that as much as possible that you can just make one meal for the whole family that will save you stress in the kitchen.

 

00;08;52;28 – 00;09;08;14

Dr. Mona

And of course, you’ve written, you know, these few cookbooks, obviously five or so. But what would be like your biggest hack with meal prep? You said that obviously freezing things, but what has really helped you as a mom? Save time in the kitchen with all the recipes that you do.

 

00;09;08;17 – 00;09;32;10

Jenna Helwig

The number one thing and it sounds so basic, is I prep not cook, but wash and cut vegetables ahead of time because I find like I really try to serve a vegetable with every meal that’s, you know, I feel like that’s what makes or you gotta let it go. Yeah. Even though it’s not a real rule, but it’s one of my family rules is there needs to be a vegetable.

 

00;09;32;10 – 00;09;50;07

Jenna Helwig

And I find that when I’m cooking dinner, I’m coming home from work, I’m tired and we’re in a rush. That the thing that is so easy to leave off is the vegetable. So I find that if I have the broccoli, for example, already washed and chopped in the fridge, it’s pretty easy to just put it on a sheet pan to roast.

 

00;09;50;09 – 00;10;04;26

Jenna Helwig

Or if you know I’ve got the lettuce already washed, how much time does it take to make a salad? Like 45 seconds? But if I have to, like, wash the whole head of lettuce right before dinner and then dry it, then that is much less likely to happen.

 

00;10;04;29 – 00;10;22;26

Dr. Mona

I completely agree with that. I mean, I end up sometimes, you know, utilizing frozen vegetables, but even that the warming, the thawing process like, and then you’re like trying to make the meal, but you also have to thaw everything out and cook the vegetables and pre-cooked them, if you will, like. It’s a lot of extra time, like you’re saying, that could have been saved.

 

00;10;22;26 – 00;10;24;04

Dr. Mona

I love that idea.

 

00;10;24;06 – 00;10;48;25

Jenna Helwig

And I think also I am not a meal prepper, but if anyone is amazing, go for it. I’m not someone who’s like spending a few hours on a Sunday, like making the meals for the week. You know, I am a meal planner and I find that that really helps me a lot, you know? So I will like on Friday or Saturday I’ll sit down and think, maybe four nights, what am I going to make for night?

 

00;10;48;26 – 00;11;05;14

Jenna Helwig

Yeah, week. So it doesn’t have to be seven. What am I going to make four nights? Then? I can make the grocery list, and then I know when I’m ready to cook dinner those nights. But I got the food I already have the plan. It just makes things much more seamless. If I open the fridge at 5:45 a.m., like, what am I going to cook?

 

00;11;05;14 – 00;11;09;16

Jenna Helwig

Like I can do it, but it takes too much brainpower at that point.

 

00;11;09;16 – 00;11;29;00

Dr. Mona

Yeah, I love that. And I relate to that so much because I think for a long time I was also trying to do meal prepping and not the planning. And I later realized that the planning is actually what works better for me, that, hey, this is what I’m going to plan out this night will be takeout night, or this night will do frozen like chicken nuggets if I don’t come up with something else by 6:00, right.

 

00;11;29;00 – 00;11;53;20

Dr. Mona

Like, I, I plan that in my head. So that when that time rolls around, you’re not feeling guilty of, oh, shoot, what am I feeding my child? It’s already 6:00 or whatever time, you know, a meal is if you’re doing lunch or dinner. And I completely resonate with that because that has changed my life, too. And something else you said earlier was about the, I think, the parental assumption or feeling like we need to serve everything all the time.

 

00;11;53;20 – 00;12;10;18

Dr. Mona

And that, I think, just adds so much stress. You know, I think people try to focus on the variety. But one thing I always tell my families is that even as an adult, you don’t eat everything. Like, you know, you also, as an adult, probably eat the same 4 or 5 things for breakfast or maybe the same 1 or 2 things or lunch.

 

00;12;10;18 – 00;12;21;19

Dr. Mona

You’re not eating everything. So I think we hold our child to this expectation that I have to introduce this and this and this day, in this day, and that stresses parents out. And I’m sure you can agree to that, right?

 

00;12;21;22 – 00;12;51;04

Jenna Helwig

Absolutely. Yes. And a word that you also just said this word guilt. Oh boy. Like I, I know that it’s so easy to feel that way, but I also just do not believe in it, feel like we are all doing the absolute best we can and that is good enough for your baby. That is great. So yeah, just we all just need to take a good like 30% of the pressure off of our shoulders.

 

00;12;51;04 – 00;12;57;13

Jenna Helwig

Yeah. When it comes to feeding our kids.

 

00;12;57;15 – 00;13;18;27

Dr. Mona

And that’s your follow up. Just a small dose of the real relatable and eye opening conversations we love to have here. If you smiled, nodded, or had an moment, go ahead and download, follow and share this episode with a friend. Let’s grow this village together for more everyday parenting wins and real talk. Hang out with us on Instagram at the PedsDocTalk podcast.

 

00;13;19;04 – 00;13;34;16

Dr. Mona

Want more? Dive into the full episode and more at PedsDocTalk.com. Because parenting is better with support. And remember, consistency is key. Humor is medicine and follow ups are everything. I’m Doctor Mona. See you next time for your next dose.