Hallie Bulkin explains when and how to move babies from bottles to solid foods. Jaw and tongue stability must develop first, usually around six months. Watch for clinical red flags: no tongue side-to-side movement past 10-12 months, gagging on lumps, or food pocketing in the cheeks.
The bottle to solid transition is really a chewing transition. The jaw and the tongue, right, they need stability before they can handle new textures. And so that's why like prolonged bottle use can actually delay chewing. Babies who never learn efficient sucks swallow breathe patterns also tend to struggle to coordinate to swallow breathe pattern. And early introduction of appropriate textures around six months depending on like readiness cues is going to help promote jaw and tongue dissociation. I kind of spoke about that a little bit. So what I want you to clinically watch for here is if there's like there's no tongue lateralization past 10 to 12 months, they're relying on, you know, mouthing foods in the front and just kind of like munching. There's persistent gagging at times or even choking on lumpy textures. Usually it's more of a gagging than it is a choking fatiguing while eating or pocketing food. Right. These, these are not picky eaters. These are the kids who have missed key oral motor milestones.
What I Was Missing in Feeding Therapy: ARFID, Airway, and Myo with Samy Hernandez
