My little man has now reached the “older baby” stage of eight months. This has brought on many comments and questions concerning his eating and sleeping habits. Somehow, our society has made eating/weaning and sleeping through the night hallmarks of parenting.
In raising my son, I believe allowing him to naturally mature and grow at his own rate is vital to a healthy discovery of life and learning. When we stop thinking about deadlines, dates, and goals to reach, we can enjoy the ride. Controlling other human beings in order to make our world what we think it should be has never made anyone happy or at peace. A graceful, non-controlling environment is conducive to true learning, and learning should be enjoyable. When we each are allowed to grow at our own pace we can enjoy the journey. Most of life is a journey. Destinations signal the end. So, I believe even the smallest learning step such as eating a sleeping are no different.
In nature, we see that babies are first born with a natural need to rely solely on mothers milk. Food is always available, but their ability and need for it are not. I have never seen an animal force feed their baby. The development of eating solids just comes as the baby decides it should. When a ewe has a baby lamb the lams first only drinks milk. After some time, I will observe the small lamb “playing” with solid foods. A nibble here, a tiny bite their. Sometimes, they will roll a tiny morsel in their mouth and spit it out. Then, they may experiment with some water. Sips here and there. A lamb with adequate milk supply will never fill up on water unless sick. So, what is happening here? Learning. They are learning to eat and learning to drink at their own pace. Suddenly, one day they just take off eating by their own choice and have a full meal of alfalfa or corn. Then, a few drinks from the stream naturally follow. The next meal will probably be back at mom. There is no schedule or requirements placed on the little animals. Their bodies know what they need, and the lambs respond and learn as they choose. Eating and drinking for the human baby should be little different.
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| Young lambs mimicking mom. They couldn't live without milk yet, but they are practicing. |
In nature, we see that babies are first born with a natural need to rely solely on mothers milk. Food is always available, but their ability and need for it are not. I have never seen an animal force feed their baby. The development of eating solids just comes as the baby decides it should. When a ewe has a baby lamb the lams first only drinks milk. After some time, I will observe the small lamb “playing” with solid foods. A nibble here, a tiny bite their. Sometimes, they will roll a tiny morsel in their mouth and spit it out. Then, they may experiment with some water. Sips here and there. A lamb with adequate milk supply will never fill up on water unless sick. So, what is happening here? Learning. They are learning to eat and learning to drink at their own pace. Suddenly, one day they just take off eating by their own choice and have a full meal of alfalfa or corn. Then, a few drinks from the stream naturally follow. The next meal will probably be back at mom. There is no schedule or requirements placed on the little animals. Their bodies know what they need, and the lambs respond and learn as they choose. Eating and drinking for the human baby should be little different.
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| A lamb a litte bit older taking a few sips. He will still remain drinking mostly milk until he is a lot older. |
At almost six months, my little man went from zero interest in food to an uncontrollable desire to taste everything. So, I let him. He didn’t eat really anything. He just tasted, made a face, and went on. Why not? He was learning about his environment and developing an important step in eating. About a month later, he wanted to actually eat something. I just started making food available. The decision was up to him. Somedays, he ate a couple spoonfuls probably totally a teaspoon of ingested food. Other days, a little more. A couple rare occasions he ate a whole banana and shocked me. Eating is an adventure in exploring tastes, textures, and mechanics of the body. Now, he always wants his own spoon. I fill the spoon for him and he carefully tries to eat as he see us do. It is a messy affair, but he is learning to feed himself. All in all, he still only eats about a teaspoon or two a day. I give him a tiny baby spoon half dipped in blackstrap molasses each day. A healthy treat for iron levels. Other than that, coconut yogurt, coconut cream, bananas, pears, asparagus, apples, mangos, egg yolks, and potatoes of every kind are his favorites. He continues to taste here and there and build his world of food every day. As for water, I do leave a sippy cup out with his toys. More than a couple sips a day and I am surprised, but he is left to it on his own. The mechanics of using one fascinates him along with the occasional taste of water. He will help himself to a few drops in the bath every now and then too. Just like those little lambs, he is discovering his little world and incorporating what he learns as he pleases. I am simply happy to watch him on his discovery journey. After all, with a lifetime to go, the beautiful journey has only just begun.
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| My little man playing with his spoon, trying to mimic his mom and dad. |
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