Feeding kids healthy bite sized food can really pay off

Helen O’Callaghan hears about the merits of baby-led feeding 

AILEEN Cox Blundell’s 19-month-old son, Oscar, has a great relationship with food. He owes it mostly to the lessons his now 13-year-old sister, Jade, taught his mum when she was a baby.

“At seven months, Jade wouldn’t let me near her with a spoon. She was so independent. I used to make her bites of food — little pastas filled with goats’ cheese and spinach, muffins with kale, little fish patties — nutritious things I thought would satisfy with her,” says the Dublin-based graphic designer.