Matt Hazell Blog

Sitting here writing this blog, with Luca down stairs playing with his little kitchen, and Tyler having her lunch of Milk and Butternut Squash, I can’t help thinking what all the fuss is all about.  Over the past 24 hours a storm of biblical proportions has developed, and you could be forgiven for thinking this storm relates to the floods in Australia, or even the political unrest in Tunisia.  No, this storm (yet again) is all about when to wean a baby, more specifically, should you wean before six months??

First seeing the debate unfold on the BBC’s Breakfast News, I was sure it was just a short story on a slow news day – how wrong could I be.  As I travelled into London, I was bombarded with texts, and people sending me pictures of The Times newspaper with the front page headline – “Babies need solid food – not just breast milk”.  Well throughout the day, it continued and when going home on the train, I picked up my much needed Evening Standard and within the first few pages I see an article by Kiran Randhawa (ES’s Health Correspondent), providing some additional insights by the NCT’s Rosie Dodds, Alan Lucas (one of the team who wrote the paper in the British Medical journal) and Nifa McLaughlin editor of www.gurgle.com .  In essence I agree with Nifa, who simply points out that there is “no consistency in the research on the subject.  Every week there is something new suggesting that breastfeeding is either beneficial or harmful”.    

When I started The Baby Chef, in part it was to help parents cook for their little babies and enjoy this sometimes stressful journey.   Additionally, it was to try and normalise the process, by taking away much of the mixed messages and confusion around the subject of when to wean and introduce solids.  I sought out the most relevant information, and worked with professionals like Lucy Jones now part of the Baby Chef team and a Specialist Dietitain.  What I think we came back to time and time again was “normalise” the process.

For me, weaning is exciting, joy-filled and stressful in equal measure.  What food should you try and when, how do you prepare them and, importantly what should you avoid?  These are some of the questions that parents are confronted with at arguably one of the most important times in a child’s life. 

It’s all very straight forward for me, first, it’s 100% natural, and for that matter part of human nature.  Everyone on the planet needs to learn this life skill, and as parents we must help and nurture these first steps with our children.  Second, parents have instincts, and one instinct might be to start weaning your baby at around 5 months, as we did with both Luca and Tyler, and like many millions of parents before us.  

There may also be a combination of factors why parents might be looking to start this process before 6 months.  What I mean by this is, your baby is able to hold themselves up in the highchair without bobbing around, he or she is not sleeping through the night after eating all the night time feed, and they seem to be getting hungry between feeds.  In addition to these cues and signs, you might also be contemplating the more practical side of things.  For example, for many parents, the thought of going back to work while you’ve a child that’s not sleeping through the night is not acceptable. By starting to introduce solids into the diet with the milk feeds, should help your baby to sleep peacefully through the night, and this has got to be a positive for all concerned.  I can tell you from experience that as soon as we started to wean Luca and Tyler, they both started to consistently sleep from 7pm through until 7am.  

So all I can really say is that you’re a parent, and you need to make sound decisions while keeping it simple.  In essence, normalise, and think about these basic principles

1. Don’t ever start before 17 weeks as your babies’ stomach is not ready for solid food

2. Have at least 3 or 4 of the above signs playing out during the day

3. Don’t be pressured into doing it because your mate in the coffee club is doing it

4. Don’t leave it past 6 months, as Iron in the diet is very important

5. Relax, and take your time during the first few days (Remember this is a first)

6. Be led by your paternal instincts

As for the media storm, I’ll let it pass over “again”, as next year we’ll be told something else by some organisation, or government looking to do the best by us, but ultimately confusing the most natural thing in the world – eating...

Read more blogs at www.thebabychef.co.uk  or follow Matt on twitter @mattthebabychef  or Face Book  Matt Hazell – The Baby Chef.     

The time has come for me to get stressed, well almost.  Our new baby should arrive any day now, so I thought I should sneak in a quick blog while I’ve the chance...  So, first things first, VERY excited by the imminent arrival of above said buba (Boy or Girl)!!  Rachel’s been off for the past two weeks and we’ve both enjoyed the sun with Luca also taking a week off work (I mean nursery) to come and play in Cornwall.  How good is the sun by the way, loving being outside cooking on the BBQ, fresh corn on the cob, newly created marinades for the chicken, beef of lamb, lots of Jersey Royals with mint and olive oil, fresh Tomato and mozzarella salads and so much more (Sorry, just lost it there for a second, The Baby Chef is back in the room!!).

So, how will this change our lives?  Not sure at the moment, but working from home will relieve some of the pressure from Rachel, and in the long run will be good for the new baby.  I tweeted out the other day (If you get the chance, follow me on twitter @MattTheBabyChef) about a leaflet I picked up from the midwife.  It was all about Dads, and the rights we have at work when a new baby arrives.  In a way I’m lucky, as I work from home, but for the millions who don’t this is precious time to bond and help with the new arrival.  Some interesting quotes came from it, stuff like:  You can take two weeks paid leave when your child is born, as long as you give your employer 15 week’s notice.  95% of flexible working requests from working parents are agreed and you have the right to take up to 13 weeks “Unpaid Leave” until your child is five years old!  Wow, I didn’t know that...  See www.direct.gov.uk/dadsatwork for more information.

As for Luca, I think he knows something’s coming, but I’m not convinced he’s sure what it is?  As for the impact on a boy of 3, who’s had our total attention, we’ll just have to see.  We’ve got him a few presents from the baby, and he’ll have to adjust to the new routine either way.   Luckily, Luca’s always been accepting of change, and takes to new things well, be it riding his scooter (from his much loved tractor) or moving up into the next room at nursery.  Time will tell...

So, The Baby Chef.  What’s next for us.  Well, the next few months will be very exciting for the business.  We’ve appointed a new PR company to take control of the Media and Hard press.  We’ve had lots of positive conversations with TV producers, so very exciting.  Some big brands have said they like what we’re doing and so we could see some very good opportunities come from this, I’ll keep you posted.

Rachel, well she’s got the hard part, so I’m off to look after her and pick up the little boy.  Wish us luck, and I’ll Blog again soon

Matt J

When people ask what prompted me to start The Baby Chef, several reasons that spring to mind – the belief that there must be a simpler way to illustrate weaning, the feeling that a closer bond can be developed by sharing mealtimes, and the desire to take away parents’ natural concerns during this period.

But surely one of the main reasons anyone wants to feed their child fresh, healthy, homemade food is to ensure they get the best possible start to life? After all, anyone that knows me knows my passion for good food – but my desire to give Luca a healthy start is an even greater driving force.

And I think the importance of home cooked food is made even more prominent in the light of high profile studies showing how much sugar, salt and fat can be found in certain baby foods – and showing that cheeseburgers and biscuits can be more nutritious.

The Children’s Food Campaign survey carried out last year showed that certain baby foods had more sugar than chocolate digestives, while others contained more saturated fat per 100g than a McDonald’s quarter pounder cheeseburger.

Overall the survey revealed an incredibly high number of baby and toddler foods that were deemed high in saturated fat, salt and sugar. Only half the products were low in saturated fat, salt and sugar.

Studies like this do make me upset because our children’s health should be a priority. I just hope that we can show people that home prepared weaning food  can be simple to produce and cheap to buy, encouraging them to make the switch from the convenience foods that aren’t actually good for our little ones.

A full report on the survey, along with statements from some of the companies featured, can be found at http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2009/may/04/baby-food-nutrition-claims

A Sainsbury’s survey has revealed that just under half of mums fear they won’t get their baby’s nutrition right, while 37.2% were concerned about knowing the right time to move them on to solids.

Other concerns highlighted by the study included what parents should feed their children once they had been weaned on to solids, how to persuade them to eat the right foods, and how to get value for money when shopping.