Starting Solids Without the Stress: Our Convo with Jenny Best

STARTING SOLIDS

If you’re getting ready to introduce solids to your baby and feeling equal parts excited and terrified, you are not alone. There’s so much noise out there about how to do it "right," what’s safe, what’s not, and whether you’re about to ruin your baby’s relationship with food forever because you didn’t steam a carrot properly.

Enter: Jenny Best.

Jenny is the founder & CEO of Solid Starts, the go-to resource for parents navigating the world of starting solids. She and her team of pediatric feeding experts, dietitians, and doctors have created the most comprehensive, science-backed, and *actually helpful* guide to feeding babies. And in our conversation with her, she completely shifted the way we think about baby food.

Here are some of the key takeaways:

Wait… Spoon-feeding isn’t necessary?

One of the biggest takeaways from our chat? Baby food is more of a modern invention than a necessity. "We've just been told over and over again that baby food is required when, in fact, it's really just kicking the can down the road," Jenny told us. Babies *can* handle real food from the start—you just need to know how to introduce it safely.

Gagging ≠ Choking

Raise your hand if you’ve ever panicked at the sight (or sound) of your baby gagging. 🙋‍♀️ We get it. But as Jenny explained, gagging is actually a good thing—it’s how babies learn to manage food in their mouths.

"The only way to move past gagging is for baby to feel chewable food in their mouth over and over again," she said. The key is knowing the difference between gagging (normal) and choking (not normal), which she breaks down beautifully in the episode.

Babies don’t need teeth to eat real food

Another myth Jenny busted? That babies need teeth to eat anything besides purées. "Your baby's molars won’t come in until closer to their second birthday," she explained. "And we don’t chew with our front teeth—we chew with our molars!" Babies' gums are strong enough to mash soft foods, and waiting for teeth to come in before introducing real food? Completely unnecessary.

Self-feeding *reduces* choking risk

This one stopped us in our tracks. Jenny explained that letting babies put food in their own mouths actually makes them less likely to choke. Why? Because they’re in control of the pace, and their gag reflex is further forward in their mouths when they’re young—giving them more protection.

The pressure to “just take one more bite” backfires

Jenny also dropped some major truth bombs about picky eating. Turns out, the more you pressure a child to eat, the less they eat. "If you want your child to eat more, you have to back off. You have to strip away all hints of pressure and make it fun again," she said.

So, where do we start?

We covered so much in this conversation, but if we had to sum it up: Babies are more capable than we think, pressure-free meals are key, and if starting solids feels overwhelming, the Solid Starts food database is your new best friend. It’s packed with guidance on how to safely introduce hundreds of foods, including choking risks, allergen info, and how to serve them at different ages.

Want to feel way more confident about feeding your baby? Go listen to this episode. Your future, less-stressed self will thank you.