The term “Blender Baby” may seem strange at first glance, but it has gradually become a concept that has started to enter the literature. Well, what is a blender baby?
With the transition of babies to the supplementary food period, additional nutrients begin to enter their lives in addition to breast milk or formula. Parents try to make every food as smooth as possible during the supplementary food period, with the thought that their children, who are fed only with liquids for the first 6 months, will not have difficulty in feeding.
All the foods that the child eats at breakfast and other main and snack meals are ground with a blender. While this is done for easy feeding of the child, it cannot be realized how negative it is for nutrition and eating habits in the future.
When all the foods are ground with the help of a blender and made almost liquid and smooth, the child cannot taste the food separately, so the formation of palate is negatively affected.
Besides, there are other negative aspects of being a blender baby, here are a few:
Children who constantly eat food that is ground with a blender have difficulty in learning to eat lumpy foods.
For this reason, the swallowing function is not used and the child who cannot learn to swallow may forget to swallow over time.
When the child encounters lumpy food or is forced to swallow, the food may get stuck in his throat, run into his windpipe, or vomit
Eating can be a problem when the child starts kindergarten or enters different social environments.
The chewing activity ensures that the feeling of satiety goes to the brain and that the child stops eating. However, since there is no chewing in children who are constantly fed with smooth and ground liquid, the feeling of satiety is less.
Children with a decreased sense of satiety may face the risk of obesity.
Chewing movement is also very important for the development of teeth and jaw bones.
In some cases, even when children reach the age of 3-4, they may have difficulty in eating solid and lumpy foods. For this reason, the use of blender can be used even for a short time during the transition to solid food, but it should be reduced after 7-8 months and completely removed from the child’s life at the latest 1 year old.
