"I Can Feed Myself" offers an alternative approach to introducing complementary foods for the attentive family of a fully breastfed infant who is growing well, who receives sufficient responsive stimulation outside of the feeding time, and where siblings can understand the unique nature of an infant's table manners. For those self-selected families, this video provides an interesting possible complement or alternative to traditional approaches to introduction of solids, including cautions to avoid foods or food sizes that may cause choking. Involving your infant child in mealtimes offers an opportunity to have family interaction, supporting development of social skills, establishing family mealtimes as fun, positive experiences, and promoting his/her overall wellbeing. "I Can Feed Myself" may be an interesting alternative approach for this select group."

A few words about choking from Platypus Media...

Thank you for purchasing I Can Feed Myself! A Baby-Led Approach to Introducing Solid Foods. We at Platypus Media are dedicated to creating and distributing materials that encourage a world in which loving families are the cornerstone of caring communities.

Watching your baby grow and develop new skills is a wonderfully exciting aspect of parenthood. Babies are eager to learn to control their bodies and to understand the world around them. Eating solid foods is a tremendous leap for children. Yet, just as going from immobility to crawling and walking poses hazards for kids, so does eating solid foods. In the United States, choking on an object, or mechanical airway obstruction, is the leading cause of unintentional injury that results in death of children less than a year old, and is the fourth leading cause of death for children under 9 years old.

Children that are not spoon-fed and instead learn to feed themselves with help from caregivers are thought to be less at risk for choking than spoon-fed babies. A baby-led approach enables the child to practice moving food around inside her mouth early on so that she becomes adept at it. This considerably reduces the risk of the food being taken directly to the back of the throat.

Parents may be concerned that children who aren’t spoon-fed will choke, however babies naturally chew things before swallowing them. The risk of choking appears to increase when babies are taught to eat by sucking pureed food off of a spoon and then try to apply what they have learned about sucking pureed food off of a spoon to food that is a mixture of liquids and solids.

It is imperative that all caregivers understand the risks and facts about choking. Children are likely to choke on small, round, flexible objects; coins and small toys meant for older children are common causes of choking in young children. Other common choking hazards include: hot dogs, grapes, hard candy, popcorn, nuts, raw carrots, marbles and small balls, and arts and crafts supplies.

However, choking risks for children can be reduced with a few simple steps:

Children should be sitting upright while eating.

Children are at a higher risk for choking if they are rushing, walking, running, or laughing while eating.

Children should always be under the watchful eyes of an adult while eating.

Older children may increase the risk of choking by offering (or forcing) inappropriate food to the younger child.

Food should be carefully cut up into small pieces for young children and in this way common foods that pose significant risks can be made safe for children.

All parents, teens, and adult caregivers should take an infant/child CPR course with your local American Red Cross.

For more information please visit:

The American Academy of Pediatrics: http://www.aap.org

The American Red Cross: http://www.redcross.org/where/where.html

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: http://www.cdc.gov/ncipc/wisqars/

The Consumer Product Safety Commission: http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/pubs/pub_idx.html

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