Feeding
Family meals and eating together
The association between shared meals and child outcomes is one of the more robust findings, and the mechanism is not the food.
Feeding
Breast, bottle, weaning, allergy and the practical mechanics.
Feeding
Vitamins and supplements for babies
A small number are genuinely recommended, the specifics vary by country, and most of the rest are unnecessary.
Feeding
Weaning off milk feeds
There is no required end point, and how it is done affects comfort, mood and the child considerably more than when.
Feeding
Fussy eating in the second year
Food refusal around a year is developmentally normal, and the responses that make it worse are the intuitive ones.
Feeding
Water, cups and drinks in the first two years
What to give, when, and in what — with a clear list of things that should not be given at all.
Feeding
Allergies and intolerances in the first year
Immediate and delayed reactions look completely different, and the difference determines what happens next.
Feeding
Bottles, teats and getting a baby to take one
Bottle refusal is common, is not stubbornness, and responds to changing the circumstances rather than persisting harder.
Feeding
Growth charts and what centiles mean
A centile is a position in a distribution rather than a grade, and the pattern over time matters far more than any single point.
Feeding
Expressing and storing breast milk
Output from a pump is a poor measure of supply, and the storage guidance is specific for good reasons.
Feeding
Starting solid food
The timing guidance has a reason, the allergy advice has reversed, and the method matters less than people argue.
Feeding
Reflux, spitting up and when it is a problem
Almost all babies bring up milk, very few need medication, and prescribing has run well ahead of the evidence.
Feeding
Formula feeding, done properly
Preparation and sterilising have specific safety reasons, and the differences between products are smaller than the packaging implies.
Feeding
The first two weeks of breastfeeding
Almost everything difficult about breastfeeding happens in the first fortnight, and most of it has a mechanical explanation.