Infants’ transition from milk to solid foods - the lived experiences of first-time parents

Abstract

Purpose: During the transition from ingesting milk to ingesting solid food, infants substantiate their eating habits. The present study focuses on this transition. Specifically, it aimed to explore first-time parents’ lived experiences of their infants’ transition from milk to solid foods. Method: The study is based on the descriptive phenomenological approach Reflective Lifeworld Research (RLR). Ten mothers and ten fathers were interviewed twice; when the infants were aged four to five months and again at seven to eight months of age. Data were analysed according to RLR principles. Results: The findings show that the transition from milk to solid food is a demanding in-between phase. The physically intimate feeding situation is replaced by unfamiliar situations in which parents and infant are physically separated and new types of food are introduced. The process of feeding requires parents’ full attention and sensitivity towards the infant’s reactions. Conclusion: The study highlights how shared parental experiences were reflected in frames for how a meal should normally proceed, including parents’ desire to create healthy eating habits and uphold harmony duringfamily meals We suggest for health professionals to present parents with a wider frame of normality, especially as concerns the concept of what constitutes “normal” eating patterns.

Keywords

• infant food
• feeding behaviour
• parent-child relations
• transition phase
• descriptive phenomenological study
• qualitative study