Show notes
#86: The real foods your baby learns to eat don’t just provide nutrition, they also help build the jaw, shape the airway, and influence how your baby breathes and sleeps. When babies learn to chew real, safe foods instead of relying only on soft purées, they’re doing important developmental work with their mouths that supports healthy jaw and facial growth.
In this episode, I’m joined by Dr. Kevin Boyd, DDS, MS, a board-certified pediatric dentist with a background in human nutrition who specializes in airway-focused dentistry. We talk about how early feeding experiences influence jaw and airway development, why food texture matters when starting solid foods, and how these ideas align with baby-led weaning.
You’ll learn what to watch for as early signs of airway or jaw development concerns, what evolutionary data tells us about how babies were meant to learn to eat, and simple ways to support healthy oral development from the very beginning. If you’re starting solid foods and want to understand how feeding impacts more than just nutrition, this episode offers a whole new perspective on first foods.
Listen to this episode to learn:
1. How chewing real, safe foods actually does for your baby’s jaw and airway development and why this matters far beyond nutrition
2. Why the textures your baby is exposed to when starting solid foods can influence breathing patterns, sleep quality, and long-term oral health
3. Which types of real, safe first foods best support chewing skills and healthy jaw development when starting solid foods
Shownotes for this episode can be found here:
https://www.babyledweaning.co/podcast/86
Links from This Episode:
• Find an Airway Health Solutions Airway Dentist near you using this locator: https://airwayhealthsolutions.com/locator
• Watch this training video by Ben Miraglia, DDS about Intercepting Sleep Disordered Breathing: https://airwayhealthsolutions.com/video
• Children's Airway First Foundation website is at:
• CAFF Website: https://www.childrensairwayfirst.org/
• REBIS Integrated Multidisciplinary Sleep Health Website: https://www.rebishealth.org/
• Baby-Led Weaning with Katie Ferraro program with the 100 First Foods™ Daily Meal Plan, join here: https://babyledweaning.co/program
and get $50 off when you sign up using the code BLWPOD50
• Baby-Led Weaning for Beginners free online workshop with 100 First Foods™ list to all attendees, register here: https://babyledweaning.co/baby-led-weaning-for-beginners
Other episodes related to this topic:
• Episode 144 - What Did Babies Eat Before Baby Food was Invented? with Amy Bentley, PhD
• Episode 466 - Beginnings of a Bad Bite: How Purees Impact Jaw Growth with Ben Miraglia, DDS
• Episode 260 - Adapted Baby-Led Weaning for Children with Developmental Delays with Gill Rapley, PhD and Jill Rabin, MS, CCC-SLP/L, IBCLC
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Not sure about which foods to offer your baby next? Get your copy of my original 100 FIRST FOODS list on my free online video workshop called BABY-LED WEANING FOR BEGINNERS.
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Want guided help on how to make all of the 100 FIRST FOODS™ safely for your baby? My program BABY-LED WEANING WITH KATIE FERRARO has a 100 FIRST FOODS daily meal plan and everything else you need to start solid foods safely with baby-led weaning. CLICK HERE TO JOIN and save $50 off when you sign up using the code BLWPOD50.
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Be sure to follow @babyledweanteam on Instagram and our Baby-Led Weaning YouTube channel for more information about helping your baby transition to solid foods safely.
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If you learned something from this episode and like this podcast, your review means the WORLD to us and helps other parents find this important evidence-based infant feeding info. Click here to leave a review on Apple podcasts or rate this show on Spotify podcasts and thanks for being a part of this amazing and supportive baby-led weaning community!
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