A nutritionist on weaning - and the quesadilla that saves her every time
This is my mini-interview with Alice Willson. Alice is a certified nutritionist, mum to two little ones, and of course a Hey Mums community member. Here she talks about how she became passionate about nutrition - especially when it comes to supporting families who are navigating tricky stages with their babies or toddlers. Hey Mums is hosting a Cooking Club together with Alice on October 15th. If you in or approaching the weaning phase with your little one, read on!
What made you passionate about supporting busy mums, and how does baby and toddler feeding fit into that?
Alice: Really, it comes from having lived it myself, I’ve been through the picky phases, the food refusal, the constant second-guessing over when to drop a milk feed. Nobody hands you a manual for that stage, and you end up piecing it together from Google searches at 11pm, unsure if what you're doing is even right. I remember how much mental energy that took, and how little was left over for me - my own meals became an afterthought while I was so focused on getting everything right for my baby. That's really what motivates me now: simplifying that whole process for other mums, thinking about family meals that baby can also eat, so they're not stuck in the same loop I was in, and can actually get some of that time and headspace back for themselves to focus on their own nutrition, their own energy, their own sense of feeling like themselves again.
Weaning can feel overwhelming for new mums. What's the one thing you wish every parent knew before they started?
Alice: I’d say to let go of the stress. Babies pick up on our energy far more than we realise so if you're tense about weaning, they'll play off that. The more relaxed and at ease you are (even if it's messy or even if they refuse something three times before trying it) the more it becomes something you both actually enjoy. It's not about doing it perfectly; it's about doing it calmly.
Why dal for our first Cooking Club? What makes this a great first meal for babies?
Alice: Dal is brilliant as a first ‘’meal’’. It's iron-rich, which matters a lot at this stage since babies' iron stores start to dip around six months, it's full of flavour so you're not stuck feeding them bland mush, and it's easy to make for the whole family. You can just blend off an unsalted portion for baby before you season the rest. I'd introduce it after you've worked through vegetables first, but it's one of my go-to early foods after that - it does a lot of nutritional heavy lifting for very little effort.
What's your go-to weeknight dinner when you have zero energy and a hungry toddler staring at you?
Alice: A cheese and avocado quesadilla. Tortilla, cheese, avocado, it sounds almost too simple, but you've got carbs, protein, fat and calcium in one go, and it takes minutes. The avocado becomes almost unnoticeable to those fussy toddlers and it's also endlessly adaptable: mash in some black beans for extra fibre and protein, add shredded chicken or scrambled egg if you have it, or bash in some tinned sweetcorn. It's less a recipe and more a formula I fall back on constantly and my kids always finish their plate.
And just for fun: What is your favorite Singaporean dish?
Alice: I'm a total sucker for egg prata. No contest.
