Alicia Silverstone feeds her toddler from her own mouth, posts video and explanation
Video is below
Like the Octomom story, Kaiser, Bedhead and I all had a little e-mail conference yesterday in which we agreed to skip this story for a while. Now that it’s even bigger news this morning, we’re giving in and covering it. So you’ve undoubtedly heard that actress Alicia Silverstone posted video in which she chews up food and feeds it to her baby, Bear Blu, now ten months old, from her own mouth. Alicia wrote that Bear was a month or two younger when she filmed that video and that now he will crawl across the room expecting to eat from her mouth whenever he sees that she’s eating. It’s controversial to say the least. Alicia put out a vegan cookbook in 2009 called The Kind Diet. This may be a natural parenting thing, but this is the first I’m hearing of it.
Is Alicia Silverstone getting her parenting tips from birds?
The actress’ 10-month-old son, Bear Blu, is already eating solids — as long as they’ve been pre-chewed. In the latest video posted on Silverstone’s website, the 35-year-old feeds her baby by chewing up his food and feeding it to him mouth-to-mouth.
“I just had a delicious breakfast of miso soup, collards and radish steamed and drizzled with flax oil, cast iron mochi with nori wrapped outside, and some grated daikon. Yum!” she wrote on The Kind Life, the website for her vegan cookbook, “The Kind Diet.”
The “Clueless” star explained, “I fed Bear the mochi and a tiny bit of veggies from the soup … from my mouth to his. It’s his favorite … and mine. He literally crawls across the room to attack my mouth if I’m eating. This video was taken about a month or 2 ago when he was a bit wobbly. Now he is grabbing my mouth to get the food!”
“Pre-chewing” is actually a thing, but it’s very uncommon in the US and other Western nations and not recommended by health care professionals, as it can pass infection and disease from parent to child.
Dr. Jennifer Landa, who dedicates her practice to bioidentical hormone therapy, customized nutrition and fitness programs, told Fox News:
“There are those who think that a mom chewing a baby’s food provides helpful enzymes from her mouth but it doesn’t seem like a hygienic practice. Various viruses and bacteria, but especially herpes virus, may be passed from mother to baby. These microbes present a challenge that the infant’s immune system may not be ready for.”
[From The Huffington Post]
Some people are saying this is shocking and not at all hygienic. Others are saying that this is how mothers fed their babies for thousands of years (we haven’t been around for millions yet) and that it’s natural and safe. This is why I quoted this story from Huffpo, because it seems to have a good balance of both perspectives. My reaction is more of puzzlement. I’ve read comments in which people say they’ve chewed up food for their babies, and maybe I’m naive or not creative but this never occurred to me and I’ve never seen other moms do it. I just fed my baby soft food. Plus there are blenders, food processors and gadgets specifically for making baby food. So it seems unnecessary and kind of risky. Alicia is putting this out there, though, so she wants us to talk about it. To each their own I guess. As long as her kid is happy and healthy.
