Parental Decision-Making Around Introducing Complementary Foods: An Integrative Review

A primary role in infant parenting is feeding, and this role undergoes a significant transition when introducing complementary foods (CF), with important long-term health implications. Understanding the influences on parental decision-making around timing the introduction to CF can help health care providers provide parents with effective support for feeding; however, the factors that influence parental decision-making have not been recently reviewed in the United States. To determine influences and information sources, this integrative review examined the literature from 2012 to 2022. Results indicated that parents are confused and distrustful of inconsistent and changing guidelines around CF introduction. Instead, developmental readiness signs may be a more appropriate way for practitioners and researchers to support parents in appropriate CF introduction. Future work is needed to evaluate interpersonal and societal influences on parental decision-making, as well as to develop culturally sensitive practices to support healthful parental decisions.