01 December 2023 , 21:13
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Former Hollyoaks star Gemma Atkinson has furiously defended her approach to parenting after a fan slated her approach to introducing solid food into her young son’s diet - and for ignoring NHS advice.
The 39-year-old actress is engaged to 33-year-old Strictly Come Dancing professional dancer Gorka Márquez and together they have two children; four-year-old daughter Mia and four-month-old son Thiago. Gemma has opened the doors of her private life via social media and regularly updates her followers with information about her life at home.
She has also been engaging with some of her fans who has quizzed her about feeding Thiago as many noticed he has moved on from milk and is dining enthusiastically on porridge. But some fans were critical of Gemma and Gorka’s choice to introduce solid foods to Thiago at such a young age.
Before online trouble erupted, Gemma wrote: “A few of you have asked if we introduced the porridge. I mentioned a few weeks ago that I knew he was ready so we started a few weeks back. He has 2 bowls a day for now & he absolutely loves it. He gets excited when he sees the bowl.”
Gemma Atkinson and Gorka Marquez have been criticised for the way they're feeding their son (Gemma Atkinson/Instagram)
The couple are parents to four-month-old Thiago and four-year-old Mia (Instagram/glouiseatkinson)The actress added: “Obv everyone parents different and no one knows your baby better than you so always do what you think is best.” Her update attracted the attention of some followers - with one asking for more details on how the couple realised Thiago would be able to handle solid food. One fan wrote: “Hi! How did you know he was ready for the porridge? He’s adorable and only a few weeks younger than my little lady.”
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Gemma replied: “Hey! I knew as it was the same things Mia did. Draining his bottles and still rooting for more (even with a 6 ounce) taking an interest in watching us eat, picking his lips when I was eating and reaching for my food if I was eating with him on my knee. He’s a lot bigger than Mia was as well so u knew he was defo ready.”
But this update was slammed by one follower - who accused Gemma of ignoring NHS advice. The unimpressed fan wrote: “None of them are signs of readiness lovely. Signs of readiness are sitting up with no or little support, no tongue thrust and being able to put food up to their mouth themselves. Look on the NHS website, draining bottles and watching you eat are not signs of readiness. Just really don’t want you spreading misinformation to new mams.”
But Gemma lashed back at the fan saying she knew what was best for her own baby. The young mum wrote: “That’s why I always say ppl should do their own research. I spoke with a private baby physio who told me that the sitting up with no support is down to a babies weight & size not food related at all hence why they all do it at different stages.
“The sitting up for food is to reduce choking hazards. Weaning with different foods of course you wait for the 6 month mark. I won’t be giving him breadsticks or anything just yet. But smooth baby porridge from his same brand of milk recommended from 4 months is working for us, just as it did for Mia.”
She added: “Also, I LOVE our NHS but the guidelines change on the site a lot as well. When I’ve asked why something is recommended it’s always because ‘those are the guidelines now’. There never seems to be any actual evidence or reason why which is a shame as it’d help us mums a lot more. I understand hospitals have policies they stick to but for me as a 2nd time mum I’m a lot more confident in my decisions for them. 100% each to their own though for sure..”