Alicia Silverstone Defends Pre-Chewing Food for Son Bear, 10 Months

USMagazine, Friday, April 27, 2012, 10:30am (PDT)

Whether or not her fans agree, Alicia Silverstone doesn't regret feeding her son baby-bird style.

"I can understand that it would make some people feel uncomfortable, possibly, because it's new to them," the mother of son Bear Blu, 10 months, told Entertainment Tonight on Friday. "But I do want to let you know that this has been going on for thousands of years -- still going on all over the place -- and it's natural."

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Back in March, The 35-year-old actress posted a video on her website, The Kind Life, in which she pre-chewed food and had Bear eat it directly out of her mouth. The video sparked a huge controversy on the Web over whether or not the practice -- premastication, or pre-chewing solid food for an infant -- was hygienic.

Silverstone defended herself to ET: "It's a part of the weaning process, so while I'm still breast-feeding it's just a way to introduce him to food when he doesn't have teeth… and he can't chew."

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Bear Blu, born May 5, 2011, is the first child for the Clueless star and her husband, Christopher Jareki.

"My kid is healthy. My kid's the happiest baby ever. He didn't have teeth and he would choke," she explained. " And, basically, how it started was simply that Bear -- when he was about 5 months old -- I'd be eating and he would come at me with his little mouth open and be on my mouth trying to get the food out of my mouth."

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Alicia also added that it's "neat" her son actually wants to eat his vegetables and that she has "no regrets" posting the video.

This article originally appeared on Usmagazine.com: Alicia Silverstone Defends Pre-Chewing Food for Son Bear, 10 Months