Alicia Silverstone pre-chewed her baby's food and he ate it directly out of her mouth

American Horror Stories star Alicia Silverstone admitted she pre-chewed her baby son's food and fed it to him directly through her mouth.

The actor, now 46, made the unusual revelation when her son Bear Blu was just 10 months old and posted a video of herself carrying out the process on her website.

The proud mum said that she thought it was 'neat' that her young son was so keen on eating vegetables.

However, perhaps unsurprisingly, it sparked a huge debate about whether or not it was the right thing to do - with some viewers expressing concerns that it was unhygienic.

"That is not the proper way to feed a child," slammed one viewer. "He could get transferred germs, just saying."

A second added: "He's human not no bird."

"Just found out that Alicia Silverstone mama bird feeds her kid somebody HELP HER [sic]," wrote a third while a fourth added: "This Alicia Silverstone bird feeding thing creeps me out. We are humans, we have utensils and food processors [sic]. Weird."

"Alicia Silverstone bird feeding her son?" questioned a fifth. "THAT'S WHAT BABY FOOD IS FOR YOU DUMBA** [sic]."

But despite being largely subject to criticism, Silverstone insisted it was hygienic to feed her son like this and said she has 'no regrets' about promoting the practice.

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She went on to defend herself and told Entertainment Tonight: "I can understand that it would make some people feel uncomfortable, possibly, because it's new to them.

"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."

The mum explained that as her son couldn't chew food himself - because he didn't yet have teeth - it was a great way to introduce him to it.

"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," she continued.

"My kid is healthy. My kid's the happiest baby ever. He didn't have teeth and he would choke," she insisted before revealing that he was the one who initiated feeding in this way.

"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."