A month ago we started Jackson on solid food. The kid is a natural — he stuffs his face and gets so excited when he is put in his high chair (which is more of a low chair, as you will see in the last photo). I was never the type that looked forward to spoon feeding my baby. So when I learned about baby led weaning (starting your child on solids, not weaning from breast feeding) I was very interested. Basically it is letting your baby decide what to put in his, or her, mouth and how much to eat.
Probably not every baby would respond well to this type of introduction to solids but I found that Jackson had to ‘approve’ of everything going in his mouth; it was much easier to just let him just feed himself. I simply sit next to him and eat bits of it myself. As I mentioned in my breastfeeding post, I’m pretty lazy so anything that cuts a step of cooking or cleaning is a major plus in my book. I just make whatever we are going to eat that night and cut it into cubes or sticks. No extra cooking or blending. It’s also helpful when we are out to eat. Jax can eat some of whatever we are having (I usually try and order something I know he can have some of).
He loves chicken. I just lightly brown it and boil it in chicken broth to make it soft, then cut it into small pieces. His other favorite foods are watermelon, avocados, pears, toast, tortilla strips, and basically any meat he can get his hands on. He does not prefer bananas, which surprised me a little. I don’t like bananas either so I can’t say I blame him, but we will try again in a few weeks. He wasn’t interested in his avocados last night, but it’s no big deal we just try new foods.
He has a pretty good grasp on most things and can out even small pieces of meat in his mouth. Typically they say to start with strips but he seems to do better with cubes.
And of course Maddie loves dinner time . . . she’s never far away.
If you want more information on baby lead weaning you can visit this website, babyledweaning.com. Also Motherlove has a free podcast on itunes that is very informative. Most of the information I have found is from the UK.
What do you think of baby led weaning? Would you skip the purees?
we’re doing a modified version of BLW with our 7.5 month old. we do do some purees, but we put the food on the spoon and let our daughter feed herself from there. she’s getting pretty adept at getting the food in her mouth. she’s not quite so adept at getting some foods off her tray into her mouth because cooked stuff gets sticky. our next trick will be to try and sprinkle a little wheat germ or ground steel cut oats on some stuff to make it grippy-er while she’s learning.
i was definitely heartened about doing BLW (after strange looks and criticisms from others about BLW) by reading the other day about how babies that are allowed to regulate their own feeding grow up to be better at understanding when they’re hungry and full when they’re older (thus leading to healthier weight). BLW while we’re out to dinner also helps me remember to choose something healthier for myself to eat!
We are also doing some purees actually. He likes the Happy Baby pouches and they are nice to have on hand. The apricot and sweet potato was on sale at whole foods for 85 cents. I didn’t get too many — I know as soon as I stock up on something he will decide to hate it. I have gotten a few weird looks but since Jackson looks like he knows what he’s doing people seem to be ok with it. Plus he looks a little older than he is just because he is a big boy.
It’s great to hear that BLW encourages an overall healthy body in the future. I have also heard that usually those children are less picky eaters too.
I stopped trying to give him cooked/slimy veggies/fruits. He can get them into his mouth but he gives me a look, like, no thanks, mom. So far I stick to items that are naturally soft like peaches, avocados, watermelon, spinach. We’ll probably start to introduce the spoon in the near future for some yogurt and other purees. I hope he can figure it out!