The Adventures of Baby Led Weaning

08/08/2013

So this post was written in March 2012. Since I have moved to be the West Edmonton Director and no longer St. Albert, this post was removed from that site. Recently I had a conversation about Baby Led Weaning with someone and figured I should post it. The info is still relevant. Now that my then year old baby is two and a half *insert sad sigh* I must tell you I believe this to be one of the best things I’ve done for my daughter. She eats anything and everything. Meats, veggies, steamed, baked, boiled, sauteed etc. Her current favorite foods are curried chickpeas and cucumbers. Like I said, she eats everything. Now on to the post……….

I heard about baby led weaning a couple of months before my daughter was 6 months. I thought it might be a new fad or something but it sounded interesting enough to have a look into. One of the best choices we have made for our daughter so far. Baby lead weaning for those who have never heard of it, is having your child go directly to “grown up” food from the start and no puree food.

Before I get into our experience I strongly recommend researching about this first. It will help put some questions and concerns at rest. There is a few Facebook pages dedicated to open discussions and questions about BLW. This one I find to be really helpful, especially because there are people from all over the world, so you can relate to someone from the area you live. I also suggest reading the book Baby Led Weaning by Gill Rapley and Tracey Murkett.  Here is their website.. I did the “fast read” of the book and got the info I needed. (Yeah I’m impatient like that)

So we started the day after M turned 6 months. We started with super boiled broccoli, cauliflower and some rice. I boiled them so much I am not sure there was much nutrients left! I was scared that if they weren’t soft enough she would choke or wouldn’t like them ever again or something. Let me tell you our dinners were boring for some time, lots of spaghetti and boiled veggies with rice. See the idea is that they eat what you are eating. Instead of making separate meals or baby food for them, they simply eat items from your plate.  Part of the lure for me was simply the fact I didn’t have to make an extra meal! I already have to make two separate ones (me being a vegetarian and my husband the worlds biggest meat eater). Your dinners don’t have to be boring for a while though. You can make the separate meal for them at first while figuring out the food or just be more imaginative then me. 😉

At first she didn’t seem to consume much, but as explained in the book and other sources; it’s okay. Their main source of nutrients is breast milk or formula anyways, as they get better with the picking up and putting food to their mouth and chewing the more they will eventually consume. Our daughter is very proof of that. She didn’t eat too much for about a month or so and now she eats as much as a teenage boy some days!

The process was very messy in the beginning. Food in her hair and eyebrows, all over the floor and on the walls I think. (thank goodness for having a dog!) As she got better with her pincer grip and more control it became less messy and more amazing to see our child become so independent with her feeding herself. We saw one of the benefits of BLW weaning very soon when she developed her pincer grip quite early and it translated well when playing with her toys.

As the months have gone on our 12.5 month old will eat anything and everything, including veggies like broccoli, all meats and fishes, LOVING fruit and just about anything else. Any texture, spices, color and so on is a fun new experiment for her.  This isn’t for everyone, especially when there is severe allergies or other food restrictions and as always check with your doctor first. Good luck on your road to however you choose to start solids!

Here are a few tips/suggestions I have for those wanting to try BLW

• Don’t be discouraged if he doesn’t seem to eat a lot at first.
• Learn the difference between choking and gagging. This one is very important and good for your peace of mind.
• They don’t need teeth for BLW, they gum foods and suck the nutrient juices out of them at first anyways.
• There is no need to be super strict if you don’t want to. At the beginning we used an occasional baby food when out for lunch and didn’t want a mess.
• Get a good bib. Long ones with a good front pocket and/or sleeves are the best for containing the mess.

A few of our favorite foods that can be eaten with hands.

• Oatmeal and fruit, make the oatmeal thicker so it’s easier to grab.
• Boiled/steamed veggies.
• Bananas are certainly a great starter food and still the favorite in our house.
• Crackers with cream cheese on them.
• Mashed potatoes.