Baby led weaning?

[sarahsthreads]

Things have changed since starting the girls on solids...

DD1 was rice cereal -> thin purees -> chunky purees -> finger foods.
DD2 was chunky mashes -> finger foods.

A friend encouraged me to try baby led weaning this time around. DS will be 6 months in a week or so, and seemed *very* interested in food, so Saturday and yesterday I broke bananas into those convenient lengthwise thirds and let him have at it while we all ate dinner. I'm not sure he actually ingested very much (if any, honestly) but he seemed to enjoy the experience.

Gave him steamed baby carrots cut lengthwise today - this time I'm sure he swallowed *something* a couple of times, but then he seemed completely uninterested in playing/eating more.

This is normal? Or we started too early? Or he just likes banana better than carrots??

I'm really struggling with the whole idea that I could just give him a bit of toast at breakfast or let him attack a pile of lasagna. Is it not necessary to intro single foods for several days to test for a reaction anymore? (I feel old.)

Sarah :)

[BunnyBee]

Unless you have allergies in your family, I think you just let them go at it. :) Eating is mostly for practice right now, so don't worry if he eats little and wears much. I only worry about choking hazards and things that would be just stupid messy. Bananas I cut in wedges then slice and toss with wheat germ or crushed Cheerios to give it some grip. I keep sweet potato wedges (baked) in the fridge for easy supplements. WF has butternut squash chunks in the freezer section in bags. Easy to grab a few and heat up. Meatballs too you can heat from frozen and cut into wedges. Most meals it's easy to find something for the baby, but it's nice to have a few alternatives or supplements. When he's a little older, the refillable pouches are great for yogurt and mooshy things.

My mind is blanking on what else. Oh, they will get a little too much and gag it back out. It's gross, but they're very effective at taking care of it. Most kids anyway. With my oldest, I couldn't put more than a couple pieces out at a time or she would constantly choke herself. We still have to remind her to breathe when she eats.

The baby eating pieces of real food always freaks out my mom, which is kind of a fun bonus... ;)

[jam224]

We loved BLW. We started solid food for DD once she was 6 months old. However, she didn't really eat a whole lot until she was 9 months old. The bulk of her nutrition was provided through breastmilk. She was always nursed before she was given food to eat, that way she didn't have hunger pangs to frustrate her. She could slobber and nosh to her heart's content. The only thing I spoon-fed was yogurt.

What you describe sounds totally normal to me! Hang in there, he'll get the hang of it! :) Here are some other ideas for other soft BLW foods: http://wholesomebabyfood.momtastic.com/babyledweaning-recipesfoods.htm#.UwL_0Pl7EfU. The book is a really helpful resource; if you don't want to purchase a copy, you can see if your library has it: http://www.amazon.com/Baby-Led-Weaning-Essential-Introducing-Confident/dp/161519021X/.

[123LuckyMom]

Go for it! And don't get scared if he gags. He's not choking. He's preventing himself from choking extremely effectively!

I agree that reading the book is helpful. See if you can get it from your library.

BLW is fun and much easier, IMO, than buying or making baby food.

[pastrygirl]

We did that with my youngest. I never, ever spoon-fed him anything, and never pureed anything. It was GREAT. He was eating full meals, as in his OWN kid's meal, at restaurants by 9 months old. He ate a TON and a single kid's meal was too small for him to share with his then-4yo brother. He would keep eating as long as food was there.

Alas, once he hit a year, he stopped eating so much, and now at 4 still doesn't eat as much as I would like.

ETA: I think he started out slow, munching on a whole pear, at 6 months. At 7 months, he chomped on a full-loaded burger that I was eating (he was sitting in my lap and I was startled by his chomp!). After that, he ate like crazy.

[sarahsthreads]

OK. I'll just go for it. My library system does have the book, though it will take a few days to get it.

If I were going to buy one (because Prime is faster than ILL!) am I better off with the original book or the cookbook?

Off to ponder what else I can pick up at the grocery store later... BunnyBee, how do you bake your sweet potatoes? Do you cut them in wedges first? Or bake them and then cut into appropriate pieces?

I am terrified of gagging, though I understand that it's meant to protect them from choking. It's equally scary to me. But when he actually got some mushy carrot in his mouth last night you could tell he was on the verge of gagging as he moved it around with his tongue, but then he managed to swallow the little bit he had in there with no harm done. I felt like I was on pins and needles the whole time, though! I've taken an infant CPR course, though it's been a while, but even when it was fresh in my mind I still felt like I'd totally panic if I was put in a situation where I needed to use it. Maybe not, though...between DH and I, I was the one who kept my head when DD2 bit through her lip and I'm really squeamish about blood.

Sarah :)

[lizzywednesday]

I wouldn't bother with the cookbook because I found a lot of the actual book to be very clear, if repetitive, and encouraging for trying new things. We started closer to 7 months. Using the book and website together helps with figuring out WHAT to feed the baby, but you really don't need recipes.

For things like yogurt, we pre-loaded the spoon rather than feeding it to her, which is an idea from the BLW book.

As for the single-food thing well, if you don't have FA's in your family, I think a lot of that is a relic of when babies were started on solids before 6 months. One of DD's first foods was guacamole, which isn't exactly a single-ingredient thing!

[Katigre]

We loved doing blw with dd and ds2. If you search the boards you'll find a bunch that I posted about tips and ideas from a few years ago

Sent from my phone using Tapatalk

[sarahsthreads]

OK, this is how sleep deprived I am.

DS was lunging for DD1's graham cracker while I was attempting to give him strips of (steamed because it wasn't perfectly ripe) pear. He practically threw a baby tantrum trying to get at it.

So I gave him a quarter of a graham cracker. And he actually ate a good bit of it. Hopefully I haven't totally spoiled him from eating "real" food. :rolleye0014: Good gracious, three days ago he was exclusively nursing and today I gave him a graham cracker. :bag

Sarah :)

[BunnyBee]

OK, this is how sleep deprived I am.

DS was lunging for DD1's graham cracker while I was attempting to give him strips of (steamed because it wasn't perfectly ripe) pear. He practically threw a baby tantrum trying to get at it.

So I gave him a quarter of a graham cracker. And he actually ate a good bit of it. Hopefully I haven't totally spoiled him from eating "real" food. :rolleye0014: Good gracious, three days ago he was exclusively nursing and today I gave him a graham cracker. :bag

Sarah :)

He's the third kid. If you have four, it will be eating cold pizza from the fridge by 6 mos. ;)

I peel the sweet potato and cut it, then bake until soft but not crispy. Usually 350? I bake fries at 400-425 for us. If I made them for everyone, I'd just pull some and crank the heat. I didn't bother doing anything different after a couple of months. This works for most roasted veggies. My DS doesn't like things browned, so I pull stuff early for him anyway.