When Charlotte was four months old she started watching us eat food and was very interested in what we were doing. I researched baby led weaning and loved the idea. After my husband and I talked about it, we decided to go with this approach for starting solids. Baby led weaning is just a fancy term for baby's first food to be chunks of food that baby feeds herself versus traditional purees or baby cereal that is spoon fed.
I had several reasons for doing this. My husband and I love food and cooking. We cook all our meals at home and try to eat a diet containing whole fresh foods. It made sense to just give her what we eat rather than buying her jars of food. I also believe in family meals at the table. I selected a high chair that matches our dining set and slides right up to our table. Charley is apart of every dinner and eats what we eat. The big bonus is that we get to eat while she's eating and it saves us all a little time. I also wanted her to experience a variety of textures and flavors of food. That is hard to get with purees. I've tasted them and they all taste the same to me. Lastly I wanted Charlotte to be in control of how much she eats.
When I decided to go with this approach I did my research and learned that babies are ready to start when they can sit up unassisted, show an interest in foods, can bring food to their mouth, and lose their tongue thrust reflex. This is usually around six months. For Charlotte she had all of these things early on, but didn't sit up unassisted until right at six months. The day she turned six months she had her first food. I was so excited. Up until this point she had only had breast milk & the occasional bottle of formula. We set up the tripod and filmed the whole first feeding. She was given a wedge of roasted sweet potato and avocado.
These are a pretty typical first food since they are soft. She had a hard time feeding the avocado to herself since it was slippery, but she loved both foods. She ate it all with a little assistance.
From my research, everyone said to start by giving them food cut into sticks (think French fries) since they hold everything in a fist. However Charlotte wouldn't hold it and take a bite, she would shove the whole thing in her mouth. This made me nervous. With baby led weaning gagging on food is typical. They are learning how to chew first and sometimes food hits that gag reflex. Gagging is much different than choking. Charlotte has never choked on foods, but gagged a few times while learning.
Until she was able to pick up cut pieces of food, we would put her food in front of her and while she tried to do it we would intermediately help her with a spoon or fork. When we started she would have some food once a day in between nursing.
Now, three months later, the girl eats everything and loves food. She eats breakfast, lunch and dinner while continuing to nurse every 3-4 hours. Typically she has a fruit for breakfast, a fruit,veggie and protein for lunch and dinner. We do keep a small stash of purees for when days are hectic (I work full time) or timing doesn't allow for a long meal. Some days she is too hungry (and grouchy) to wait for a meal to be made. A stash of purees can be a lifesaver when you have a hangry baby on your hands!
I'll be posting photographs and descriptions of the food she eats and meal ideas to help other parents who are interested in this approach to feeding baby. Comment below with questions on anything I may have missed.Labels: baby led weaning, cooking
