Starting Baby Led Weaning

I am no expert, I have no medical training, I'm just a mum that's gone through the baby led weaning. So if your in any doubt talk to your health visitor for more qualified information. This article talks about weaning in the UK meaning not USA, over this side of the pond it means when babies start solid food. They are still getting majority of their nutrition from breastfeeding or bottle, all three were breastfed until he was nearly a year or longer. (The USA meaning of weaning is stopping breastfeeding).

We did baby led weaning for all three kids. I did a lot of research when I was pregnant and decided it was right for us. In my understanding, pureed food was introduced when health professionals believed babies should be introduced to food at 4 months old and the puree was given to babies from 4 to 6 months. And then when they reached 6 months they went on the solids.

Baby Led Weaning is simply giving babies control to feed themselves with manageable solid food.

Here's a link to a leaflet by the creator of Baby Led Weaning for guidlines for detailed information on how to start.

Were you worried about choking?

This is the most common question all my friends asked me when we started. Yes I was worried about choking, but I would be equally worried about my baby choking on puree food.  There is a big difference between choking and gagging. They gagged a few times in the beginning and yes it was a little scary but babies gag reflex is much more forward in the mouth than adults. This is the way they learn to deal with food. I have had pediatrics first aid training in the past, and would recommend every parent to learn first aid regardless of the feeding method you choose, as I knew exactly what to do in case of emergency.

With gagging they make noise, choking is silent. They gagged many times and then spat out the lump of food but never choked.

In my opinion, I knew that babies can choke on puree or solid food and decided I would rather he learn how to cope with solid food as soon as possible (from the recommended 6 months).

How did you start?

We started at the weekend once they were 6 months so that Daddy could be there, but also that week my parents were visiting so there were always 2 of us around which helped with my nerves.

We started with lunches and every day introduced one new item, either fruit or vegetables. Then as he became more interested we introduced breakfast and then dinner but this gradually over a long period of time.

We were lucky it was summer when we started so stripped him down to a nappy so his clothes weren't covered!

Prepare for mess and at first it won't take long, they only have small stomachs so fill up quickly. Trust your baby that they will eat until their full. They are still having their milk so this stage is just leaning and playing with food.

What food do you start with?

Broccoli!

 
This is perfect food for beginners as once cooked it's very soft and the stalk is natures handle!

Bananas, although I covered them with a grain type thing to help with grip (sorry can't remember the name but I wouldn't recommend it, it tastes foul!

Carrots, we cut them into strips and over cooked them so they were really mushy and easy to eat.

There are so many fruits and vegetables so just work your way through them. They need to be big enough pieces as at this stage they need a handle and eat the rest. Some food is really slippery so is hard for babies to hold let alone eat. We left the skin on some food like the melon here, although I later decided to cut off half of the skin so there is some grip but plenty of access to the soft food.

Sandwiches cut into fingers are easy and good for trips out (this was at a service station). I think he had soft cheese in this sandwich.

 

We then offered combinations of food, like lumpy vegetable soup with bread tipped in. I hate cooking so we bought tinned soup, but only reduced with salt. Once you start looking there is a crazy amount of salt in most food and it's not good for anyone let alone babies. 

Soup is messy! We had those suction bowls that stick to the high chair and were amazing at preventing more mess, until they lost their stickiness or my kids worked out how to loosen them. 

Once you get to this stage you can get more inventive and give proper meals for example stir fry, quiches (home made, I had a strange urge to cook a batch!) and even sushi!

I'll go into more detail in future posts about meal suggestions.