Baby Led Weaning – What I’ve learned so far (other than to have the hoover on hand at all times)
At 8 months most meals we give Logan don't rely
on spoon-feeding at all. Instead he has whatever we are having, although
sometimes I need to make adjustments, mainly leaving salt out and adding ours
after. This is largely due to the fact that
he’s never really had a lot of puree. We started with this but very
quickly moved to mashed foods and finger foods with which he could ‘self-feed'.
Is BLW easier than pureeing food? I’m not
sure. I think there are advantages and disadvantages to both so here’s what I’ve
learned:
- · You will need to continue giving up to 32 ounces of milk or babies normal breastfeeds every day if you want to do BLW exclusively because there is more chance of the cat/dog/garden spider getting more nutrition from finger foods than your baby.
- · If you want to offer slightly mushy food, try something that can also double up as a hair conditioner because it will end up in your hair, your baby’s hair, the carpet..you get the gist.
- · You will probably check google or consult a friend everytime you want to give your baby something new to try.
- · If you lay a selection of food on the tray and expect your baby to pick them up one at a time in a demure fashion, your expectations are far too high.
- · Broccoli trees simply do not go down as well as a Farley’s Strawberry and Peach Biscuit, no matter what songs you sing about them.
- · You will probably need to prepare a bath for your child after every meal. Ideally turn up your heating and leave them in an old vest that can be used for mealtimes because it won’t be long before they know how to take their weaning bibs off on their own.
- · Most days, someone, somewhere will have a panic attack as they watch your baby trying to wrestle a whole banana into their mouth.
- · Your baby will not be able to control how much he/she puts into their mouth so you will sit about an inch away from their face and watch them with an odd smile disguising a fear that at any minute they will choke.
- · They might gag a fair bit but this is okay.
- · Despite all of the challenges, two months after trying finger foods and smearing them across the walls, floors, highchair, clothes, me and daddy, Logan now can eat many things quite well and can indeed join us at the dinner table.
- · I am able to cook a range of things that suit us all as a family without the need to make different meals for adults and the baby.
- · We tend to be eating healthier as a result of doing BLW rather than eating a pizza and giving Logan a jar of puree.
It might not be easy but there have been
proven benefits to babies learning to chew earlier and being exposed to
different textures so I am glad we did it now rather than waiting until he was a
bit older. He certainly is willing to try everything, even if it does end up on
the floor.
