Baby led weaning...natural next step from breastfeeding?

[deductivemom]

I am a long way off from making this decision, but I have recently found myself thinking there should be a more baby-centered way to transition from mostly nursing to mostly eating solids than the typical spoon-fed purees method. While I was looking into the topic, I came across the emerging trend of baby led weaning (well, reemerging, since obviously everyone used this technique before we had food processors and jars of baby food ). I heard this is an especially successful method when transition from exclusive breastfeeding to solids. Plus, I love that LO gets to control how much and what foods he or she eats--a good start toward listening to hunger cues and also accepting a variety of foods rather than being a super picky eater.

Anyone used it successfully? Anyone have problems with it or have a doctor advise against (note that I think it is less accepted in the States than elsewhere currently)? Any tips for recipes or strategies? Any supplies or products that really helped you make it work (I am looking for new things to add to my Pinterest page on the topic)?

 

[fieryphoenix]

We've been doing blw for almost a month now, it seems to be going well. Lo is eating more and more each day, and having fun exploring food. I'm in the states and lo's doctor told me that he needed to learn to be fed from a spoon, that it was a developmental stage and to wait until 10 months before letting him feed.himself. whatever lol I'm still doing it and its working fabulously. I give him whatever I'm eating mostly, lots of steamed veggies, omelets, yogurt, oatmeal, fruits, ect. No special equipment used here, well I guess I have a baby spoon for him, but thats it

 

[optimistic1]

I'm going to follow I'm also interested in this form of weaning. I'm also in the states and I'm sure her doctor will try to talk me out of it but she can either accept my decision and be helpful or bite her tongue everytime we have to discuss what she's eating and hows she's doing with solids. ( I have a few months still but gotta think ahead)

 

[Brieanna]

We did baby-led-weaning and it works perfectly. She has never had baby food and we never "fed' her and she had no problem feeding herself and she eats so much more variety now than most children her age. Her first food was avocado at six months instead of the mushy cereal that most babies start with. Our parents thought we were crazy at first, but not after they saw how much she loved "real" food. (Have you ever tasted store-bought baby food, YUCK!). There was never a problem with "transitioning" from baby food to adult food because that is what she always ate.

We fed her what we are eating pretty much but she eats the food separately (that's a toddler thing I think. she doesn't like her food to touch, lol). So a turkey taco is a pile of browned turkey, a pile of cut up tomatoes, a tortilla, some chopped lettuce, onions etc, in separate piles, but that is my child, not everyone is like that.

I changed the recipes that I normally used a bit. I cut out any salt, added more vegetables, never gave/give her sugar. I basically make simple meals with a few simple ingredients. She is still breastfeeding and she only gets water to drink in her sippy cup, which I think is why she eats the healthy stuff that she does, because she doesn't get full from juice or sugary things. I always allow her to have veggies, cheese, etc as snacks.

Make sure you have enough from every food group. If LO doesn't like something, then try it again several times instead of giving up on it. Our doctor has never said anything except she was originally worried about calcium (LO doesn't drink cows milk) until I told her about the other dairy product she gets in her diet. No one else really has ever said anything negative, but that might be because our LO has always been around the 95% for both height and weight, lol. A lot of people were surprised about what she ate. Not many 9 month olds love steamed asparagus and broccoli with grilled chicken for lunch where I live.

There are some books about how to do it and recipes, but once you learn the basics, you can use any recipe.

 

[deductivemom]

Make sure you have enough from every food group. If LO doesn't like something, then try it again several times instead of giving up on it.

I haven't been in a position to try it yet, but the advice about trying foods multiple times is a great point. I read somewhere that you can't really tell if LO is rejecting a food until they have had a chance to reject it at least 10 times! So many parents have picky eaters who only like 5 or 6 foods and reject everything from some food groups, but maybe they just have toddlers who are naturally skeptical of new foods (as nature intended) and need a few tries to get used to them.

Glad to hear it worked so well for you with minimal complaints from your doc and family!

 

[Larkspur]

I haven't been in a position to try it yet, but the advice about trying foods multiple times is a great point. I read somewhere that you can't really tell if LO is rejecting a food until they have had a chance to reject it at least 10 times! So many parents have "picky" eaters who only like 5 or 6 foods and "reject" everything from some food groups, but probably they just have toddlers who are naturally skeptical of new foods (as nature intended) and need a few tries to get used to them.

I'd be a bit wary of making judgements about other people's toddlers until you actually have one, LOL. Most of my friends with picky toddlers have tried every damn thing under the sun to find ways to get their children to eat a wider variety of foods.

I gave my LO pureed/mashed veg and fruit instead of cereals as first foods after 6 months EBF because he didn't really like finger foods initially and gagged a lot, which I found stressful. I decided it was too early for finger foods, even though he had all the standard signs of readiness.

I reintroduced them a few weeks later and had much better success. So I would say you don't need to be a purist about BLW. At this stage my LO is an absolute champion eater and happily feeds himself with hands or a spoon.

 

[deductivemom]

I'd be a bit wary of making judgements about other people's toddlers until you actually have one, LOL. Most of my friends with picky toddlers have tried every damn thing under the sun to find ways to get their children to eat a wider variety of foods.

I gave my LO pureed/mashed veg and fruit instead of cereals as first foods after 6 months EBF because he didn't really like finger foods initially and gagged a lot, which I found stressful. I decided it was too early for finger foods, even though he had all the standard signs of readiness.

I reintroduced them a few weeks later and had much better success. So I would say you don't need to be a purist about BLW. At this stage my LO is an absolute champion eater and happily feeds himself with hands or a spoon.

Glad to hear you have an eating champ! Didn't intend to be judgmental at all--surely no weaning method works for everyone and there really are lots of tots who are selective no matter what you offer them or how many times.

But of course I have no personal experience to go off of. I'm in awe of how much first time parents are figuring out and working out. Thanks for the comments!

 

[CatherineK]

I use BLW with all mine, my pediatrician agrees (USA) and they amturned out great. All kids have picky moments, but my older two are very adventurous with food. I don't follow any rules or pattern- just give baby, after six months, some of what we eat as a family. Much cheaper and easier than puréed food or store bought baby food!

 

[Emz1982_in_uk]

We did/do BLW here. I found it so much easier than TW (did a mix with my son)and she now will devour anything and everything put in front of her.

Start out slow and use big fist sized pieces of food. Once baby has mastered how to swallow you can add more variety and make it smaller. Great first foods:

Mash
Mango
Banana
Scrambled eggs
toast
muffins
grated cheese
carrot or cucumber sticks
steamed broccoli
steamed cauliflower (cheese)
Eggy toast

Gagging is normal and some babies gag lots (mine did) and other not so much. Choking is silent so then is the time to panic (never happened to us thankfully).

Good luck

 

[Sambatiki]

Pheebs is BLW. It wasn't an intentional decision, Pheebs hated the spoon so we went from there.

If you are interested in doing it read Gill Rapley's book and it has all the information in there and loads of ideas to get you started.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0091923...hvptwo=&hvqmt=e&hvdev=c&ref=pd_sl_inf1q2jow_e

 

[seaweed eater]

We do a combination. Initially he preferred to feed himself but he actually got more accepting of spoon feeding, so we've followed his lead on that.

I would just say that I was nervous about the "listening to hunger/fullness cues" thing with purees but it's really not that difficult. You just have to feed slowly, pay attention to your baby, and not play games to get them to accept more food than they want. If you do that, they are pretty clear about when they've had enough. It's not as if BLW is the only way to follow your baby's lead on feeding.