A Crash Course in Baby Led Weaning - Part 2

Getting Started

Getting started with BLW is very simple.  Here's a short recipe:

Ingredients:

A baby

A highchair, bumbo with tray or simply a loving adult's lap.

Healthy food (preferably fruits and veggies to start, but almost anything will work. Try to stay away from heavily processed foods, those high in unhealthy fats, salt, and sugar.)

Directions:

Place baby in safe baby chair or on lap and offer food from your plate.  To make it easier on baby, offer large pieces that are easy to grab. Resist the temptation to help your baby.  You can place the food in her hand the first few times, but allow baby to play, munch, or throw to her food to her heart's content.  Let baby eat (or play) as long as she wants, then repeat at each meal if baby is interested.

There you have it.  The basic recipe for BLW.  You can offer just about anything you are eating to your baby, as long as it is healthy.  This is what H ate for his first solid meal.

 

Vegetable Curry Stew. He loved it.  He mostly sipped a little broth and chomped on some eggplant, but it was a hit!  Since then, we've offered him more healthy choices than many adults try in the course of an entire year (or longer!)  During times we eat unhealthy (like tonight with the Burger King!), I offer H some cut up fruit, roasted or steamed veggies (microwaving steaming is quick and easy), and/or some whole wheat, honey-free bread.  If he wasn't sensitive to dairy, I might also offer him a slice or two of cheese.  

After doing BLW for nearly 2 months already, I have a few tips to pass on to the inquiring minds:

• Place a plastic mat or a sheet under your baby to catch the impending avalanche.  You can pick up the food and offer it again to baby, or you can just easily toss plastic or shake out a sheet.  Or, you can just get  dog that eat anything, like ours.  He has the falling onions, melon, broccoli, mushrooms, apples, and everything else eaten within a second of it hitting the floor.
• Keep a wet wash rag or wipe handy for when baby is done.  Unless you want spaghetti sauce all over you, you'll want to wipe him down first.
• When possible, especially before baby has the pincer grip down, offer pieces that are easy to grab and hold on to.  I cut H's fruits and veggies so they are about 2 inches long so he has a 'handle' and a side to eat.  A stalk of broccoli is the perfect example of an easy-to-grip piece of food.
• Eat with your baby so he can learn by example.  Let him join you at the dinner table, but try not to stare at him too much - he might get side tracked.
• Keep your camera handy.  It's so fun hearing the comments from others when they see H chewing on a stalk of asparagus or cramming a fist full of beans in his mouth.
• Run this method by your pediatrician.  Some babies may need extra nutrients at some point if they aren't big eaters, and it is important that the doctor know what your baby has been eating.  You'll also want to keep a mental note of how baby reacts to certain foods. 
• Do not offer small, hard foods like nuts - they are a choking hazard.  Stay away from honey as well.

 Have any questions?  Leave them in the comments section, and I'll answer them in an upcoming post.

Next time: It's Cloth Diaper Time!