I get a good amount of questions (and criticisms) regarding the way I practice Baby-Led Weaning. Of course the main principle is that the baby leads, so when approaching BLW, learn your baby’s signs first & foremost! “More” is an easy baby sign and most babies will reach their hands out when they want more of something. Beyond that, there is some wiggle room. Ameena recently wrote a post on what baby-led weaning means to her, so I decided to share our family’s baby-led weaning principles.
“Led” doesn’t mean you can’t help. There are some foods my 6 month old just can’t get to his own mouth well enough, and he ends up frustrated and upset. When he eats slippery foods, often I will hold the food and let him guide my hand to his mouth. We also assist him in using a cup and help him use a spoon with foods that melt. Read Baby’s cues and it is very easy to tell whether or not they want more of what you’re serving!
Noshing on a kiwi fruit, his first time in a high chair! (6 months old)
BLW in public. I don’t feel as though it’s as important to normalize baby-led weaning as it is to normalize breastfeeding, but I do think it’s important not to change your parenting just because you’re out of your house. Honestly, I’ve never noticed anyone bat an eye when I give my baby a big piece of food to nom on, although maybe that’s just because I’m too busy minimizing public BLW messes.
Sebastian loved the briny vinegar cucumbers in this bowl. (Sushi Train in Tualatin, Oregon.)
No real foods are off-limits. We try not to eat anything we wouldn’t want Sebastian to have, although that’s easier said than done. With the exception of fast food, we let him try everything we are eating. We don’t put any foods on a pedestal and he’s welcome to enjoy dessert with us as well as dinner. We avoid salt as too much sodium can be dangerous for infants but other seasonings are fair game.
Go at your own pace. A lot of the other moms on this blog feed their babies stuff I am not quite comfortable with yet! If you aren’t comfortable sharing your whole meal with your baby, start by introducing a big piece of fruit or chunk of meat to suck on. Foods that require more macerating can be added later. I think it’s normal to be afraid of choking but taking an infant CPR class and reading up on the BLW method (Baby-Led Weaning: The Essential Guide to Introducing Solid Foods
Baby-led weaning is easy! We all eat together and schedule bath time for right after dinner!
Janine @ Alternative Housewife
Janine resides in Portland with her small family. Sebastian arrived in September 2010 and enjoys Mama's "milkies", carrots and pears. Janine loves all things hot and spicy. When not eating, they like to spend their time Jumperoo-ing and thrift shopping, respectively. UPDATE: Now pregnant with Baby #2, due May 2013. Can't wait to start BLW all over again!
Follow Me:
Great post. We get a lot of negative remarks about doing BLW which is frustrating. I was at moms group the other day and the other girls were talking about how purees are better and that BLW was too scary and dangerous, all while Capri ate 6 pieces of fruit off the fruit tray with out any teeth or problems.
I keep getting negative comments about the foods themselves (versus the texture). At least one person has expressed a problem with Sebastian having brownie, raw onion and sushi. Seriously, how/what do people think that babies used to eat?
I blame the baby food companies! Just like formula and disposable diapers, trying to tell us that our instincts are wrong and their products are better. *mind boggle*
What cracks me up about “solids are scary” is that if you are truly scared, it’s better to introduce table foods EARLIER. You know, when their gag reflex is really far up so they can learn how to manage small pieces of food, rather than to swallow huge amounts (a spoonful of puree is a lot!) all at once. I feel like because we do BLW that Ben is a lot LESS likely to choke than his peers who didn’t do BLW.
We’ve gotten a handful of negative comments out in public, mostly people talking behind our backs who can’t believe we let our baby have such grown up food! (Protip busybodies: we can hear you!). I just tuck it away in the same file with the lady who yelled at my husband because our son didn’t have a hat on (on a warm, cloudy day) and another lady who told us an 8 month old shouldn’t be at the beach (what?). Mostly, people are just impressed.
I wonder sometimes if I come off as a bit too easy-going with my parenting to other moms though. Like once a mom asked me how I introduced rice cereal to Ben and I said “Oh, we never bothered with that. I prefer to just give him table foods.” Maybe I’ve got a “slacker mom” reputation now because we skipped purees.
Great protip! Haha.
It’s good to be easy-going. I’ve been told I seem relaxed as a mom but as a compliment from older women. New moms have a reputation as so frazzled. I am certainly exhausted a lot of the time but I 100% trust my parenting and don’t stress over my choices. We did purees for about a minute and Sebastian just looked confused and borderline bored. He was definitely disconnected from the experience of eating. When he would reach for my whole food and bring it to his mouth on his own, it just clicked for us.
So well put! Great post!
It is important to do what you feel is best for your baby and ignore unwelcome”advice” or “criticisms”
Like Jess, I think I come across a bit too easy-going to my mum friends. They’ve been on at me to start Cecilia on baby rice since she turned 4 months old. Instead last week while sat on my lap at lunch she helped herself to a slice of fruit loaf from my plate and happily ate it. They all looked absolutely horrified!
I’m glad that you mentioned helping them to hold certain foods. C is generally excellent at holding & eating food (comes from teething at 3 months, I guess) but does encounter the occasional item too slippery even for her pincer grip! I like to think that by letting her guide my hand to her mouth she is still leading the way.