BABY LED WEANING – MY EXPERIENCE AND GUIDE
When my son Soren reached for a spoon at 6.5 months, grabbed it from my hand and placed it in his mouth, I was stunned and inspired. Despite the hesitant looks of my husband and some relatives, I gave Baby Led Weaning a real try. And so happy I did. As I write this, my 18-months-old is gobbling a turmeric stew with collard greens and quinoa and will most likely ask for seconds. I’m either lucky or this method has something to do with it.
I learned about Baby Led Weaning from a few friends and from our pediatrician who did a combination “puree/finger foods” approach with her daughter. She really encouraged me to try it, setting aside my initial and unfounded fears (on fears below). I was an impatient mom with a very hungry baby, plus Soren was showing all the signs of being ready so I started experimenting when he was 5.5 months.
Below is a summary of what I have learned during our Baby Led Weaning experience. My only goal is to inspire you to try it and to give you an idea on what to expect and how to start.
DISCLAIMER
I am not a medical professional and the below information is based solely on my own research and experience. Please consult with your pediatrician/family doctor to determine whether this method of feeding is suitable for your child.
WHAT IS BABY LED WEANING
Baby Led Weaning is an exciting way to introduce solid foods into your baby’s life. It’s a method of SELF-FEEDING.
What distinguishes it from the traditional method of feeding are THREE important things:
- You start no earlier than 6 months (traditionally most people start introducing solids to their babies in the form of cereals around 4 months). Before 6 months baby drinks only mother’s milk or/and formula. I did cheat and started at 5.5 months but I knew Soren was ready.
- You let your baby feed himself. This way your baby is in control and you are the observer. You provide an opportunity and your baby feeds himself right from the beginning. If you offer little bites – your baby explores with hands. If you offer soups and porridges that require a spoon, you preload a spoon and offer it to your baby to take on his own. They learn this skill so fast, it’s incredible.
- You give your baby real whole foods. You skip purees. No blenders, no mush. Baby eats what you and your family eat. You offer a large variety of flavors, colors, and textures right away. Initially, one ingredient at a time but overall your baby is exposed to a much larger assortment of real foods, which leads to a more open-minded attitude towards food and eating.
WHAT DOES THE TERM MEAN?
Baby Led Weaning was a confusing term to me when I was just learning about it. To me, it implied that baby weaned himself/herself off of something. It is kind of misleading because the method is introduced at 6 months but until 1 year baby’s primary source of nourishment comes from mother’s milk or/and formula. Solid foods do not substitute milk. They supplement it.
The funny thing is “weaning” means “giving up breastfeeding” in the US and it means “adding complimentary foods” in the UK. Go figure! The method is British and I am in the US, hence my confusion. Now you know too.
WHY DO IT? THE BENEFITS OF BLW
- Baby develops a real and LASTING positive attitude towards food.
How many of you like what you are forced to do? Well, with BLW there is no forcing, which leads to eagerness to explore foods and open-mindedness to flavors and textures.
When we force-feed/spoon-feed our babies, we interfere with their ability to hear their own body. Because in BLW baby is in control and decides WHAT he eats (he may choose to eat what you offer or may refuse it) and HOW MUCH he eats (if at all, which is totally normal), he is able to preserve his innate ability to self-regulate:
- to instinctively avoid foods that he may be allergic to
- to pick foods he likes
- to understand his hunger clues, to know how to satisfy them and when to stop eating
The concept of messing with children’s ability to understand their own bodies is at the core of pediatric feeding disorders. If interested, read this New York Times article (long but fascinating).
- Baby starts developing fine motor skills early, which is directly linked to cognitive development. BLW makes your baby use all parts of his mouth and tongue at 6 months, which is great for his development as opposed to just using the “sucking” reflex when offered puréed foods. He practices grasping and manipulating small pieces of food and his hand-eye coordination every time he uses fingers to place food in his mouth.
- It is FUN! Baby enjoys self-feeding much more than a passive spoon-feeding by mom. It’s like a game for them – game of learning. Because of this fun relationship with food right from the start, babies are less likely to grow into picky toddlers.
- You avoid the often-difficult transition from purées to real food. It doesn’t exist with BLW since you offer whole foods right away.
- It is EASY. No need to have a blender if you are eating out or traveling. Baby eats what you eat (minus the salt). You are cooking only once for the entire family so that saves time and money.
- It affects your HEALTH: parents start eating much healthier. My husband and I were always healthy eaters but we took it to a whole new level when Soren turned 6 months.
- FAMILY: you all eat together (in theory). That one didn’t work out as well for us as I hoped but I know many people who managed to eat a few meals a day together.
There are many more advantages but above are the main ones for me.
WHEN & HOW TO START
WHEN TO START
I honestly think it’s all about your readiness. If only we set our nervousness aside, we would be amazed at how early our babies are ready to explore new activities (not just food). That said, offering real foods to babies should be done with caution, attention and trust.
It is recommended that BLW is started at 6 months of age – it is the time when baby’s gut is mature enough to take real food and is less likely to react badly. Every child is different so watch out for your baby’s signs of readiness. And be mindful of possible allergies, especially if you have a family history of them.
Your baby will be ready to explore food when:
- he can hold his head up
- he can sit upright by himself or with minimal support
- he gnaws on his toys
- he reaches out to grab things and bring them to his mouth
- shows interest in what you are eating by looking and reaching towards it
TIPS ON HOW TO START
- WHERE: You may choose to sit your baby on your lap and let him play with the food on your plate or you can put him in a highchair with a tray. I find that the highchair works better because you can observe your baby’s face as the game begins. Make sure he is upright; reclining back while eating is dangerous.
- TIMING: Your baby should be well-fed and happy when you offer him his first foods. I offered the first foods about an hour after milk feedings. Start with once or twice a day. In a month or so, when your baby is well adapted to his new game, you can offer “meals” three times a day.
- HOW MUCH FOOD: The first weeks, and even months for some babies, are all about playing and exploring. The main nourishment comes from milk and/or formula so don’t be nervous if the food is thrown around and nothing goes in. Clean plate is not your goal at this point.
- ONE INGREDIENT: General guidelines suggest you offer one ingredient at a time for a couple of days in a row. I did one ingredient a day the first week and then moved to two and even three foods at a time. My intuition was telling me it was ok to do that. It’s important to note that neither my husband nor I have any food allergies, which gave me more confidence to proceed that way.
- KEEPING TRACK: I had a calendar on the wall where I recorded everything Soren tried in the first three months. I think initially it’s important to keep track so you don’t have to rely on your tired memory in case there is an allergic reaction. Plus it’s an excellent source of ideas for what to feed your baby. Once you create a full week’s menu, you can always glance at it and get inspired. Not knowing what to make for dinner is so stressful!
- PHOTOS and VIDEOS: Have your camera ready. Tasting first foods is the funniest, most fascinating experience you and your baby will go through. To me, it was as exhilarating as when Soren walked for the first time.
WHAT YOU WILL NEED (useful products I used):
- Highchair with a tray. I bought a special tray for it with high edges – ideal for our food adventures.
- Stokke Tripp Trapp Highchair: expensive but the desing is great and the footprint is much smaller than other chairs, which is ideal for our small apartment.
- Play Tray for Stokke Highchair : the original Stokke tray will work just fine but high edges of this one were helpful with Baby Led Weaning mess.
- Bib:
- OXO: great bib with a soft top, which won’t bother your little one’s neck
- Baby Bjorn: a classic bib, great for 6-12 months. Toddlers would prefer the OXO bib.
- Floor mat: a very useful item to catch all the pieces of food that will end up on the floor. Since my mat was always clean, I picked up the food and placed it right back on the tray; something I wouldn’t do if the food fell right onto the floor.
- Veggie steamer: I use this simple cheap old-fashioned steamer. Works perfectly for me and occupies no space in the kitchen unlike the electric steamers.
- Crinkle cutter: at 6 months, grabbing food is a challenge. If it’s slimy, soft and slippery, it’s triple the challenge. Using the crinkle cutter to cut the veggies and fruits up will give them a textured edge, which would help little hands to grip.
- A pad or calendar where you record everything you offer to your baby.
- Camera to record all the fun!
FIRST FOODS
Some people literally start with barbeque chicken! Have you seen some of the videos on YouTube? That was a bit too risqué for me so Soren’s first foods were mainly steamed veggies and soft fruits. Because I recorded what he ate in the first weeks, I am able to share our “menu” with you. Please use it for ideas but shrink or expand the repertoire based on your comfort level and your baby’s reaction to foods.
Cut the food into long strips so that your baby is able to hold it with the entire fist. The food should be soft enough to gnaw on but hard enough not to break. Once the first top and bottom teeth come through, I would suggest cutting food into small bites.
WEEK 1 (one ingredient per day):
- soft pear
- avocado
- banana (cut lengthwise, otherwise it’s a choking hazard)
- apple (steamed)
- carrot (steamed)
- sweet potato (steamed)
- butternut squash (steamed)
WEEK 2 (one or two ingredients per day, rotating foods)
- frozen pop made with spinach, pear, peach
- pumpkin/squash (steamed)
- broccoli (steamed)
- avocado
- apple (steamed)
- broccoli + avocado puree (fed with a spoon by me – since he wasn’t still 6 months)
CONSTIPATION: to resolve I gave Soren pieces of orange and a little diluted prune juice.
WEEK 3 (one or two ingredients per meal, once or twice a day, rotating food)
- instant oatmeal + banana
- zucchini (steamed)
- sweet potato (steamed)
- mango (ripe)
- red bell pepper (steamed)
- spinach +red pepper puree
- soft pear
- banana + pear puree
- beets (roasted until very soft and grated)
WEEK 4 (more than one ingredient per meal, once or twice a day)
- kiwi
- avocado
- banana
- pear
- orange
- frozen spinach pop
- blueberries (cut in half)
- !scrambled eggs (I gave whole eggs per our pediatrician recommendation)
- chicken soup with veggies and lentils
WEEK 5 on:
After one successful month of BLW, I started offering more variety (listed below) and started cooking normal meals like soups, stews, pastas, frittatas without salt. Most of the recipes on my blog (95%) are baby appropriate from 6/7 months.
- grains like quinoa, millet, oatmeal, buckwheat, rice, lentil pastas, toast fingers
- meats like turkey, beef meatballs, chicken
- veggies like cauliflower, spinach (steamed and chopped), eggplant (in stews), beets (golden and red), asparagus, fennel, potatoes, peas, parsnip, tomato (, green beans, leeks (in stews and sautés), kale (in stews), mushrooms, onions, corn, cucumber
- fruits like raspberries, blackberries, grapes, melon, strawberries, pineapple, grapefruit
- dairy like plain full fat goat yogurt, homemade ricotta cheese
- fruit and veggie smoothies with several ingredients
- peanut butter
- spices like turmeric, cinnamon, sweet paprika,
- herbs like fresh parsley, cilantro, dill, basil
I introduced fish (salmon) at 7 months.
WHAT WE AVOIDED BEFORE 1 and AFTER 1
WHAT WE AVOIDED BEFORE 1
- Honey
- Salt
- Cheese
- Cow’s milk (unless it’s a yogurt or homemade ricotta)
- Whole nuts and seeds (unless it’s nut butter): you have to be careful with nuts and watch closely for a possible reaction, which can occur after multiple tries. However, recent research shows that early introduction of nuts (in the form of butters) leads to a slimmer chance of nut allergies.
WHAT WE TRY TO AVOID ALWAYS
- Sugar including juices, sweet yogurts and any sweetened drinks
- Any artificial sweeteners (I use maple syrup, honey, date and coconut sugar, banana, apples and dried fruit to sweeten our food)
- Cow’s milk (I use cow’s milk kefir to make homemade ricotta and omelets and use goat milk to make Soren’s oatmeal)
- Processed and deep fried foods
- Low-fat and fat-free anything
- Fish with high mercury levels (swordfish, tuna, shark, marlin, king mackerel)
- Deli meats
- Bacon
- Sauces like ketchup, mayo, soy sauce, etc.
- Canned anything except organic canned beans and tomato sauce
YOUR WORRIES AND FEARS
- Choking/Gagging
- How can a toothless baby chew
- Worry that baby is not eating enough
- Constipation
- Mess
ON GAGGING/CHOKING
Your fears of choking are really just fears. That doest mean that you should leave your small baby experiment with solid foods alone but, truly, most babies find their first foods entertaining and manage them very well. As long as they are sitting upright and are offered the appropriate foods (not hard raw carrots, nuts and candy), they will not choke. But they will gag! a lot! Gagging and choking are not to be confused. Gagging is normal; it’s a safety mechanism and is part of learning how to manage the food safely. Gagging is learning how not to choke. Gagging will go away the more practice the baby has with the food.
HOW CAN A TOOTHLESS BABY CHEW
At six months babies usually have just two bottom teeth but their gums are very strong. How is that breastfeeding going at times J? They use them to bite, gnaw and munch. At the beginning you will be offering your baby foods that are soft-ish – something they can easily handle.
As recommended, I started with foods that Soren could hold with his entire fist. For me a challenge began when Soren’s top teeth came through. I suddenly realized that he could easily bite off large pieces of apple or cucumber. That’s when I transitioned to offering him foods cut into small bites.
WORRY THAT BABY IS NOT EATING ENOUGH
From personal observation, this is one of the hardest things for parents to deal with. If we put something on the plate, we want our kid to finish it. If he doesn’t, we will dance, sing, turn on TV, whatever it takes for the plate to be clean. We are convinced that we know better than him and that his proper growth and development depends on that clean plate. It is really important to let go of this mentality. Hungry babies eat! Trust your baby and help him recognize his own hunger clues. If on certain days no food goes in – it’s totally normal; he’ll stock up on it another day. Your baby decides how much to eat!
CONSTIPATION
At the end of the first two week of solids, I had a worry. Soren had some major blockage. I could see that his tummy was bothering him and he didn’t produce any dirty diapers. Our pediatrician told me that this was to be expected. I gave him a few ounces of prune juice and it seemed to relieve him. It never happened again. Consult with your doctor if your baby has trouble with constipation and hard stools. But know that it’s very normal when just starting solids.
Also, avoid unripe bananas and too many apples. They are the common triggers. Beets and oranges, on the other hand, are excellent laxatives.
MESS
Because you have little control where the food ends up, expect the inevitable – the mess. Babies tend to drop food first accidentally and later intentionally. It’s all learning for them. Once they master the skill of feeding themselves, the mess will diminish as well. It is cleaner to spoon-feed your baby but for me, dealing with some mess was a fair price to pay for all the incredible befits of BLW. Your best bet is to prepare for it, be relaxed and remind yourself that this is such a short stage of your little one’s life and you will miss it once it’s gone. Try to have fun with it! And if you are frustrated, allow yourself: mom’s job is really hard.
LAST THOUGHTS
Baby Led Weaning is a method of feeding. It doesn’t automatically mean healthy foods. It means offering whole foods with its variety of flavors and textures. YOU DECIDE how healthy your baby’s menu is. On these pages, I offer healthy recipe ideas that don’t take much time to prepare and that will truly nourish your baby and your family. 95 % of the recipes can be offered to babies from 6/7 months. Browse away!
If there is one magic power that moms have is INTUITION. Forget all the info online, in books or on this page. I believe your intuition is the most valuable thing you can rely on. You are designed to feel your child better than anyone (but not better than the child himself). If you can separate your intuition from fear in your head, you will be golden. Trust yourself and your baby. Together you will make the best decisions.
