Weaning... the Baby Led Way

I don't proclaim to be an expert in Baby Led Weaning

( lets just say BLW instead aye )

But now AJ is nearly 7 months old we have been slowly introducing him to real foods without mushing things up the same way we did with EJ.

In fact Ive not even read the whole BLW book I should probably get it out of the Library and read it lol

Anyway This is about my experience using the BLW method ( loosely speaking ) with EJ and AJ

Typically first food in this house for all 3 boys has been Apple,

With Nate I did puree it but not for the younger boys they just got sticks of apple big enough to hold and have a bit sticking out to chew on.

It can be a scary thing to give whole food to a young child but BLW works on the priciple that if their bodies are ready to accept food ( ie.. their digestive system being mature ) then they will have the motor skills both with their hands and their mouths to be able to eat food without the need for it to be provided in puree form.

It makes sense in my head probably because we had a terrible time with Nate moving from smooth loose puree's to thicker and lumpier foods and hes still not great with thick textured foods or things lumpy in a sauce like chunky soups... so if there was a way to skip that problem I was all up for it with EJ, Also we had to spoon feed Nate for ages as he wouldnt feed himself it was a misson when I was pregnant with EJ to get Nate to eat with a fork and spoon on his own loading them himself so I was thrilled when I saw videos of BLW babies at 8-10 months spoon feeding themselves !

With EJ we started out with grab sized cooked vege and raw fruit and he coped really well at 9 months old he tucked into a full roast Christmas dinner and ate much more of it unaided than his older brother did. 

it doesnt take long for BLW children to get to grips with moving food around inside their mouth forwards and backwards and learning how not to put too much in,

the Gagging reflex is natural and normal and supposed to prevent choking its often confused with a child choking and consquently parents freak out because of it but ive learnt that if they dont learn to gag and cough up the lumps then choking is a much more real possiblity if they get into something they arent supposed to be putting in their mouths. having a good gag reflex is a life skill it could save your childs life!

With EJ we had far less real scares over him and foods than with Nate where we were dropping off food on the back part of his tounge off a spoon.

I dont know many adults who enjoy being spoon fed so I think its normal for children to feel the same way and being able to feed themselves is a great way to grow independance in a way that you want them to be independant of you, ( who really wants to spoon feed a 5 yr old or 15,25+ yr olds )

So starting as I mean to carry on makes good sense.

Right now AJ's list of tried foods is.

Apple slices and sticks

Raw Carrot sticks ( didnt like this one much )

Pear chunks

Banana

Bread sticks

Pizza crusts ( why should he miss out on pizza night? )

Chicken breast sliced diagonally into thick fingers

Baked Potato sticks ( aka fries )

Grapes

Clemetine segments

Tomatoes ( quartered and seeded )

Pasta ( Spirali, Penne and Fusilli in ragu sauce )

Brocolli ( cooked in easy grab florrets )

Yoghurt

Pork Sausage

The favorite from those is probably Pear and the Chicken both he ate really well then probably Pasta after that. the Brocolli was fun and he definately ate some as we witness from the nappies this morning lol.

So its food fun and games in the Odendaal household at the moment 

more to come later...