We have been doing Baby Led Weaning with Stella, which means when when we started Stella on solid foods at six months, we let Stella feed herself (“weaning” in this sense means “adding complementary foods” – the British definition). I thought it was such a great concept of letting babies learn how to chew before they learned how to swallow, and it has gone really well for us.
We have tried a few purees thinking that it might be easier for sending food to daycare, but so far she doesn’t like them, so we just give her chunks of food (usually 1/4-1/2″ in diameter and a 2-3″ long) and let her go at it. Avocado, sweet potato, banana, bell peppers, broccoli – basically anything we eat (as long as it doesn’t have added salt or sugar on it). Below is the list of what she has tried so far! We started solid foods just after she turned six months old, and every couple of days we are trying something new. I think she likes it. 🙂
There is an actual book that outlines this method, but everyone I know who has read it said to skip the book and buy their cookbook, because the first 40 pages of the cookbook are a synopsis of the book, so that’s what I did. Here’s a link to the book.
I wrote an entire post about it here if you want to learn a bit more about it.
6 Months
Sweet Potato (skin on, cut into long strips, tossed in olive oil, and baked)
Avocado (fresh)
Banana (fresh)
Applesauce (no sugar added)
Blueberries (whole)
Scrambled Eggs (just yolks)
Wing bone
Rib bone
Asparagus (grilled)
Broccoli (steamed)
Whole wheat bread (fresh made by my Mom!)
Bell Pepper (raw strips)
Cucumber (raw strips)
Pizza Crust
Carrots (steamed)
Green Beans (steamed)
Mac’n’cheese
Pasta (rotini, boiled)
hamburger (grilled, medium)
cantalopue (fresh)
lettuce (fresh)
7 months
Artichoke hearts (sauteed)
Pasta (bowtie, boiled) w/sauce
monterey jack cheese (thin slice)
mango (fresh)
scrambled eggs (whole)
carrots (steamed)
chicken (grilled)
peaches (fresh)
prunes (pureed & juice – not a fan)
plums
pork chops
mandarin oranges
beans
pulled pork
apples
strawberries
tomatoes
pepperoni
feta
quinoa
spinach
8 months +
We pretty much give her whatever is on our plates, as long as it doesn’t have a lot of added sugar/salt!
[…] Baby Led Weaning […]
How did daycare do with the BLW? I want to start with Miss Ava in the next month and want to be prepared when it comes to resistants at daycare. Personally, I think it will be easier on them but it is ‘different’.
We use a home daycare, and she thought I was a bit crazy at first, but I made a point of sending food that was ALREADY cut into the sizes I wanted her to have (the finger length, 1/2″ width, etc) and emphasizing that I did NOT want her to cut it smaller because it would actually be more dangerous for Stella if she did that because she is used to gumming things. She shortly became STOKED at how much easier it was to feed Stella than all of the other kids – said it makes “way more sense to teach them to chew first.” Now she tells all of the other parents about it!
I think the biggest thing was sending food that is already cut/prepared into the shape/consistency you want and asking them not to alter that. Once they get used to it, then I didn’t care if they gave her different snacks etc. because they better understood the guidelines I wanted followed.
PS – it was WAY harder to train grandma to not cut everything up into ITTY BITTY pieces. She STILL does it, and it drives me absolutely bonkers. Daycare is someone you’re paying to take care of your child, so they tend to listen better! 🙂
Thank you so much! I have really appreciated your blog. It has helped me figure out what kind of mother I am. I can embrace my little earthy-crunchy side but still be mainstream (I am an auditor, I like rules! lol). Whether you knowit or not, you have provided me with lots of advice and insight has really made me a better mom. Thank you!
PS- Oh Grandmas! Sometimes around just to drive Mommies bonkers!