Baby Led Weaning

[khriseeee]

I've been hearing a lot about Baby Led Weaning and I am interested in learning more about it and hearing people's experience with it. My baby gets fussy every feeding and it's a struggle, I want her solid food experience to be better so as to hopefully foster a better "relationship" with mealtimes.

From the babyledweaning.com website, here's a description of BLW

"Baby Led Weaning, quite simply, means letting your child feed themselves from the very start of weaning. "

"That’s the essence of Baby Led Weaning. No purees, no ice cube trays, no food processor, no potato masher, no baby rice, no weird fruit and veg combos… just you and your child, eating food that you enjoy with you and your family."

Sounds great but of course I'm a little hesistant and want to hear personal stories of mommies here.

Also, how will I know my baby is ready for this? Is it by her age or certain physical characteristics? My baby is 4 months old now but can reach out and grasp anything that comes to her view, and whatever she grasps she puts directly into her mouth. 

[kaice]

been researching for BLW this week din. i will raise this concern to pedia on our next visit or the next time i stumbled upon her and get her views. i hope other mommies could shed light to us. i'm thinking of buying the book

[Grayce]

^^current recommendation as per WHO to introduce solid food is 6mos

[DV]

I want to try this too kung magka-2nd baby pa ako. Feeling ko mas magiging less picky ang bata paglaki dahil mas nae-expose sa different tastes and textures. Kaya lang my husband has a history off allergies kaya baka hindi rin pwede.

Somebody started a thread on the same topic a long time ago, pero minerge ng moderator with 'weaning off the bottle' (which is a completely different topic), so medyo nagulo, but you can still weed out some posts with the BLW subject:

http://www.femalenetwork.com/girltalk/index.php/topic,212751.40.html

[khriseeee]

Gracye yes, I know the recommended age to begin solids is at 6 months which is the minimum age that I would have my daughter begin solids. I just want to begin my research now and be ready. But part of BLW is to take cues from your baby to begin feeding - so not necessarily does one have to begin solid foods at 6 months. My question was more on how do I know which cues to follow if my baby puts everything in her mouth? Especially when teething. If she puts everything in her mouth now, does that mean I can feed solids at 6 months or do I need other cues in place?

DV, my understanding is that BLW is more of the mode of feeding and not the food itself, so even families with a history of allergies can do BLW, same as what you would do with pureed food. Hopefully the mods won't merge this thread as I'd really like focused posts and feedback on BLW!

[Grayce]

^just because babies put things in their mouth doesn't mean that it's actually a sign that they're ready for solids. it's their way of "exploring" things that they can get their hands on the reason why WHO recommends 6months to start babies from introducing solids is to preserve the baby's natural digestive flora to minimize the risk of getting allergies and so.

originally, i want to try this before to my baby last year, but i sort of chickened out and didn't do much research so i introduced solids to my baby the "conventional" way. you might want to check fabnaima's blog on BLW. i think she's currently doing this to her 2nd baby.

[maude]

I want to try this, too. Kaso scared ako with the. "Gagging" part. i hope i get the courage to try this.

[ms_ldr]

at 1 yr old, baby eats the same food like us, what is served on the table.  earlier than that lugaw style with chicken broth, chicken and some veggies like potato, carrots, celery, pumpkin etc.. i think ito yung nagsanay sa kanya kumain ng rice...but baby still breastfeeding at night till now. 1 yr 3 mos.

[khriseeee]

I pushed thru with BLW, my daughter is now 10 months old and has no problems eating solid food. We were in HK during the holidays and she basically ate what we ate.

[rara_avis]

Upping this thread!

My son just turned 6 months last week. I started introducing him to solid foods the conventional way by pureeing fruits and veggies. I want to try baby-led weaning kaso natatakot ako baka ma-choke si baby.

I pushed thru with BLW, my daughter is now 10 months old and has no problems eating solid food. We were in HK during the holidays and she basically ate what we ate.

Sis, can you give tips how you trained your baby to eat table foods? Do you make special meals for the baby or the same food that you are eating?

[khriseeee]

I basically gave her non-mashed food from the moment she started eating solids, which was a week shy of her turning 6 months old. I started off with a banana, gave her a two inch piece and she took to it. It's messy but within a month she could eat a banana cleanly. We would ensure that she's always supervised while eating in case she gags or chokes, but it never happened with us.

For veggies, I would steam two inch slices for her to eat and we just progressed from there. My daughter is turning 1 in a week and still only has two bottom teeth but that hasn't hindered her eating at all. She will eat toasted bread, crackers, cookies, cheese, fruits and veggies. My only exception is I do slice up her protein smaller (though not pureed) since I can't imagine her chewing those without any teeth. She eats rice rin, actually prefers eating it with her hands without any sauce or soup. When we were in HK, she would eat beef balls and rice rolls, I would slice them up into small pieces and put it on her plate, she would eat it on her own.

She usually eats whatever table food there is (what our maids eat which is usually veggies and fish) but lately I've been making her meals. Rice in soup with veggies and a protein. She can eat half a bowl in a sitting.

[kutzy12]

Been reading about BLW.. Hope i have the courage to try this to my son.

[aupoleiana]

Hi sis, my daughter is 8 months old and I want to try BLW with her already. I'm noticing kasi that when we feed her she tries to get the food from our hand or the spoon.

For the protein you give your baby okay lang ba kahit fried meats? Or dapat steamed or boiled pa rin? Any foods that I should not introduce to her yet? Do you cut up all the food or pwede na whole? Thanks sis!

[khriseeee]

I don't give her fried food - too much fat and salt (usually). I give her steamed or boiled protein.

Avoid salt - in any form. Babies don't need salt...or added sugar. With BLW, you can offer the foods whole but use your discretion as well, guideline is to give them finger food sized food.

[catnap07]

sis khriseee, what cues did you see from your baby that she's ready to start solids? My baby's 4 months and she stares and starts kicking when she sees me eating. Para bang natatakam. One time, I gave her a piece of sandwich for her to hold kasi she's already reaching for it. I was trying to see kung anong gagawin niya. When she started to put it in her mouth, kinuha ko na. I'm planning to start her on solids at 6 months pero curious lang ako if that's a cue na interested na sya sa kinakain namin.

[khriseeee]

^sis most pedias would recommend you follow the 6 month guideline. Someone mentioned earlier that it's natural for babies to put things in their mouth so it's not necessarily a cue that they are ready to eat solids.

I started solids a week shy of my daughter turning 6 months old, I was too excited na hehe

[kreez]

wow meron na pala ulit ganitong thread.  I remember starting the same thread when my baby started eating kasi this is what I did with her pero it was merged by the mods into another thread which is called weaning off the bottle or something completely unrelated (apart from the word weaning) kaya nawala.

anyway.  I strongly recommend this type of weaning.  My main source was this book called Baby-led Weaning by Gill Ripley.  The idea is at 6 months, when the baby can sit on his own and hold stuff in his hands, then it means they can feed themselves.  At first I was so scared kasi nga baka mag gag but everything turned out well.  The good thing about it is that it was much fun for my little one.  I even posted a video of her eating here before.  From six months, i gave her cut up fruits, her favorite was water melon, boiled veggies (yung malambot talaga para she can chew), shrimps, fishes (favorite nya was salmon).

ang pinaka helpful tool for me then was the pelican bib at yung mat sa floor kasi it was quite messy at the beginning but it got better quickly naman.  Napansin ko di dito my baby eats how much she wants, pag ayaw na nya then I don't force her hanggang ngayon she is already 3 1/2 ganon sya, she eats what she wants and stops when she's had enough.  According to the book this is a good habit to bring as they grow up kasi they don't over eat. 

I'm pregnant with our 2nd and this is what I'll do with him/her when the time comes. 

http://intricatethoughts21.blogspot.co.uk/2010/06/my-little-bee-eats.html

[khriseeee]

sis kreez I remember watching your video when I was reading up on weaning here on GT. I was so amazed and that's what made me decide to push thru!

I used bibs at first but my daughter started pulling them off, so we dress her lightly for meals and change her immediately afterwards. Funny though, she's not as messy when we eat out!

She is not a picky eater, she will always try whatever we put in front of her. When she was younger she would suck the juice out of fruits and spit out the pulp but now that she has more teeth she eats the pulp as well! She eats oranges down to the peel!

I'm very happy with our decision to push thru with BLW and won't hesitate to do the same for our next baby.

[catnap07]

2 more months and my baby can start solids! Excited na ko sa BLW!! What I'd like to avoid talaga is for my baby to become a picky eater.

[catnap07]

By the way, can you recommend any good local blogs or resources about BLW? what baby can eat at which months? what not to give? etc. etc. thanks!