Brielana's Bites: Our first month of Baby Led Weaning

Our first month of Baby Led Weaning is under our belts and I am proud to report it has been a resounding success!  It is a joy to watch this little one exploring, feeding herself, and actually enjoying every bite that she puts into her mouth.  She is by far a better eater than my 4 year old(link Kinsey bday) and my only regret is not knowing about BLW when I was introducing solids to Kinsey in 2011.  So here is the recap of our Month of BLW:

The Method:

I bought the original book just for a starting- off point and am glad I did.  In it, the authors explain the benefits of Baby Led feeding, how to present/ prepare food (2 inch sticks for holding), and the choking threshold which is at the front of the mouth for babies vs the back of the throat in adults.  Also, gagging is different than choking and your baby can sort that out for herself, but for safety reasons always stay close by when baby is eating.  ***I also looked up BLW gagging/ choking on YouTube just to see and hear the difference.***

source

The Food:  

The very first thing Brielana ate was a banana, its soft, sweet and perfectly sized for her hand to grasp.  And she loved it.  Here is the official list of foods she has eaten:

Apple (skinned)          Pear          Cucumber          Bell Pepper          Broccoli

Cauliflower                 Peas         Green Beans      Asparagus            Potato

Sweet Potato             Peach        Strawberry         Blueberries           Steak

Chicken                     Turkey        Ravioli               Cherry Tomatoes (halved lengthwise)

Cheddar Cheese       Mozzarella Black Olives     Cheese Pizza        Cheese toast

Whole grain Waffle    Oatmeal     Whole Fat plain yogurt                    Scrambled Egg

French Toast (egg cooked thoroughly)                  Cous Cous            Rice

Quesadilla                 Avocado      Pasta                Black eye peas     Cooked Carrots

Zucchini                     Mandarin Orange                 Corn

The Mess:

It is (ahem) a little messy.  But in the long run the mess factor will reduce and autonomy and food confidence will definitely outweigh cleaning up squished food. I've cleaned food out of her hair (who doesn't rub their food into their hair?!), inside her pants/ diaper, stuck to her bottom, smeared on her face, mashed into her shirts.  Most days we employ naked (diaper only) dinning. We have a dog so she's the floor vacuum here ;)  On an aside: Our dog will not eat blueberries, bell peppers, or cucumbers.  And should never eat onions, garlic or chocolate (that's my PSA for today.)

The Poop:

Our main source of nutrients is definitely still breast milk, but with the introduction of food comes the transition of the yeasty, yellow puddles to play dough- soft poops.  And boy do you see a spectrum of colors!  Pretty sure we have had blue-purple (after blueberries) to green tinted.  I actually prefer this to the blow outs, call me crazy; but I can handle the smell easier(?)  And Brielana seems a lot more regular now, too!

The Pay-off:

Brielana is a great eater; so far she has liked everything put in front of her.  She is working on her grasping, eye- hand coordination, chewing (gumming!), and starting to pincher-grasp.  She hasn't had to use utensils but she will occasionally explore with them and she likes to sip water out of my glass.

The Sources:

Here are a couple of blogs I enjoy for BLW tips/ tricks!

Baby Led Weaning- the authors website.

A Healthy Slice of Life- love her Munchkin Meals series! ;)

   

 

Have any BLW tips/ tricks?  Please share!