Thursday, February 5, 2015

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

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
Baby Led Weaning


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!
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6 comments:

  1. Aww!! Your baby is adorable!
    Hi! Stopping by from Mom Bloggers Club. Great blog!
    Have a nice day!

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    1. Thank you, Veronica! I'm pretty blessed in the 'cute kids department' :) Thanks for visiting!
      Whitney

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  2. What an excellent little eater! Love all the meal ideas :)

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    1. She really is, puts my 4 year old to shame ;) So glad this was helpful!
      Whitney

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  3. Gage is doing good eating finger foods but I've never given him two inch sticks of him food. Does she know to bite at it and not shove it all in her mouth?

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    1. It is the coolest thing to watch her eat! She totally works her jaws; she takes "bites" (pretty much gumming since she only has 1 tooth), and will mash up what she is eating before swallowing and reaching for more. She hasn't choked once but has gagged a few times when her bite is too big- either she will spit it out or just chew longer before swallowing it when that happens. I was super nervous when we started 2 months ago but seeing how well she eats and being CPR certified has really calmed my nerves. I think it comes down to trusting your child's abilities and being close by to supervise. Hope this answers your question! It is definitely something to try out just to see how Gage takes to it :)

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