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When my older son, J, started solids, I did just what I thought everyone did. I grabbed the box of rice cereal, mixed it up with some breastmilk and spoon-fed my baby.
I did it all by the book. We started with puréed veggies, then fruit, then meat and then added textures. I waited 3 days between each new food and it all went great. After we did the purée thing, I moved onto feeding J what we were eating.
I was adamant about not making him special, kid-friendly meals. To this day, he’s a great eater (for the most part) and has a large palate.
My biggest complaint about the whole thing was how much time and effort it took!
Since then, I’d done my research and found a whole new way to feed babies.
I discovered Baby Led Weaning and it just made so much sense, and so much easier! After I saw my best friend feeding her two babies like this, I was hooked. Here are the basic principles.
- Feed baby healthy, whole foods (no purées)
- Let baby decide how much to eat, no “topping off” with purées at the end of a meal.
- Give baby time to explore and eat, so meals should not be hurried (this is a tough one for me…I try though)
- Start with soft foods and cut into shapes so baby can pick them up (long sticks, big chunks, etc.). Move onto smaller finger foods once baby develops the pincer grasp.
- Non-finger foods (yogurt, oatmeal, etc.) should be offered on a spoon and allow the baby to self-feed (I haven’t done this…yet!)
And that’s basically it…simple. 
And here’s why I chose baby led weaning:
- I believe in not doing for children what they can do for themselves. Why would I spoon feed my baby, when he is capable of feeding himself?
- He gets to decide how much he wants to eat. With spoon feeding it’s really easy to feed a baby past fullness. This approach helps him learn to listen to his body and not to overeat.
- He gets to taste all sorts of flavors, spices, and textures at a really early age. He gets to start growing his palate really early and this will hopefully lessen the likelihood picky eating later on.
- He’ll learn how to chew and swallow from the very beginning.
- It’s great for hand eye coordination and working those fine motor skills.
- I make one meal for my entire family, he sits at the table with us, and eats what we eat. No extra time taken up with spoon feeding.
When E was 6 months old, with the guidance of my friend, the Baby Led Weaning Facebook Group, and The Baby-Led Weaning Cookbook
Instead of spoon feeding, I pretty much just cut up foods our family was already eating, and fed it to E.
I admit, was pretty easy.
Instead of mashed peas and green beans, these are some of his first foods:
- Toast with toppings like avocado, jelly, cream cheese, and melted shredded cheese.
- French toast made with bread, egg, vanilla, and cinnamon.
- Sweet potato fries with cinnamon.
- Seasoned roasted potatoes.
- Steamed bell pepper
- Sautéed onion
- Zucchini and yellow squash
- Penne pasta with sauce
- Green beans
- Banana
- Meatloaf
- Broccoli
- Hamburger patty
- Peaches
He was a great eater from the start and loved mealtimes.
A few weeks after starting BLW, he started getting upset when we’re eating and he was not. For example, we were at a deli for dinner and I didn’t order him any food. He started fussing, so I handed him my bread and he happily nibbled on it during our entire meal.
I even took him on a picnic with J and he sat in my lap and devoured slices of peach and toast with avocado. It was nice to be able to include him in our picnic lunch too!
A few more things to note:
- I highly suggest reading up on this technique before giving your baby anything and everything. There are some great tips out there about how to cut and prepare foods for babies. Here’s a leaflet that I found to be very helpful.
- The only foods that babies can not have before 1 year is honey and whole nuts…everything else is a go, unless there is a history of food allergies in the family. Some people are very hesitant to give nut butters and shellfish due to allergies. Talk to your pediatrician if you have concerns about this.
- The AAP recently just stated that there is no need to wait 3 days between introducing foods, again, unless there is a history of allergies or food intolerance.
- Babies still get most of their nutrients from breastmilk/formula, so food is really for fun and learning. Food for nourishment isn’t really necessary until close to their first birthday.
- It is important that you supervise your baby. With any introduction to solid foods, there is a risk of choking.
So, if you are thinking about how to introduce your baby to solids, I highly suggest looking into BLW to see if it’s something that might work for you and your family.
UPDATE! I originally wrote this post a few weeks after starting BLW. E is now 15 months old and is an AMAZING eater. He loves his food and loves to feed himself.
One thing that is interesting, is that he doesn’t like small finger foods like peas or beans. He prefers big chunks of food that he can bite into. If I give him peas, he will only eat them with a spoon.
I really enjoyed Baby Led Weaning and I would do it again if I ever had another baby. It was so easy and it was wonderful to see E be in control of his food.
Amanda
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We are doing baby led weaning with Oscar as well. He has been going strong for over a month now and he is loving it. He has had tacos, fajitas and curry. He loves his fruit and vegetables and is a bread fanatic. He’s sat here now eating a peanut butter sandwich with some grapes, blueberries and raspberries. Well be having roast chicken with roast potatoes and vegetables for dinner tonight which is one of his favourites. He takes quite a while to eat it and gets VERY messy in the process, but we do lots of messy play activities anyway, so we’re used to a bit of mess. Enjoy your weaning adventure. Don’t jump if your baby starts to gag a bit. Try to stay really clam because if you show yoi are worried about it, your baby will get worried as well. Oscar gags on clementines almost every time we have them. He always gets them back up himself and we keep trying them sonhe can learn how to eat them without gagging and he loves them!
We are doing baby led weaning with Oscar as well. He has been going strong for over a month now and he is loving it. He has had tacos, fajitas and curry. He loves his fruit and vegetables and is a bread fanatic. He’s sat here now eating a peanut butter sandwich with some grapes, blueberries and raspberries. Well be having roast chicken with roast potatoes and vegetables for dinner tonight which is one of his favourites. He takes quite a while to eat it and gets VERY messy in the process, but we do lots of messy play activities anyway, so we’re used to a bit of mess. Enjoy your weaning adventure. Don’t jump if your baby starts to gag a bit. Try to stay really clam because if you show yoi are worried about it, your baby will get worried as well. Oscar gags on clementines almost every time we have them. He always gets them back up himself and we keep trying them sonhe can learn how to eat them without gagging and he loves them!
i just saw this blog on pinterest and i had to repost it because a lot of my friends think im crazy that i skipped puree with my triplets (who are now nearly 3 and great eaters ! ) i have no regrets ! there was a lot more mess to clean up but i saved hours and hours and it made them amazing independant eaters who try everything . Happy Baby Led Weaning !
When do you guys think its a good age to start with these new foods? My little guy is just over four months and he is beyond ready to starts eating , he’s only tried a few purees but loved them! My husband and I liked this weening idea before he was even born and I’d like to stick with this!
Hey there, I started my son around the 6 month mark. Babies really need to be sitting up on their own and able to successfully grasp food and put it in their mouths before they can do BLW.
I guess what i do resembles this..i try to stick with bland foods or at least plain, skip sugary stuff..this is my third baby and for my first i did full out prepare special foods for him, my second got mostly staples banana, avocado, sweet potatoe, or whatever plain food we were enjoying. My third gets whatever whenever i feel like it. If i don’t fel like our meal is appropriate for him and don’t have a staple food handy then he doesn’t eat with js…he’s almost 8 months, tonight he had spaghetti…i just want him to enjoy food and for me to not have to fuss over it..it is going well
I wish I had read this 4 months ago. Not that it matters much now. My son almost never let me spoon feed him. He insisted on feeding himself from the beginning. He now eats meals with us and eats the same things, minus salt. Its so nice to just have everyone sit down and eat. He now feeds himself with a spoon! The only thing I’ll pass along is if you have a food dehydrator and some parchment paper you can make fruit roll up from jars of food. Great snacks for in the car.
Our son was weaned this way — and we loved it! His first food was a homemade navy bean and ham soup with mustard greens. Very savory and one of his favorite foods, still (now almost three)! He also ate a lot of hummus and celery sticks (my favorite snack) in the beginning. He ate everything we ate, and we wouldn’t do it any other way! Last night I asked him what he would like for dinner, and he specifically asked for grilled yellow fin tuna, salad, and baked savory-seasoned yams! He helps make the dinners now, and helps clean up after. I look at my friends whose kids eat only chicken nuggets and mac and cheese, and I pity them. My son loves ALL foods! And it is such a wonderful thing to be able to take him to events (weddings, potlucks, family gatherings…) and not have to worry if he’ll eat anything there.
what do you do before month 6? do you give them purees starting at month 4 then at 6 start the BLW? I have a 3 month old and I’m looking forward to starting him on real food
I exclusively breastfed until 6 months. There’s no need to start solids at 4 months.
This cracks me up, because birth order does seem to have so much to do with it! Yes, our first had a delicious supply of lovingly made purees stocked up in the freezer. With our second, I did not have enough time or hands to sit and spoon-feed every meal and also monitor the toddler’s eating, so he did lots of self feeding. Our third recently started himself on BLW weaning when he crawled across the picnic blanket and grabbed himself a grilled cheese sandwich. He ate the whole thing without a problem. Thanks for posting this!
Haha! Yes it does. Who has time to do all of that with more than one child? BLW is just so much easier!
what would you suggest as their first feeding? this is my 4th and im hesitant on how to start blw , what about gagging? I am super paranoid about chocking-
I started off with really soft foods, bread with avocado, slices of avocado, steamed veggies like zuchinni cut in long strips. We also did peaches and strawberries pretty early on. Sometimes babies can gag while starting off with BLW, and it can be scary, but it’s the body’s way of preventing choking. My son only gagged once or twice. I recommend always staying with your baby while he’s eating, just in case.
yeah I don’t understand how this isn’t a choking hazard. Maybe if your baby has more than a few teeth at six month old, but most only have 1 or 2 max. Sounds very dangerous to me, I worry for your baby’s safety! My daughter does both purées and soft chunky food now that she has some teeth and is 10 months old can eat most things but it’s still scary when she gets too much of something in her mouth. I don’t mind at all spending time making purées to ensure my baby is eating safely! A six month old eating whole grapes for example is not a good idea.
You’re right, a 6 month old eating whole grapes is not a good idea, I still cut those up until they are at least 3. I hear you though, a lot of people worry about kids choking and that can be a reason why someone wouldn’t want to do BLW. But, this method teaches children how to bite and chew so that they don’t choke. Baby’s jaws are really strong and they don’t have to have teeth to chew, and that’s why we start with very soft foods that don’t require teeth (like meat). Of course, a baby should not be left alone while eating, I think this goes for older children as well. Anyone can choke. We also started off slow and kept an eye on him. If he ever showed signs that he wasn’t comfortable, or was having difficulty, we would have done something else. I did a lot of research, talked to our pediatrician, and talked to many parents about it before I started. This method isn’t for everyone, and if you’re not comfortable with it, then make purees, no big deal. I just loved doing BLW and know many parents who did too, so I thought I’d share my experience with it.
Hi just curious, what did your pediatrician tells you about feeding your baby this was? I like the idea, sounds safe an healthy, and I like the idea of my baby eating a bit of everything, that way he listens to his body, and he wont be tired of eating just veggies.
but since my doctor keeps track of what i feed my baby with since is my first child, it would be interestgin to hear whar he thinks about this .
Great article! I’m interested in BLW; do you have any tips on how and when to start? And when you BLW do you feed the baby food instead of breastmilk/formula ?
Hi there! You continue with breastfeeding/formula until one year…at least. Check out the BLW books to read more about how to specifically do it.
I am so bummed I didn’t hear about/read this sooner! My daughter is 6 months & she is loving all foods I give her, but they have all been mashed/puréed. I’ve tried some chunks but she is uninterested. She gets upset & opens her mouth waiting for a spoon. I think she is overeating with the purée as well.
Can you start baby led feeding after you’ve already been doing quinoa cereal & mashed foods for a month or so? I desperately want to transition but need guidance.
This is such a great, concise intro to BLW! I love the first picture with that happy baby all covered in food 🙂 My youngest is five months and I am so excited to start baby-led weaning with her. We discovered it by accident when my oldest refused spoon-feeding and kept trying to get his hands on the “real” food that my husband and I were eating. I think he was trying to tell us that this was the way and I’m glad that I looked it up and found the BLW community. You are so right about it being much easier and natural.