i don't understand BLW

[PeachBaby]

why not purees in baby led weaning? even very soft, but whole, cooked carrot and it comes out DS's other end in whole pieces, so apparently he's not able to chew and digest it.

[Drummer's Wife]

Because it's not as baby-led if an adult is spooning the food in. If baby can spoon feed themselves, I would consider that BLW even with purees.

That is my take on it, anyway.

[Abraisme]

Originally Posted by PeachBaby

why not purees in baby led weaning? even very soft, but whole, cooked carrot and it comes out DS's other end in whole pieces, so apparently he's not able to chew and digest it.

If he's not chewing or digesting, then he's probably not ready to eat. My DS started eating at 5mo, but always digested everything he ate. Also, he always fed himself. I fed him one jar of baby food and thought, this is silly, either you can get it in yourself or you'll wait.. He got it in! That's what is most important.. There's a series of things that happen, motor skills, digestion, need to eat (or something like that).

My friend's son didn't start digesting food until 14mo, he also didn't eat much before that. I think there's a direct correlation to digestion and food readiness. Read the cues from your child and go with the flow.

[PeachBaby]

Just curious how a baby without molars yet be able to chew?

Also, since 6 months, ds has been soooo eagerly reaching for our food and slobbering and chewing his mouth every time he sees us eating. He is now 12 months old and already has his front 8 teeth. But he couldn't process the carrots so could he still not be ready to eat?

[DangerMom]

Peachbaby, their teeth are right under their gums, so it's really hard there, and they can kind of grind and mash stuff that way.

My son never liked baby food, so we didn't try it for long before we decided to do BLW. To this day, he does not like anything mashed or pureed. He refuses to let us feed him anything; he's got to be in control of what's going into his mouth (which makes sense to me). So BLW really works well for us.

[Penny4Them]

Originally Posted by Abraisme

There's a series of things that happen, motor skills, digestion, need to eat (or something like that).

Hi, So does baby need to be able to sit completely unassisted, and be able to put the spoon in mouth to be ready for food? Or just pick up little bits of, say apple. Do you happen to have a good link to an article about BLW? DS is 6 mos and nearly ready (I think) so it would be great to understand what exactly BLW is all about.

TIA!

[hotharmony]

Here is the link to Gill Rapley's site, she wrote the book Baby Lead Weaning, http://www.baby-led.com/.

There is a lot of great explanation on her site, but if you are really interested I would suggest getting the book from your local library or bookstore.

With Baby Lead Weaning you don't do purees you offer the baby large soft foods, think steak fry sized items, to pick up and chew on or mush in their mouth.

Everyone even parents who choose to do purees first will eventually have to go to the process of doing table foods with a baby, so this is just skipping an generally unnecessary step.

Peachbaby: we can all chew without teeth it's a process of mashing food against a hard surface in our mouths. Molars don't generally come in until closer to the second year so which is pretty late to introduce solids.

[Drummer's Wife]

Regarding not digesting fully - it could be that baby isn't ready and not yet producing enough enzymes to break down the food completely. I wouldn't take that as a sign to do purees only, though, but maybe to wait a bit and try again. Or, it could have just been that particular food, and so I would offer something different the next time and hold off on anything not digested.

[Abraisme]

Originally Posted by Penny4Them

Hi, So does baby need to be able to sit completely unassisted, and be able to put the spoon in mouth to be ready for food? Or just pick up little bits of, say apple. Do you happen to have a good link to an article about BLW? DS is 6 mos and nearly ready (I think) so it would be great to understand what exactly BLW is all about.

TIA!

They just need to be able to self feed with their hands. Most kids can't properly use a spoon until 2+, so that wouldn't work.

It is on the BLW site that a baby should be able to sit unassisted before eating. However, I let my son eat before that, his fine motor skills were really advanced (he could feed himself with a pincher grip), but his gross motor skills lagged a bit.

[GoestoShow]

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Edited by GoestoShow - 1/4/11 at 8:56am

[sapphire_chan]

Originally Posted by Drummer's Wife

Regarding not digesting fully - it could be that baby isn't ready and not yet producing enough enzymes to break down the food completely. I wouldn't take that as a sign to do purees only, though, but maybe to wait a bit and try again. Or, it could have just been that particular food, and so I would offer something different the next time and hold off on anything not digested.

Or because the carrots were so very soft they didn't stay in his mouth long enough to get exposed to saliva for long enough. Chewing is an important part of the digestive process and not just because it breaks things up enough to swallow.

[mckittre]

I started out totally with self feeding. But now that my 10 month old has gotten more interested in eating, he wants me to feed him more often (particularly spoon foods like yogurt - he won't grab the spoon). I think it makes more sense to go with what your baby wants rather than to follow any particular method exactly. All babies probably benefit from the coordination practice of feeding themselves at least some of the time, though.

[katelove]

Also, I think BLW is more about experiencing tastes/textures etc and learning how to handle food, both in the hands and the mouth, than it is about nutrition in the first few months. "Food's for fun before one" is an expression I've seen used often.

[JMJ]

Originally Posted by Abraisme

If he's not chewing or digesting, then he's probably not ready to eat.

Umm... I don't digest everything I eat. I think that's just a part of life. Just because there are chunks in his poop does not mean that he's getting no nutrition from it. It just means that there are some pieces that are not digested fully. He may or may not be digesting more from a puree. You just wouldn't be able to tell at the other end. Nutrition from food is not really the point yet as long as he's gaining weight. Allowing babies to feed themselves lets them regulate how much and what they eat, trusting that they know more about their own bodies than we do.

Originally Posted by GoestoShow

Meh. My son was hooked on solids about two weeks after we started offering them. He only had two teeth, so we'd mash up avocado and bananas and things like that. He didn't master the pincer grasp until he was nearly 7 1/12 months old because he was too busy working on his gross motor skills. If he didn't eat purees or mashed up food for solids, he wouldn't have eaten any solids. And he eats a lot, even now.

I think baby led weaning works for some babies, but it would have been very frustrating for my son who would sit next to us in restaurants, salivate (no, not teething related), and cry if he saw us eating and not giving him anything. This was at 6 1/2 months or so and well before he got the pincer grasp.

I think baby led weaning can be great, but I think it's also important to pay attention to your baby. Mine was ready for solids earlier than baby led weaning methods say.

Actually, if you look into baby-led weaning as per Gill Rapley's book, pincers are not required for the introduction of solids. The foods suggested to start with are foods that a baby could grab with his palm. According to the book, you could have ordered him some steamed broccoli.

Originally Posted by katelove

Also, I think BLW is more about experiencing tastes/textures etc and learning how to handle food, both in the hands and the mouth, than it is about nutrition in the first few months. "Food's for fun before one" is an expression I've seen used often.

Exactly!

OP, you really can just do what feels right for you. Babies grow up well whether they are spoon-fed nutritious foods or pick them up and eat them themselves. I wouldn't worry if he's passing chunks. He's getting used to the tastes and textures, and at 1 year old, you're certainly not hurting him by feeding him, even if he's not digesting it all.

[mamadelbosque]

I never spoon-fed DS1 (ok, thats not entirely true - on rare occasiosn (when sick for example) I've been known to spoon feed something - jello, pudding, applesauce etc). His 'first food' was the leftover bits from tacos on my plate - onion, ground turkey, salsa, cheese - at 7.5 months. From then on we gave him little bits of whatever we were eating and let him have at it. He didn't eat much of anything till 9+ months old, but by 15 or so months he had it down and was a pro at self feeding. We introduced fork/spoon ~ 18 months or so and by 2 he was really good with them. He was totally un-picky for the first year or so of solids, but ~2 he suddenly became picky and no longer eats stuff he used to (he no longer likes tacos, for example :sniffle

EDIT: Oh and yeah, he occasionally passed chunks out (and still does, tbh, but so do you - ever see corn or peas floating in the toilet??), but thats OK, really!!

[Abraisme]

Originally Posted by JMJ

Umm... I don't digest everything I eat. I think that's just a part of life. Just because there are chunks in his poop does not mean that he's getting no nutrition from it. It just means that there are some pieces that are not digested fully. He may or may not be digesting more from a puree. You just wouldn't be able to tell at the other end. Nutrition from food is not really the point yet as long as he's gaining weight. Allowing babies to feed themselves lets them regulate how much and what they eat, trusting that they know more about their own bodies than we do.

There's a difference between not digesting cellulose (ei corn) and not digesting everything you eat. Personally, I think if he's not digesting anything then he probably doesn't have a mature digestive system. We don't actually know if it causes harm, but it seems like a possibility.

Another thing.. My friend's son didn't digest anything until 14mo.. Then he started partially digesting food for another couple of months. Then she removed gluten from his diet and he started digesting everything within days. It seems like an allergy may also cause your intestines to not function properly. It's just a thought..

[kdescalzi]

If BLW includes giving your lo something they can get in their palm, what happens if they bite a huge chunk off?? My dd is very interested in food and I tried to give her a spear of ripe banana but she bit off a huge piece. How does this work???

[AKislandgirl]

My 10 month old regularly spoon feeds herself. She's been using this spoon since 6 months. We load it and she eats. She passes it back when she wants more (and throws in on the ground when she's finished!). We use it for foods that are normally spoon foods... yogurt, applesauce, soup, etc... It works really well for us. I imagine if you are more comfortable with pureed foods then table foods you could use it that way too. I will say that there are times when she's not in the mood for the spoon and would rather just use her hand to eat table foods. At any rate, I highly recommend those spoons!

[Blessed_Mom]

I am not sure I agree completely with BLW method of feeding (first off - I have an issue with calling it baby led weaning .... it kind of glorifies this method as if the baby were leading the weaning versus the method of feeding them purees. In my opinion it has nothing to do with weaning- or atleast not all that much!)

To me it is akin to saying I won't take my baby walking(on me) because she cannot walk yet and until she learns to walk herself - no outings for her!!!

Since my DD cannot grasp her food, nor feed herself I am supposed to not introduce her solid food. This - in my opinion is trying to co-relate two completely unrelated motor skills. I know for a fact that babies can mash, masticate and chew stuff way before they can pick food and feed themselves. So to withhold food from them until they can feed themselves goes contrary to my beliefs.

I am fine with fun-introducing them solid food tastes by way of soft purees at first, then chunkier purees , then bite-sized chunks (by which time they can hold it themselves and feed themselves....without throwing half of it out hopefully .LOL)

It's also difficult for some mamas (like myself) to not get any break from feeding their LOs and their supply starts dimishing a bit around the 6th mo.... and their LO takes nothing but their breast.......it feels like a huge responsibility and I see nothing wrong in introducing solids for fun at first , gradually making one meal of it per a few weeks.

[GoldmanBaby09]

Originally Posted by AKislandgirl

At any rate, I highly recommend those spoons!

Boo on Amazon for the product description:

The Play and Learn Spoon is designed to help your baby transition to a real spoon. As children transition from formula to food, they also become familiar with the feel and hand-eye coordination associated with using a spoon.

I guess breastfed babies aren't included in food transitions