Baby led solids?

[babygirlsmama]

I am looking for information on a topic that I think is called baby led solids. I think it is different than baby led weaning, but must be related.

Does anyone have any good resources on this? What I am interested in is the concept of skipping cereals and purees and just introducing real, whole foods to my baby so the baby can eat them as finger foods. My baby is exclusively breastfed, and I intend to continue that indefinitely, but do want to start introducing solids so baby can play, learn about tastes, textures, etc. So, I'm more interested in the food angle not the "weaning" angle, if that makes sense.

Does anyone have any resources? Thanks!!

[Llyra]

When "weaning" is used in this context, it's the broader meaning of weaning, which is the extended process of baby moving from being sustained exclusively on your milk, to the introduction of other foods, which of course ultimately winds up in baby ceasing to take in breast milk. It's not weaning as in stopping breastfeeding entirely-- it's weaning as in beginning the very gradual process of transitioning to solid food. It's a process that takes years, for most kids, if they are allowed to lead the way. So it is actually called baby-led weaning, but don't let the word "weaning" worry you!

[Treece]

This is basically how I intro foods to my kids. I let them lead the way. My 27 month old didn't have any solids until about 6 months. He is still breastfeed at nap and bed times (when I'm not working). And he has had no detrimental effects. Also, I really believe he is healthier than my 5 yo who's father insisted he be started on cereals, purees etc. As far as the 27 mo is concerned, I didn't give any foods until he was able to sit up and would reach for them. Also, I don't cut any foods up smaller than reasonable because I believe he can handle what he is given. He eats whole grapes, hot dogs, etc without the IMO needless cutting up. We give him cups of water not sippy cups. In fact, I don't think he knows HOW to drink from a sippy. LOL. Just my experience with my middle child. My infant, we'll see how it goes with her LOL

[toriaj]

This is what I've done with my 7 1/2 mo old. She was exclusively breastfed until two weeks ago, when I gave her a whole, peeled fresh pear to mouth and lick all by herself. This week I also gave her half a whole (unmashed) banana. It's going well. Soon I'll give her cooked sweet potato and raw avacado. I don't plan on doing much special prep of her food, and no spoon feeding. I'm not aware of any books on this topic, if you find any, let me know!

[katelove]

I like "Baby Led Weaning" by Gli Rapley but I haven't read any other books on the subject so I can't compare it to anything else.

[hjrowan]

The "Bible" of BLW is this book by the British health visitor Gill Rapley:

http://www.amazon.com/Baby-led-Weani...2054903&sr=8-1

It's what I did with my now 22 month old DD and I'm also doing my MS thesis on an aspect of it.

[blessedwithboys]

http://kellymom.com/nutrition/solids/solids-how.html

[sapphire_chan]

"Baby-Led Weaning" is a great book on this topic. The author assumes that milk-feeds ( what she uses to denote both breast and bottle feeding) will continue for loooong after complementary foods are introduced.

There's usually a BLW thread over in Life With a Babe, but http://www.mothering.com/discussions....php?t=1215752 this seems to be the closest thing currently and it's not as informative as some of the earlier threads were.

[sapphire_chan]

Originally Posted by hjrowan

It's what I did with my now 22 month old DD and I'm also doing my MS thesis on an aspect of it.

Do tell!

[colsxjack]

Our DD is 9.5 months old. She is being fed by the "baby led weaning" method for the past 2.5 months.
At 6 months we started her on solids by giving her pureed fruits and veg. It didn't go well. She was fussy about texture and my DW and I were frustrated about food and schedules and making it and everything.
We go the Baby Led Weaning book that was mentioned. It made a lot of sense. So that same night we just gave here veg and fruits cut into 2-3 inch fingers. Everything was steamed so that it is soft enough for her to bite, but not so soft that it squished and broke in her hands.

She now can eat very small things and so we dont have to make sure it is in 2-3 inch fingers. She has enough of a pincher grasp to handle small bits.

She eats:
raw cucumber (not peeled), apple quarters (not peeled), steamed carrot sticks, sweet potato, green beans, broccoli spears, cauliflower, avocado, pears, plums, banana, peas, zucchini, squash, black beans, baked beans, rice, thick lentil soup, scrambled egg, tortilla, toast with tahini spread on it,
yogurt, spinach, salmon, little homemade meat balls. And I am sure more.

We started out by giving her plain steamed veg and raw fruit. Now we have moved on to mixing flavours and starting to give her things with more spice and herbs and flavouring such as the lentil stew and curries. We basically give her whatever we are having. We just drop in onto her seat tray and let her have a good go at it. It is VERY messy, but fun.

Good luck. We have found the fun and passion and adventure that we were looking for/hoping for when we thought of introducing our DD to the world of food.

[hjrowan]

Originally Posted by sapphire_chan

Do tell!

I've PM'd you!

[crunchy_mommy]

I *love* baby-led weaning. I started a thread in the Toddler section for BLW-graduates a week or two ago... here it is http://www.mothering.com/discussions....php?t=1215643 if you're interested in hearing some outcomes!

I thought I'd start him on avocado slices... he had other plans & sniped some of my banana once, some roasted veggies another time... we quickly realized if you tried to make something just for him (sweet potato wedges or whatever), he would decide he wasn't hungry or he'd fall asleep just before dinner, plus he always wanted what everyone else had. So my main advice is to forget about which foods to introduce first and preparing them a certain way -- just let baby have whatever they seem interested in... within reason of course (we did not allow whole grapes, whole nuts, etc.) Also, don't expect your baby to eat as much as non-BLW babies. Many BLW babies take a lonnnnng time to start eating real quantities. My DS mostly played with & tasted but spit out his food for the first 2 months, then around 7 months (we started early @ 5 months, per his lead) he started eating maybe a bite or two a day. It slowly increased and now at 14mos he eats maybe 3 bites for breakfast, a few bites for lunch & snacks, and a pretty big dinner (maybe several tablespoons of whatever we're having). He loves to eat whole apples all by himself, that's his favorite thing these days, he LOOOOVES fruit!

P.S. He is still nursing at least 12 times a day, often more, so don't let the word "weaning" mislead you!