Baby Led Weaning for Solids?

[chalbond]

http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com/babyledweaning.htm
I had never heard of the "baby led weaning" for solids and was wondering if any one had done it and was needing some resources on it as well. Thanks

[annettemarie]

Moving to Life with a Babe

[crystal_buffaloe]

Bump! My DD is 5 months old, and I've read the book _Baby Led Weaning_ and we're planning on doing it, but I'd love more info/experience from anyone who's started or been through the process. So far, she's had breastmilk slush in a mesh feeder.

[Knitting Mama]

We're doing baby led weaning over here. Cecilia is 7 months at the end of the week.

In the beginning, I waited until I saw 4 distinct signs to start solids at all: Sitting independently, loss of infant tongue thrust, able to self-feed with pincher grasp and an interest in food. For Cecilia, all 4 came into place around 6 months. Had they not been there, we would have waited.

Cecilia's first food was avocado, sliced and put in front of her. She ate a little, played with more, and had a grand old time. Since then, she has tried apple (cooked to soften) and cooked butternut squash. Both of those last two I put some cinnamon on. Again, she ingests about one piece (e.g. one cube of butternut squash, one slice of softened apple) and plays with the rest. But that's ok, because the whole idea at this stage is to learn about food, not to eat for nutrition. By the way, by trial and error we learned that avocado sticks to highchair trays pretty severely, so we started using a mesh feeder for avocado.

One thing to familiarize yourself with is the difference between gagging and choking. Gagging will occur, and is a totally normal part of the process of learning to eat. It's pretty noisy, and actually, pretty amusing the noises Cecilia makes. Actual choking is very rare, and is quite silent, since the baby can't get any air. Just be nearby to watch for the signs, and be sure you know what to do.

[RaeDyCo]

I am currently doing BLW with DS2 and did it with DS1.

Here is more info:
http://baby-led.rhgdsrv.co.uk/

It was the best way to introduce solids for our family. I think it really helps babies (and kids later on) be willing to try different foods, different textures and all different flavours.

I have to agree with pp that there is a big difference between gagging and choking. DS2 would gag on some foods in the early days as he learned how to move it around in his mouth. It was a bit scary but very different from choking.

The biggest hurdle in BLW can be other people. They just don't understand that a 6-7 month old can handle feeding themselves and that they enjoy feeding themself.

[Knitting Mama]

Here are a few more good links:

http://www.babyledweaning.com/index....240&Itemid=118
http://www.becomingmamas.com/baby-le...arting-solids/
http://baby-led.rhgdsrv.co.uk/pdf/blwleaflet.pdf
http://babyledweaning.blogware.com/b...odBasicsMonth1

[P.J.]

Originally Posted by Cecilia's Mama

In the beginning, I waited until I saw 4 distinct signs to start solids at all: Sitting independently, loss of infant tongue thrust, able to self-feed with pincher grasp and an interest in food. For Cecilia, all 4 came into place around 6 months. Had they not been there, we would have waited.

I'm curious where you got the pincer grasp as a sign of readiness and not to give solids before. I'm reading the Baby Led Weaning book right now and she says most babies can use the pincer grasp around 8 months, yet she also recommends starting solids at around 6 months. She says you just don't give smaller sized things like peas or raisins before they can hold them using the pincer grasp, but not that it's a sign of readiness for solids.
I think the tongue thrust and sitting up are definitely important signs (also mentioned in the book) for safety reasons, and the baby's interest is also a good indication that they're ready, hence 'baby led'.

BTW I highly recommend that book for all interested in learning more about BLW. It's a very easy read and gives all the necessary information, and was writen by the woman whose research led to the newfound interest in BLW. Also, the explanation about choking and gagging in the book is quite convincing. Apparently BLW is actually safer and leads to less choking than spoon-feeding purees.

[octobermom]

We are doing a kinda combo.. I looked for certain signs.. 6 months AND sitting independently loss of the toungue thrust intrest in food... The pincher grasp wasn't important and mines really doesn't have that even now at jsut shy of 8 months though were seeing very early signs of it.. We started with foods closer to breastmilk such as sweetpotatos alvacados bananas ect moved into more veggies then meats other fruits and finially some grains... At first we did use a combo of jarred and whole foods more becasue we were jsut introducing tiny tastes looking for certain reactions and doing all whole foods was jsut not practicle from a cost POV for us.. (others might feel diffrently) however after a few weeks of that we did move for the most part completely into whole foods..
I tend to feed bigger pieces than small pincher foods she still fists stuff and is toothless so a big say hunk of an apples is much easier for her to eat than if I diced or shreaded one up for her.. Same with like meats.. Shes gets soem grains through rices oatmeals ect but no breads yet (well besides that pizza crust ) mostly cause I'm afraid she'll jsut gum it into a sticky glue and it will be a chocking hazzard.
I also agree that whole foods in general are much safer especially when given in as much their true form as possible...

Deanna

[paxye]

I have never read the book but that is how all of my kids have been introduced to Solids. When my 1st was about 7-8 months old and we hadn't started solids yet, my family doc told me to forgo purees and just give him real food. That way they are less fussy, are used to different tastes and textures, can't overeat and learn how to regulate themselves and there is no need to transition later on... I am so happy he gave us that advice! I would never do it any other way, it is SO much easier to let babies self feed.

[Knitting Mama]

Originally Posted by P.J.

I'm curious where you got the pincer grasp as a sign of readiness and not to give solids before. I'm reading the Baby Led Weaning book right now and she says most babies can use the pincer grasp around 8 months, yet she also recommends starting solids at around 6 months. She says you just don't give smaller sized things like peas or raisins before they can hold them using the pincer grasp, but not that it's a sign of readiness for solids.
I think the tongue thrust and sitting up are definitely important signs (also mentioned in the book) for safety reasons, and the baby's interest is also a good indication that they're ready, hence 'baby led'.

BTW I highly recommend that book for all interested in learning more about BLW. It's a very easy read and gives all the necessary information, and was writen by the woman whose research led to the newfound interest in BLW. Also, the explanation about choking and gagging in the book is quite convincing. Apparently BLW is actually safer and leads to less choking than spoon-feeding purees.

I didn't get it from anywhere but my own observation. When the children I have cared for (infant preschool teacher and private nanny) had a more refined grasp, they also were able to self-feed and not miss their mouths anymore. For Cecilia, it all seemed to fall into place around 6 month; she was sitting and had lost the tongue thrust and had interest and happened to have a better grasp than the palm-swipe version. It means she doesn't miss when she feeds herself!

[chalbond]

thank you everyone for the advice and links. I did order the Baby Led Weaning book and look forward to reading it and start our DD on solids!

[Disco Infiltrator]

late to the game here but we did BLW with DS who is almost four. It was AWESOME! No purees, no jars, no extra prepping, no extra gear. We toted around a SPOON, and that was it. His first food was slices of nectarine and he would chomp on whole apples with no problems. DD is six months tomorrow and we're already down the path of BLW. Friday will be avocado or banana. She's not as interested in food as DS was, but she's the second child and we're not in any hurry. It's just fun.

[Shannie77]

We did BLW with DD1, and now we are doing it with DD2 who is almost 9 months.  I can't imagine doing it any other way.  It just seems very natural.  I give DD bits of what we are having and just leave her to her own devices.  Sometimes I will help her if she is struggling with slippery food though. :P  Things I looked for was - tongue thrust gone, sitting on her own and pincer grasp.  I started about 7.5 months with DD2 but only offered food ever few days.  Now she eats once or twice a day.

[Laurski]

We're going to be starting this weekend, but probably do a bit of a BLW/puree combo, depending on how it goes with DD.

I have a question for all you BLW veterans: how did your pediatrician react when you said you were doing BLW?  When we saw our ped. for DD's 5 month well-baby visit, she wanted us to start purees (spinach first!) and/or rice cereal (I know, I know...not exactly a nutritional powerhouse, but I'm guessing it's b/c of the iron fortification...) at 6 months.  I just kind of evasively nodded, b/c I didn't feel like tackling the issue with her at the time, but I know we'll probably have to address it at the 6 month visit.

Any advice for addressing BLW with DD's pediatrician?

[Knitting Mama]

I'm very lucky to have an extremely open minded pediatrician, who didn't bat an eyelash when I explained that we were selectively and delayed vaxxing, so my experience may not be the norm. But she was quite interested when I told her we were doing BLW, and she didn't mention anything about iron until Cecilia's 9 month, when they did the iron stick. Unfortunately, she did come back as anemic, but I did my research, and it is pretty common for babies who were under 6 1/2 lbs at birth to be anemic, and Cece was 6 lbs 3 oz. So I don't blame it on a lack of rice cereal at all.

[CBEmomma]

We do BLW. ds2 is 10 months and I give him what we eat, but he's not that interested in it yet. ds1 wasn't interested until 1 year.

[sk8boarder15]

Glad to find this thread. Ds is almost 6mo and is very interested in food. He's already sitting independently too... so we are starting to talk about solids. We are thinking of giving him some sweet potato this week too see what happens. We are going to try BLW and see how it goes. I may occasionally mash things up for him, but I don't plan on making or buying baby specific food. Just modified versions of what we are eating. 

[sunwise]

We have also just started BLW with our 6 month old. (I recently posted a thread about him gagging and vomiting - but he actually has seemed to like what he has eaten so far!) DS doesn't yet have a pincer grasp, but he has showed all the signs of readiness that we looked for - sitting independently, no tongue thrust, and interest in food. We are actually doing a combo approach, with BLW at home and purees at daycare. (The daycare has been DYING to give him rice cereal for awhile now but I wouldn't do it. Now that we are starting solids, I specifically told them to offer purees only after his breastmilk feedings, and never to force him to eat.)

Here is a question I have for those of you with more experience - are you giving your LOs drinks (water) along with their food? I have not so far, but I did buy a sippy cup. However, he doesn't seem ready to handle it yet. Should I put water in a bottle (like the ones I use for his milk) or actually try a tiny cup? Does he need a drink with his food?

[Knitting Mama]

My take on it is that, as long as they get plenty of breastmilk beforehand (and after, if they want it), they probably don't need a water cup so early. They're not eating a ton of food, KWIM? I started giving Cecilia a sippy cup with like 1/2" of water in it just to play with around 8 months. She's just about 11 months now and can get water from it, but alternates between drinking the water and playing with it-- rather like she does with the food in the first place!

[asraidevin]

We did a regular cup for months. He didn't figure out a sippy cup until he was 10 months old. I have a very thirsty boy so a drink with meals is a must. (Now if he'd only learn the sign for "drink").
 

Originally Posted by sunwise 

Here is a question I have for those of you with more experience - are you giving your LOs drinks (water) along with their food? I have not so far, but I did buy a sippy cup. However, he doesn't seem ready to handle it yet. Should I put water in a bottle (like the ones I use for his milk) or actually try a tiny cup? Does he need a drink with his food?