[Muminmamman]

So MDC is the first place I have seen ideas such as feeding babe from own plate/no need to do mushy baby food/etc. Where did this movement come from? If I think about it in terms of evolution, it totally makes sense (i.e. cave women didn't hang about contemplating which food to start when, they probably just handed bits of what they were eating to their young). Personally, I have always leaned this way but of course, people told me I was crazy.

Anyhow, I am just curious where you all heard about it as I would love to have a read on it.

 

[TanyaS]

Try this. It's a great read on baby led solids.

 

[Mandala126]

Wow, what a great article!!!! Too bad the whole website isn't in English, looks like a good one.
I don't mean to change the topic but does anyone know whether exclusively BF babies who did not start solids at 6 mo. tend to teeth later? DD is almost 8 mo, not interested in solids (tried spoon feeding at 6 mo.), no teeth yet. Should I worry?

 

[mclisa]

teething is genetic.

And you can still start solids. Those gums are hard!

 

[Mandala126]

I thought so, but my mom said me and my sisters all started solids at 3 mo (old school!) and we were teething by 6 mo. That's why I'm confused.

:

 

[JamieCatheryn]

Isn't 4 months typical for first teeth? It has nothing to do with solids, ask any dentist. If chewing on stuff makes a difference it doesn't matter if it's food or toys or fingers. Most modern babies don't get to actually chew food til 8 months, mushy food couldn't matter.

I started out thinking I'd puree food for DS but when I found he didn't need to eat much, and whole fruits or small cut foods were as safe or better we went with that. I read that website as well, it had some influence on me.

 

[askew]

DS did not get his first tooth until 7 months. I think even 10 months is in the range of normal for first teeth. We started solids at 7 months, self fed only. He did not actually eat much until 9 months and now he is a chow hound and can "chew" very well even though he only has two bottom teeth.

 

[skyezy]

Both of my boys teethed around 4 months, but didn't have solids until after 6.

I never thought about how to feed my kids, they eat what we eat. My mom did the same thing - ground up table food for us. Pretty progressive for the mid 1970's. I think the hysteria over "how" to feed kids is more of an allergy thing. Every thread that talks about giving babies different food has about half of the responses saying you can't do that! If there isn't any indication of family allergies, I say go for it.

 

[happy2bamama]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mandala126 Wow, what a great article!!!! Too bad the whole website isn't in English, looks like a good one. I don't mean to change the topic but does anyone know whether exclusively BF babies who did not start solids at 6 mo. tend to teeth later? DD is almost 8 mo, not interested in solids (tried spoon feeding at 6 mo.), no teeth yet. Should I worry?

No need to worry at all (as long as your Bf-ing). My DS is almost 9 months old and would be fine if he never ate anything solid right now and he also has no teeth yet (hopefully soon because he's out of his mind)! I think there is an evolutionary link between teeth and the desire for solids, although I know there are anomalies.

 

[sunshine's mama]

DD1 got her first teeth the day she turned 4 months and then the upper 4 at 5.5months....

I started her solids when I did from my plate bc it was easiest and she thought its what she wanted (grabbing at it) so i mushed it up.....we were actually out to eat with friends and they looked at me like I was a crazy person from outer space....DD ate it up and wanted more.....Luckily, it happend to be a sweet potato....LOL

 

[Ianthe]

My baby self fed himself some peaches a couple weeks ago at 4 months. I had every intention of waiting until 6 months though. But he had other plans! He grabbed my hand and put the peach into his mouth and sucked on it

 

[superlori]

I've gotten a lot of information from this blog on the topic.

ETA: Just noticed they have a new site now. It's here.

 

[JamieBrewHa]

There's also a great yahoo group with information. Search Yahoo groups for B-LW (baby-led weaning)

 

[tankgirl73]

wikipedia has a good article on BLW too.

DD just got her first tooth at 8.5 months. At 9.5mo, she suddenly got 3 more. She started 'eating' just before 6 mo (sucking and chewing on foods) and actually swallowing and ingesting at 7.5mo. Eats like a horse now. Food has nothing to do with teeth.

 

[Pyxi]

I have a question. I am looking into this for my DS who has been sitting on my lap at the table since he could hold his head up, and now he has started reaching for my food. I want to start him with a banana and after reading that article it says he should have a fist size portion. Is a banana too mushy? Will be be able to gum off a big chunk and choke on it?

I want to do this right, and I want to do it responsibly because both my MIL and Mother don't understand this method and I want to be successful in trying it without putting DS in danger.

 

[happy2bamama]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pyxi I have a question. I am looking into this for my DS who has been sitting on my lap at the table since he could hold his head up, and now he has started reaching for my food. I want to start him with a banana and after reading that article it says he should have a fist size portion. Is a banana too mushy? Will be be able to gum off a big chunk and choke on it? I want to do this right, and I want to do it responsibly because both my MIL and Mother don't understand this method and I want to be successful in trying it without putting DS in danger.

I was totally on board with self-led feeding until I realized that my then 6-month-old DS was a gagger, meaning that he would gag with even the littlest piece of food in his mouth. It scared the pants off of me! So for me, I didn't feel comfortable giving him chunks of food to gum on. The first time that I did, he bit off way too much and ended up getting scared because he didn't know what to do with it in his mouth (and yes, he gagged). I've been going super slow with it and he's definitely doing better - he doesn't gag anymore, but I still don't feel comfortable giving him big chunks to chew on. Also, when he does get pieces of food in his mouth, it takes him forever to chew it up and actually swallow it (if he does at all). Maybe once he actually gets some teeth and shows more chewing prowess I will feel better about it! And, in no way does this mean that your DC will be the same, but I just wanted to give you my experience.

 

[ledzepplon]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kimiko Anyhow, I am just curious where you all heard about it as I would love to have a read on it.

For me it was trial and error. With my dd I made all these purees and was careful to not introduce common allergenic foods too soon. She wasn't very interested in anything solid until she was almost a year old, because she was a major booby girl. By the time she was interested, she had lots of teeth and I just figured if she wanted to try to eat what we were eating, it would save me the time of preparing special food!

My ds wanted what was on our plates from a young age--like 4-5 months. I held him off until he was about 6 months old, and then I tried giving him soft foods and purees. But he hated the texture. He also had quite a few teeth early on, so I just let him have at it.

So far they've turned out okay!

ETA: I understand that baby gums are very strong, so I know the teeth part isn't so important. I'm just offering my train of thought as far as deciding to let my kids eat "regular" food.

 

[LilMomma83]

My DS is 5mo and has no teeth but "chews" his food with his gums

 

[Teddy'sMom]

I started reading this thread because my ds is 9 months and is rejecting baby food. Basically, he started solids a little before 6 months. We have been doing the regular mashed sweet potato, banana, rice cereal stuff. He has had a lot of other fruits and vegetables as well, but always mashed. I recently started with cheerie-o's and hiving him small pieces of soft fruits and vegs and he loves it. So much so that yesterday he would not eat any of the mush, only the "real" food. The thing is that I worry he doesn't get as much when he self feeds and that his body can not digest these pieces (I say this because they pretty much come out the other end the same as they went in).
This thread got me thinking maybe I have been going about things wrong. Is it too late to do this baby led weaning with larger solids?

 

[hippiemum21580]

My boys were all about 5 to 7 months old when they began to self feed. I started them all on chunks of ripe avacado. Its so much easier than doing the whole pureed thing, less work and less cost. I just let them take teh lead with when they wanted to begin. My 4 year old was very eager to eat solids and began grabbing stuff off our plate by 5 months. (little bugger was also pulling to standing at that age too!) I just kinda continued with teh mindset of breastfeeding on demand. When I first became a mom I tried to follow all of teh "rules" and boy was it stressful and worrisome sometimes! Now, we unschool, and child led wean and I let them tell me when they are ready for the next step.