Baby Led Weaning part 2 "First foods"

One of the hardest things for me when starting was figuring out the best way to prep his food. For the most part with BLW you can just give them what you eat. But, when first starting out, I obviously wanted things to be softer for him than what we would eat. So I'll add in how I prepped some of the food.

Warning about BLW: it is VERY messy. This is not an option if you are afraid of a huge mess. You will be giving LO a lot more baths probably and cleaning their high chair often. If you have a dog, they'll be a huge fan of this since plenty ends up on the floor.

MiniMinch's first food ended up by accident. A few days before his 6 month appt, he grabbed a green pepper off his dad's plate while we were at lunch and put it into his mouth. We decided, well, let's just go ahead and let him try it. He gummed at it and seemed to like it so we went to the counter and asked for a few more.

Since he did so good with that, we went out and bought some sweet potatoes. I washed and peeled them, then cut them into wedges about 2in in length. Then I used a little olive oil and popped them in the oven at 350 for about 30 min. Then let them cool.

Next up was banana. I know some people cut half the skin off and leave the other half so they can hold on to it better, but yeah, I just kept breaking the banana. So I gave up. This was WAY slippery for him. Later attempts I ended up coating with cheerio crumbs. I crushed a whole bunch and kept them in tupperware for coating slippery foods. I also found that after you cut a piece, if you stick your finger down the middle, it'll split into 3 smaller pieces which make the perfect size.

 One of the great things about BLW is that it's soo easy when you go out to eat to just give them something you have. Of course, make sure it's not something prepared with lots of salt since babies can't have much. When we went out for BBQ, he was pretty fussy, probably because he wanted some food too. So, I pulled some peppers off my kabob and gave them to him. He went to town on it and it was hilarious to see people's reaction. The next table over was like "OMG is he eating a pepper?!". Yes, yes he is.

Avocado-again, covered it in cheerios so he could hold it better. Licked his fingers clean.

Some people who do BLW are anti all purees. My feeling is that as long as he's feeding himself, it's still BLW. So, we'll occasionally give him a Spouts organic pouch. Again, messy as can be, but fun.

 

Pears: 1st day I cut them up and baked them with some cinnamon. 2nd day I cut off the top and took 2 bites out of it and gave it to him whole. He loved sucking on it. 

 

Some other things we've tried and he liked: cinnamon apples (I peeled, cut them into wedges, then put some butter in a pan and cooked them til soft), a little mashed potato from our dinner, some small pieces of shredded chicken at a restaurant, tomato slice from my sandwich, guacamole, scrambled eggs, some baby snack items (banana mum mums and cheese puff things), asparagus, cantaloupe, and yellow pepper. Those are the only things I can think of off hand. The only things he didn't like were cantaloupe and yellow pepper, but he didn't really try them either. I think he was just in a cranky mood and tired so I'll try them again later. I've heard to try things 3 times before deciding he doesn't like it.

Once he gets the pincher grasp we'll be able to try smaller things like corn and peas. And depending on how he keeps doing, we may try some ground beef and steak. I wanted to make sure he's doing good with the chewing before that. But he's come such a long way in the last few weeks. Our pedi said he can eat pretty much anything we do except for honey and whole milk. Always check with yours first of course and consider family history of allergies. We also don't use salt for his food, but other seasonings are ok.

So, while we have had tons of people wondering what we're doing, I'm so so happy that we chose this route. He is having a blast eating all kinds of different foods and he gets to be included in the meals. It's awesome to see him enjoying it and learning. Yes, it's messy, but it's worth it to us. The time cleaning him is less than the time to make separate food for him.