Talk to me about Baby Led Weaning

JumpAroundBucky · October 2012

DH and I are deciding between making our own baby food (purees and such) and baby led weaning. I don't know much about baby led weaning other than what I've read on a couple of blogs and babyledweaning.com.

S+TMs if you have experience with baby led weaning, can you tell me about it- things you liked, things you didn't, are you planning on doing it again, etc?

TIA!

MomlovesEloise · October 2012

We did it with DD and will do it again with the new LO. We pretty much gave her whatever we were eating and let her play. By 7 months she was sucking on chicken legs and smashing banana all over her face. We didn't use any purees until we started teaching her to use a spoon. It was definitely messy, but we luckily have 3 dogs who were more than happy to help clean up.

momofmanyinthemitten · October 2012

I started making my own purees when LO turned 4 mos. However, if LO wanted a bite of what we were eating, we never denied her that (within reason). It's recommended that babies be exposed to foods between 4 and 6 months for the least likelihood of allergic reaction, unless you have a strong family history, so by 7/8 mos, LO's favorite foods were meatballs, eggs, black beans and tilapia. She's still a protein hog to this day!

Hesterlicious · October 2012

I made 2 batches of mostly green purees in my cheap blender and did some BLW the rest of the time. We don't eat a few green veggies so I wanted him to get used to the taste so he will. The kid eats more foods than I do. Yes

It was awesome having him eat the same foods we do and not worrying about running to the store for jars of watered down mush.

~Kat~ · October 2012

We do a little of both. With both boys I started with homemade purees around 5 months to get them used to eating and excited about it. Then we moved to letting them have whatever (within reason) we were having and letting them go for it. We still did purees when we didn't have time for the mess or we were out and about. By 8 months or so we were done with baby food and it was all table food.

It's really not an all or nothing thing, and you will figure out what works for your baby.

BoatsNHoes · October 2012

We did BLW with DD. they say that babies who feed themselves versus being spoon fed pur?es are less likely to be obese. We just gave her whatever we ate, and let her go to town. They also say BLW babies are actually less likely to choke because the way they have to chew/swallow to get their food (I know coking is always a fear with BLW) DD is an incredible eater. She didnt have solids until 6 months and pretty much fed herself from then on. I would also give her a spoon/fork when she was around 8 months and she taught herself to use that pretty early on. We will do BLW again.

EIsieMae · October 2012

We did a combination of purees and BLW. Truthfully, the purees we more for my nervousness about BLW. She did awesome with solids, and I think it made her more excited about mealtimes, rather than when she ate purees.

Vespah · October 2012

We did BLW and will do it this time again. Meal times were a fun occasion, and not stressful for me or DD. She learned all about different tastes and textures right off the bat, so if she ever found a lump in something it didn't phase her in the slightest. Food's for fun until they are 1!! We don't have food battles at our house. When she's hungry she eats, if she's finished she tells me and her meal is over ("All done" is a fantastic sign to teach your baby, saves much food from being tossed on the floor out of frustration that you just don't seem to understand they are finished). She's a healthy girl, eats a large variety of food and is growing like a weed (34" and 31lbs at 18 months old)

Yes, she gagged at the beginning as she learned how big to take her bites and how much to chew, but never ever did I feel she was in any danger. She just spat it out, and most often grabbed the piece to try again.

We gave her spoons right at 6 months to play with and progressed to forks. She now 100% self feeds with utensils and meals are easy.

ebp913 · October 2012

I had a whole plan to make all my own baby food and we ended up doing Baby Led Weaning. I didn't know about it when I was pregnant but as I started to look into it, it made a lot of sense to me and my DD was very interested in food. Our daughter took to it right away and it was so much easier than making separate food for her. Although I never bought a baby food maker, I do own a couple books and food containers that I never ended up using. I would wait and see what you feel like you want to do when the time comes and don't register for or buy a a bunch of stuff for purees or BLW. You can definitely register for bibs though because you will need them regardless!

drewiekc · October 2012

Like PPs, we did a combo. I started off with making purees around 5m, and then around 6m we started letting her eat whatever we were eating. I did keep sending purees to daycare because that's what was easiest, but she pretty much self-fed at home from that point on. Even if I gave her a soft food, like apple sauce or mashed potatoes or whatever, she either ate it with her hands or a spoon. It's messy, but we definitely preferred it to having to shovel baby food into her mouth!

Anne Mommy · October 2012

We were combo people with DS. I made purees (nothing fancy- a $10 chpper thing from Walmart and whatever fruits or veggies) when DS was 4 months on. It seriously was about as easy as jar food. Whenever he wanted something from our plates we gave it to him. We gave him small pieces of whatever we ate starting at 6 months and haven't looked back. At 18 months, he eats everything. We plan on doing it the same way with #2.

My SIL got the fancy baby food maker cuz she's that type of mom. I saw no point in it. The blender was too big for small batches of food (especially when I first started). The $10 chopper thing was one of the best things I bought. I used ice cube trays and then freezed the cubes in ziplocks. I could pop different things into the bowl for combo veggies/ fruits when he started to eat more.

KrystalD7 · October 2012

We did BLW with my DD and LOVED it. I did start with purees (we made ourselves), but she had way more interest in feeding herself. Miss independent from the beginning lol

I blogged about it here

https://tiealittleribbon.com/2010/04/stage-2-baby-food-making-3/

and further here: https://tiealittleribbon.com/2010/08/table-foods-for-babiestoddlers/

diana.filipi · October 2012

We are doing BLW for the second time right now with our DS and when the next baby comes of age we'll do it again with them. I will admit that with DD I simply did not spoon feed her. It's not that way with DS. If I don't have time for the mess or something else is forcing meal time to be quick he is likely to get a greek yogurt fed to him by me. Otherwise, most of the time, he feeds himself. It hasn't held him back at all to be fed sometimes.

spring_time · November 2012

We also started with homemade purees at about 6 months. It was a lot easier than I ever thought it would be. However, DS just did not get the whole puree thing. For whatever reason, we battled with him to eat purees. Without knowing it was a "thing", we switched to BLW within a month or two. Suddenly our non-eater started eating. I haven't read much on it, and I will probably begin with purees again this time just because I feel more comfortable with it, but at least I know it is an option if I have another picky eater.

KrisM86 · November 2012

BLW was fantastic. DD picked it up very quickly. It was so convenient to be able to eat with her, not spoon feed her first. She was exposed to such a wide variety of food early on and likes almost everything now. Meal time is never stressful in our house. After doing it this way, I really can't imagine having to do purees. I recommend BLW to all my friends with babies.

doremi29 · November 2012

We started with purees early on, then transitioned over to BLW so there were a few weeks where we did a combo as well. We'll probably do the same thing again if this baby handles it like DS did. The other thing we'll do early on is have this baby try sipping through a straw (water) early. DS could sip water through a straw at 6 months which avoided the whole "I can't get my kid to use a sippy cup!" issue.

Talk to me about Baby Led Weaning

Re: Talk to me about Baby Led Weaning

Choose Another Board

Search Boards