Attachment Parenting
xp: BLWers
Can you share any links/advice? I feel like I want to do this (I started giving her some food about 2 weeks ago, but haven't been too regular about it.) but I don't have a lot of support. DH is with me on it. I KNOW my mom thinks it's weird, and yesterday told me, "You know it would be a lot easier to just mash it up and give it to her..." I just smiled and nodded.
I think hearing stories about others doing it would help me to stick with it. Help? =]
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Re: xp: BLWers
I found it way easier to let him gnaw on his food rather than to have to sit there and spoon feed him. Of course I was right there watching!
Also, BLW reduces choking issues, because the baby learns to chew/bite before swallowing, as opposed to with purees, where they learn to suck it back and swallow first. Its harder to make the transition to solid food from purees when you've never learned that you have to chew your food.
I highly recommend the book "Baby-Led Weaning: Helping Your Child to Love Good Food," by Gil Rapley. It really set some of my fears to rest. Here are some good sites as well:
https://baby-led.rhgdsrv.co.uk/https://babyledweaning.com/
https://nourishedkitchen.com/baby-led-weaning/
For us, the first couple of weeks were scary, because DD wasn't used to food on in mouth, so she gagged most of the time. Within a month, though, she doesn't gag at all and can eat tons of different foods. Her current faves:
Cucumber and yogurt dip, Hummus and unsalted saltines, watermelon, cantaloupe, black beans, egg yolk, strawberries. She just today started eating some Cheerios and I can tell they are going to be a big hit.
The main thing for me was to remember that I trust my baby and her instincts. If she wants to eat it, she does. If she doesn't, I don't force her. I think that's my favorite part of BLW.
Also, I think it's really silly when people hesitate to let a baby self-feed because it's messy. Kids ARE messy! We just feed her without a shirt on and wipe her down afterwards. If we go out, I just give her neater foods to play with.
Good luck!