Baby led weaning

imrachellea · March 2014

Since the introduction of solids seems to be the topic of choice today, has anyone thought about/previously done baby led weaning? This is the route I plan to go, as I was planning to make LOs food anyway. The more I read about it, not only does it just make sense, I'm so excited to start it! (No earlier than 6 months of course lol)

stacers33 · March 2014

I think a bunch of us are BLWers. I didn't do this with DS so it will be interesting for me to see if DD is less of a picky eater than he is!

imrachellea · March 2014

@SailorTink‌
www.babyledweaning.com

Basically, the idea is that purées teach a baby to swallow before chewing, which is backwards. So long as there are no other issues, they should learn to chew first. Also, it's the concept of food just being food. Why can't babies eat what we eat? You give them softer versions of things we eat (no salt) that is real food and let them take the lead on what they want to eat.

BootsOrHearts · March 2014

We plan to try it. I think the point is just that's it's easier for parents and nicer for babies. No need to make mush or buy the store bought mush and babies choose what and when they eat instead if having mush spooned into their mouth. They get to pick things up and eat them on their own. There's no baby food vs adult food, they eat what you're eating (cut up into small pieces and within reason)

BootsOrHearts · March 2014

For a while now we have been putting foods under his nose so he can smell thm. He knows the wired 'smell' so if you out something there and say smell he will get still for a minute and smell it! Super cute. Anyway the point other than it being cute was to help develop his palate. I fully expect one day will grab what we put there and shove it in his mouth. Ta da! BLW. He already sticks his tongue out to lick cookies when he smells those.

BoothBaby · March 2014

I had never heard of BLW before, but realize now that its what my sister did with her DS2....not necessarily intentionally, but because he wouldn't let her spoon feed him. So he just got tiny bite-size versions of all sorts of food. Seemed so much easier than having to feed him every bite!

Kermode61581 · March 2014

BootsOrHearts said:
He already sticks his tongue out to lick cookies when he smells those.

Smart kid!

cammyisagirlsname · March 2014

We are planning on BLW'ing.

Jenniferomeo · March 2014

Been looking into it and probably going this route.

KateVA · March 2014

My sister did this, but i don't think i will. I just can't handle the gagging and choking. I don't know if that is the norm but her son gagged all the time. But he's almost two and he is a great eater.

FutureMrsCaesar · March 2014

Ds2 did this to himself. He would never take anything from a spoon. We tried at 5 mo. (Gasp!) And he didn't like it, tried again at 6, 7 and so on until around 9-10 mo he started to feed himself little pieces of food. It was a little nerve wracking but I was ready for him to be eating something! I'll probably do something similar with Ben, unless his Dr recommends something different because of his reflux.

jenohouston · March 2014

We want to try this method starting at 6 months

margaerytyrell · March 2014

We plan on doing this as well. I'm still doing some research but it seems to make the most sense

Mrbatesisinnocent · March 2014

We plan on BLW after one year of EBF. We are delaying solids a full 12 months.

notkateanymore · March 2014

I guess we did this with DD. She wouldn't eat baby food, so around 11 mo. we just started feeding her our food, spices, salt and all.

BootsOrHearts · March 2014

Mrbatesisinnocent said:
We plan on BLW after one year of EBF. We are delaying solids a full 12 months.

Wondering what your rationale is? That is the basis for BLW - they tell YOU when they are ready, could be 4 months or could over a year but the point is you follow their lead, not your own schedule. Though certainly at 12 months they are still getting some calories from BM so continuing to BF does make sense even if they've been taking solids.

amberpro · March 2014

I didn't do BLW personally, I got some research from a good friend.

https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.rapleyweaning.com/assets/blwleaflet.pdf&sa=U&ei=xRolU76GD6Gc2QXPsoDABA&ved=0CAsQFjAA&usg=AFQjCNFohrGT678EykKH6LqFCLBHMOplsQ

Also, it is suggested to watch videos of choking vs gagging and when it's appropriate to intervene.

grannyweatherwax · March 2014

crazy4mas9 said:

We plan on BLW after one year of EBF. We are delaying solids a full 12 months.
Wondering what your rationale is? That is the basis for BLW - they tell YOU when they are ready, could be 4 months or could over a year but the point is you follow their lead, not your own schedule. Though certainly at 12 months they are still getting some calories from BM so continuing to BF does make sense even if they've been taking solids.
I wondered this too. I know food is practice for them but won't baby be hungry. That's probably a really stupid question.

Baby gets all the nutrients needed from breast milk or formula.

grannyweatherwax · March 2014

Cashingn2 said:

I think the BLW motto is "before one, just for fun." Eta: meant to quote pgp and previous comments.

This. Food is not meant to replace breast milk or formula before 1 year of age.

MrsJG3 · March 2014

I did BLW with my second. It was much less work she rarely gagged and never choked. We also let have her own spoon and later fork just to practice/play with. Tip: banana bits are much easier ti pick up when coated in ground up Cheerios.

katebusse · March 2014

KateMW said:
I guess we did this with DD. She wouldn't eat baby food, so around 11 mo. we just started feeding her our food, spices, salt and all.

Same here, but she didn't get teeth until 14 months! Made it interesting for sure.

Ktrue85 · March 2014

Loolaide said:

For a while now we have been putting foods under his nose so he can smell thm. He knows the wired 'smell' so if you out something there and say smell he will get still for a minute and smell it! Super cute. Anyway the point other than it being cute was to help develop his palate. I fully expect one day will grab what we put there and shove it in his mouth. Ta da! BLW. He already sticks his tongue out to lick cookies when he smells those.
Wow, that's impressive. My baby must know the word shit, because he does the same thing, well basically.

I died a little.

Mrbatesisinnocent · March 2014

BootsOrHearts said:

Mrbatesisinnocent said:
We plan on BLW after one year of EBF. We are delaying solids a full 12 months.
Wondering what your rationale is? That is the basis for BLW - they tell YOU when they are ready, could be 4 months or could over a year but the point is you follow their lead, not your own schedule. Though certainly at 12 months they are still getting some calories from BM so continuing to BF does make sense even if they've been taking solids.

BLW just so you know, is simply about how you introduce solids when you wean (in small finger sized portions, rather than purées) and while they suggest 6 months, it's not a requirement. Babies receive everything they need from breast milk and solids are not needed until after 12 months (some argue later).

There are several benefits for delaying solids beyond 6 months all easily found with a quick google search. I'm not trying to convert anyone so I'm not going to go into extreme detail here. It's just what we've chosen to do.

BootsOrHearts · March 2014

Loolaide said:

BootsOrHearts said:
For a while now we have been putting foods under his nose so he can smell thm. He knows the wired 'smell' so if you out something there and say smell he will get still for a minute and smell it! Super cute. Anyway the point other than it being cute was to help develop his palate. I fully expect one day will grab what we put there and shove it in his mouth. Ta da! BLW. He already sticks his tongue out to lick cookies when he smells those.
Wow, that's impressive. My baby must know the word shit, because he does the same thing, well basically.

How proud you must be

notkateanymore · March 2014

Loolaide said:

Loolaide said:

For a while now we have been putting foods under his nose so he can smell thm. He knows the wired 'smell' so if you out something there and say smell he will get still for a minute and smell it! Super cute. Anyway the point other than it being cute was to help develop his palate. I fully expect one day will grab what we put there and shove it in his mouth. Ta da! BLW. He already sticks his tongue out to lick cookies when he smells those.
Wow, that's impressive. My baby must know the word shit, because he does the same thing, well basically.

I died a little.
Halfway to potty training already!

LOL I love you Loo.

BootsOrHearts · March 2014

Ok make fun if you will. He probably is responding to something being put under his nose rather than the word. And I think they are a lot smarter than we give them credit for. They may not know words but they can recognize actions and they understand the tone of your voice.

BootsOrHearts · March 2014

Loolaide said:

BootsOrHearts said:
Ok make fun if you will. He probably is responding to something being put under his nose rather than the word. And I think they are a lot smarter than we give them credit for. They may not know words but they can recognize actions and they understand the tone of your voice.
I actually agree with almost all of this (I like to think I give them credit for being smart). But this isn't recognizing a word.

Agreed

mrsbamtastic · March 2014

I don't know but every time I look at the TOOTH in my kid's mouth, I am so freaking tempted to let him gnaw on a drumstick.

synergy_gd · March 2014

Has anyone else with a dog had to stop themselves throwing food scraps at the baby? Or is it just me?

imrachellea · March 2014

Yezbick9 said:
Here's my question. Does this initiate any long term change? Will my baby at two be different in some way than your two year old if I load her up now with puree?

A friend I know has 3 kids. She did traditional purées with her first & BLW with her younger two. She says her oldest is the pickiest water ever, whereas her younger two eat anything, even the youngest being only 1.5 years old. Is it due to BLW, no idea. But it may be. That definitely wouldn't be a definitive argument as most if us probably were fed the traditional purées and I'm sure there are picky & non-picky eaters. It probably doesn't hurt though.

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