Baby-led weaning?

Re: Baby-led weaning?

• mwmiller4 member

  August 2016

  Hi! We just started BLW and I'm a FTM so I may not be super helpful but my SIL has been extremely successful with it with my niece. I'm also part of a great Facebook BLW group that's super helpful and supportive. 
  
  **BLW stresses that you baby can sit independently, has developed the pincer grasp, can put things into his/her mouth without help, and is interested in food. If the baby isn't there yet, then wait until the baby has those skills/behaviors. 
  
  1.  Since your LO has had purees, they suggest doing a 2-3 week "reset" where baby only gets formula or breast milk. The reasoning behind this is because purees encourage babies to swallow without chewing which can be lead to unnecessary gagging and possible choking if offered normal food. 
  
  2. After the reset, offer foods that are about the size of steak fries because they're easier to grasp (skinnier things like green beans are ok--that's what DD started with because that's what we had for dinner--I'm attaching a graphic that's really popular). Coat slippery things (like bananas and avocado) in crushed Cheerios or leave the peel on the part you offer so baby can grip it. At this point, they're just learning to chew, figure out how to move food around without gagging, and getting tastes--they eat very little. You want them to learn to chew first so they aren't blindly swallowing (they quote studies saying that BLW reduces choking risks--I haven't researched it extensively but read the book and feel comfortable based on my LO and my niece's success).
  
  3. At about 9 months (once they're good at chewing), then start offering toddler sized bites. At 11-12 months start preloading silverware with toddler bites and after a year, stop preloading and let them do it themselves (and presumably get a dog to help with clean up if you don't have one!)
  
  4. Know the difference between choking and gagging (info graphic) and really consider taking an infant CPR class so you feel more confident. 
  
  
  
  

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• MississippiCatfish member

  August 2016

  I tried BLW with my first baby at six months. We tried banana and avocado a couple times and he gagged and gagged. Like, 20ish times per sitting. Mealtime was not fun for any of us. I started to dread it and I didn't want him to!  So we decided to go to purees and had a more pleasant experience. It took very little time to increase the thickness of the food and get him to eating table foods. 
  
  I share because at that time, everyone in my BMB was all about BLW and I was the only one who didn't have a positive experience. It's okay if you decide you don't prefer it! Either way!
  
  I would highly recommend reading the book - it's good to know why you're doing what you're doing, and how you can do it in the best and safest manner. 
  

  *E 10/2012, H 7/2014, F 2/2016*
  

  
  

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• VitaLuna member

  August 2016

  Like @MississippiCatfish, BLW was the bug thing with DD1, and I was all about doing it. Did a lot of research, was gung ho about it, but it didn't end up working for us. The gagging REALLY bothered me, I was anxious when she ate. It was just really unpleasant all around. We never did jarred purées, just mashed stuff up and thinned it with breastmilk or water when we could, or used the Kidsme feeder (for things like melon). When she was ready, we started cutting food up and letting her pick it up. BLW is great if it works for you, but it didn't for us, and that's ok (like PP, I felt guilty about it, which is just silly). 

  

   

  

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