If you follow me on Instagram you will know that our family is all BLW. Lately I have had many questions regarding this.
Now, you may be thinking "what is BLW" and "why did you choose it".
When I first heard baby led weaning I thought "WTF is that?!"
Then I assumed it just meant you let the baby decide when they are ready to eat food and wean from breastfeeding. I was kind of wrong. Baby led weaning is offering baby foods that they feed to themselves. You don’t puree anything and you don’t feed them baby food. You instead cut food into strips and let the baby feed themselves. Sound scary? Yeah, I thought so too.
It is an alternative way of starting solids.
The second answer is - I didn’t plan to do baby led weaning. In fact, I bought everything I needed to make and store all my own homemade baby food. I even started pureeing foods and freezing them in ice cubes for easy portion sizes.
When he was 5 and a half months we began the (very confusing) journey of solid food. And when it came time Thomas flat out refused it. He would smack the spoon away from his face and refuse to open his mouth. I figured he just wasn’t ready for solid foods and decided that we would wait a little longer. A few weeks would pass and I would try it again, he still blatantly refused.
This battle went on for weeks. I finally decided to just give over and try baby led weaning. I read up on it as much as I could and even joined a great facebook group to learn more and I followed a really awesome Instagram page called "babyledweaningideas" and after making myself more familiar with BLW, we gave it a try.
We started out with steamed vegetables and it was a huge success! He took a few bites of it and played a lot with it. He was actually having fun! There was a learning curve for him though on how to chew food and swallow it. He did gag a lot, he still does - but he never chocked.
Sometimes he just wants to play with his food, but we keep offering it to.
He is 11 months old now and feeds himself very well. We get a lot of comments on how good of an eater he is when we are out. He loves to take off our plate and we have full confidence in him sharing with us.
He likes all types of foods but loves anything that has carbs! (Boy after my own heart. Potatoes are life!)
All of that to say, we chose BLW because it is what worked best for our baby. There are so many benefits to BLW and if we have another baby we would probably do BLW again.
Side Note: There is nothing wrong with puree feeding - it just didn't work for us.
BLW babies have the freedom to choose how much, of what and how quickly they eat. They are apart of family meal times and have a wider opportunity to explore different textures and tastes.
The main benefit for me was that purees are time consuming. Very time consuming. BLW allows me to eat at the same time so, guess what? No more cold meals... well, barely.
The main point to understand though is that it can get messy. Very messy. So, if you are a clean freak... it probably isn't for you. It is worth it investing in some good quality bibs or even smocks.
Thomas has so much fun at meal times. He loves to be apart of the table and to experiment with different textures. His pincer grip is excellent and his hand eye co-ordination isn't far behind. I honestly believe it is contributed to self feeding.
If you are interested in doing BLW with your baby, I highly recommend doing some research first. There are some things you do need to know before you start and some safety factors to consider. Choking is possible but, does not always happen. It is always good to be informed and have the knowledge that if this does happen that you will be able to help. There is a child CPR course you can do that will leave you feeling confident.
Another thing to remember with BLW is that meal times do need to be supervised and they get very messy.
Some BLW essentials:
With a BLW son, outings are also a lot messier. Instead of taking pouches, we take containers which can become very bulky. It's a good idea to invest in things that will make this a little easier.
Lately, I have found reusable food pouches by Cherub Baby and they have honestly been a life saver. Yoghurt is something Thomas loves and although he doesn't mind us feeding him this (probably the only spoon fed food he will have) he still in BLW fashion loves to take the pouches from your hands. This is where the spouts come in handy to eliminate the mess. We have the Toucan Blue & Rainforest Green Special Edition Range and Thomas loves choosing which colour to use for his day. (smoothies are also great in these).
As mentioned earlier a smock or bib with the scoop is super handy. We use these for almost every meal unless we have Thomas in only his nappy (hello Weetbix).
If you don't like to wash floors about 5 times a day (I think I already need a new mop) then a splash mat is also a good investment. Kmart have a cheap one that works perfectly.
Follow @babyledweaningideas on Instagram. Rachel is so informed and loves to share her knowledge. She is a BLW god and has taught me so much about this world. I have also expanded my cooking skills through her.
Over on my own Instagram page (@raising.a.baker) I am going to begin to share some of the baby friendly recipes we use, meals we love and tips and tricks to the trade. I get numerous messages about things that Thomas eat and how to cut it so, if you are interested in exploring this world further with me or, even if you did the puree thing and you are beginning to transition to whole foods, hopefully I can help you feel confident and maybe even gain some ideas.
BLW was the right choice for our family. It has made eating out and family meal times an ease for us. Thomas' independence is a true indication of how well it suits us.
I hope to see you over on Instagram.
Until next time,
Carly xx
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