It's easy.
No schedules to follow. No extra cooking. I don't have to feed him while my food gets cold. Eating out is easy. Zac just eats what's on our plate (for the most part).
It's fun.
I love watching Zac explore his food and play with it. Of course, when he's older he will understand enough not to play with his food, but at 6 months, he learns what this eating thing is all about through play. I love that he's part of our family meal times already. Sure, it's messsy, but totally worth it to see him enjoying it so much.
It's simple.
He pretty much just eats isolated pieces of what we eat. Any meal can be altered so he can eat it. With so many things in life that are tedious and difficult, why add one more thing? Zac is already used to cue feeding, meaning, he tells me when he's hungry. So, this is a great compliment to that philosophy of infant feeding and so far, has been seamlessly woven into our daily life.
It encourages nutritious eating habits.
Because Zac has only had whole foods, there will be no confusion later on about what food is. His food isn't all the same texture like purees. He's gotten to play with such a wide variety of foods so far like: broccoli, carrot, strawberry, avocado, banana, green bell pepper, apple, and tomato.
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| Zac likes to inspect his food before he brings it to his mouth. |
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| Chompin' on a carrot. |
He wasn't so sure about the broccoli.
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| Time to try the avocado. |
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| He really liked the strawberry... |
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| even though it was kind of tart. |
The basics of Baby-led weaning:
-Starts at 6 months when baby's tummy can handle real food, making purees unnecessary.
-The first few months, baby is simply given the opportunity to choose their own food by being offered a few different pieces of food. The food must be large enough for baby to grab. Think finger-shape.
-As baby plays and learns about food, he/she will learn that it can be eaten. Then, baby later connects hunger with eating. All the while, baby gradually eats more solids thus he/she slowly asks for less milk feeds.
Interesting facts:
-BLW babies are often more adventurous with their eating choices later on in life, even as toddlers.
-BLW babies usually nurse longer than the first 12 months. They don't have a time-limit imposed on them as to when they must stop nursing.
-BLW reduces the chances of "food battles" during the toddler years, making meal times more relaxed.
More Resources:
Feeding baby naturally: what, when, how
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| ALL DONE! |
2 comments:
OK, first of all, Zac is ADORABLE. I see pictures on fb all the time and just die. He's one of the cutest babies I've ever seen. :)
Now that we've gotten that out of the way,I am glad you posted about this. I had read a little on BLW when Jude was pretty little and LOVED the idea. I'm not even sure how feeding ended up not going the way I wanted to, we started with cereal and all the traditional stuff. Now, I am thinking about heading more in the BLW direction because we are going soooo slowww with the traditional method that he's not really starting to wean yet anyway.
I read this post RIGHT at Judah's eating time and immediately just gave him a big chunk of a banana to gnaw on. Jer and I loved watching him eat and Jude loved it too. We did have to give him a bath afterwards though;) I feel like I don't really know where to start but you recommended a book so I may read that now:)
You know I do BabyWise, or at least PDF and I feed him about every 4 hours now. It's not strict but it ends up being about then. Would that work with BLW? I feel like this concept is directed towards more demand-fed babies but still think it could work for us. I don't know enough to totally know for sure.
Do you mainly give Zac fruit and veggies or have you already started dairy or meat? What does BLW say about all that sort of thing? Also, do I just need to not worry about him choking? I know a BIG piece of fruit wont fit in his mouth but a 1x1 piece he could choke on (maybe?). Should I just not worry?
Woah, this was long! I have been sad we didn't do the BLW from the get-go and lately realized he isn't eating that much anyway so we may be able to "start over". Thanks for listening:)
Hey Rachel!
I don't see why BLW wouldn't work for you. It's pretty flexible to fit any lifestyle, which is one of it's attractive qualities.
Right now, I'm just giving Zac 2-3 options of fruits and veggies. Usually at dinner and sometimes at lunch depending on if he's awake and if it's convenient. He hasn't really started to eat anything yet, just gumming. The book says he can have meat and dairy this early, but I decided to wait until he begins to eat more and gets past the gagging stage. Mostly, because at the end of the meal we end up throwing away what he didn't smash all over and meat and dairy are more expensive, so I just don't want to feel like it's being "wasted".
As for the choking/gagging, the book has a really good section about the difference between them and how to know when baby is choking. We often think gagging is choking, but really the gag reflex is what prevents choking. So, the more a baby gags, the better the reflex develops thus minimizing the chances of choking. The book does say that you shouldn't give baby smaller pieces of food until they develop the pincher grip. By then, usually around 9 mos, they are no longer gagging on the food and have the coordination down to move the food from the front to the back of the mouth.
I would say, some worry is to be expected. But, if you know what to look for, you can be confident that Jude won't choke. Also, there are mesh food feeders that are really helpful. I use them for bananas since they get so slimy.
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