Baby-Led Weaning (or Baby-Led Solids)

Baby-Led Weaning (BLW) is yet another thing that many of my friend and family teased me about when I started with B. Really, I promise, it's not just another new silly trend! It's just common sense. . .

I started out making home-made purees for B for maybe a week or two right when she turned 6 months old. At first, things were going great. But then, day by day, she started becoming more and more difficult to feed. Something I was once so excited to do was becoming a chore. Then one day, after I added the cooked fruits and veggies into the food processor I thought, "Really?! Why can't she just EAT it?!" I had been using wholesomebabyfoods.com for tips and help on making my own baby food, and I came across info on BLW. And then, I was hooked.

The biggest component of BLW is its name, baby led. The parent doesn't feed the child, the child feed themselves from the start. No spoons feeding or purees. . . food is offered in

manageable pieces that the child explores and (eventually) eats. BLW often gets confused with child-led weaning, which is letting a child wean themselves from breastfeeding. Not the same thing. The AAP recommends not beginning solids until 6 months, which also happens to be the perfect time for most baby to begin BLW.

So what's so great about it? Well first off, it takes the hassle out of meal-time. B eats when we eat, what we eat, and how much she wants to eat. She joins in on family meals and because we don't have to worry about spoon feeding her, we eat our meal hot and don't have to stress about spoon feeding her. BLW babies develop appetite control, and a taste for nutritious food. Babies who feed themselves gain confidence and learn to trust food. They also become more likely to try new foods because they know they won't be forced to eat. Oh wait -- the biggest perk -- It's cheaper! I just give a little of our food to B, and I'm not spending a fortune on special food just for baby!

One of our friends and family's biggest concerns was B choking. Many parents hold off on solids because of they don't understand the difference between choking and gagging. B did have lots of gagging (making coughing noises and leaning forward to spit out the food). Gagging is the baby's way of protecting their airway from pieces of foods that are too large. Choking on the other hand, means the airway is totally blocked - no sounds are made. Choking is very rare, but can happen weather you practice BLW or not. We just made sure to never leave B unattended and we are both certified in infant CPR (just in case!) We offered the food in slices, sticks or large pieces big enough for B to pick up and eat, and she was off!

So is there anything WRONG with spoon feeding? Not necessarily. Purees began back around the 1950's. . . it started with the wives tale that cereal would help your baby sleep better and sooner (NOT true). So then, before you knew it moms were feeding fruits and vegetables earlier and earlier, and started to puree them with the belief that their baby would eat it better that way. And baby food companies took advantage of the opportunity and started marketing to mothers. . . even for babies as young as 3 months, despite recommendations against it. Ok. . . now I'm getting off an an entirely new rant. . . So anyways, the problem with purees is that it is all the same texture, and babies swallow instead of chew. Then, when they are

then given food with more texture, they can't handle it because they haven't learned how to swallow. Also, spoon feeding puts the parent (or "feeder") in control. The baby can't decide how much to eat or how fast to eat it, inhibiting their ability to sense when to stop because they are full. BLW fits in great with breastfed babies because they are used to controlling how much they eat. Also, the muscles that babies use to nurse are the same ones used to chew. By force-feeding purees (for lack of a better word), too many solids can interfere with milk intake - which means fewer nutrients. So really. . . if you want to do the mush that's fine but really. . . I figure why bother? BLW is fun!

Now that B is almost 14 months (when most babies would be on solids anyway) we seem to have fallen back into the mold, but BLW has definitely paid off. She loves meal time, she is a great eater, and mom and dad are both happy! It makes me wonder. . . why in the world WOULD anyone do purees??