baby-led weaning

Six months ago, Mr Pilot and I started Baby-Led Weaning to introduce solids to Squirm. Although I wrote a short update soon after we started, I haven’t actually revisited the topic since. Now that Squirm is a year old, I thought it would be a great time to revisit Baby-Led Weaning and talk about both the positives and negatives of using this method to introduce solids.

If you want a quick run down of Baby-Led Weaning, check out my post here

Six months after introducing solids, I’m pleased to say that Squirm eats almost everything that we eat. He eats three solid meals a day, plus snacks, as well as breast milk. He’s been exposed to a wide range of food, and seems to enjoy almost all of them. Like most adults I know (myself included) he goes through periods where he likes some foods more than others, though there are a few favourites all the time (sultanas are always welcome).

The Positives

The different food. Squirm happily eats lots of different flavours, including some which I don’t like! It’s been really exciting watching him eat new things and seeing how he’ll react to them
His dexterity. It’s been great watching Squirm move from picking up food with a full palm to delicately picking up beans and pieces of rice with his finger and thumb. He’s working on using cutlery at the moment.
The cost. BLW has cost us very, very little. We buy slightly more fruit and vegetables than we did before and there’s a few snacks Squirm prefers, but we haven’t had to spend money on anything other than the kind of food we usually eat
Time – I don’t spend any extra time making food for Squirm, and he eats at the same time as me
The health aspect – because we want Squirm to eat healthy food, Mr Pilot and I are eating healthier. There’s more fruit and vegies in our diet and less salt and premade meals. I’m also more likely to eat three good meals a day, rather than skipping breakfast and snacking through the day
Being able to eat out – Squirm just shares whatever Mr Pilot or I am eating.
My Confidence – because I read up on BLW before I started, I had a good understanding of the difference between choking and gagging. I also knew what to do if Squirm happened to choke. Although he gagged a little in the beginning, I was able to be pretty calm about it and let him work it out
Squirm’s confidence – He’s so eager to try new and different food!
Squirm’s attitude to food – he really loves eating. He watches us prepare food, stands next to his chair when we put the food on the tray and makes the best eating noises. I know there might be issues as he moves further into toddler-hood, but for now he loves food in all its different textures, shapes and flavours, and that’s an excellent thing!

The Negatives

Cleaning up – After every meal we need to clean Squirm’s tray and the mat underneath. Although this is getting easier as less food drops (or is thrown) to the floor, it’s still a job to do three times a day
Finding healthy food – although we cook a lot from basic ingredients, I feel like I’m on an endless search to find food with less salt or sugar. It definitely opens your eyes to the amount of ‘stuff’ in our food. I wish I had the time/a decent oven to make more from scratch, but I can’t see that happening too soon unless the oven fairy and the Thermomix fairy want to come for a visit with some presents for me 🙂

So that’s how Baby-Led Weaning has worked for us. If you’re interested in reading more, I cannot recommend Gil Rapley’s books (Baby-Led Weaning and The Baby-Led Weaning Cookbook) enough. It’s definitely a great way to introduce solids and I’m so glad I discovered it!

What is Baby-Led Weaning?

It’s become ‘common understanding’, in most western countries anyway, that there’s a certain path you must follow to introduce solids to your baby. Somewhere between 4 and 6 months (though for medical reasons, some people wait longer) you introduce cereals to your baby, followed by a set period of purees, mashed foods, then finger foods. I thought this was the only way to do it, at least until I was pregnant and came across baby-led weaning.

Baby-led weaning, or baby-led solids, is simply an alternate way of introducing solids to your baby’s diet. It involves the baby becoming part of family meal times – sitting with the family and sharing the family food. Some parents do it by offering food from their own plate, while others put some of the food the family is eating on a plate or a tray for the baby to chose from.

Because it is baby led, the baby chooses what they want to ‘eat’ or not eat. In the early days, this is more exploration or play – they need to work out how food, and their mouths, work, so they still get almost all their food from milk. But as they are being introduced to a wide range of food – and they see their family eating it – they are likely to eat a wide range of food from a young age.

Why are we doing Baby-Led weaning?

When I came across Baby-led weaning, I became kind of excited. This seemed perfect for us:

No preparing purees, mashes or special food different to us. This so appeals to the lazy side of me 🙂
Creating the idea of a family table right from the start. Squirm eats with us, at the same time as us, from the beginning
Being able to introduce a wide range of food early. I can be a bit picky in my eating, so I’d like Squirm to be introduced to lots of foods
Letting Squirm control his food from the start.

What do we need for Baby-led Weaning

A way for the baby to sit up at the table – either in a high chair or on the parents lap
A cleanable surface. Baby-led weaning can be messy to start with, though that improves with a bit of time.
Some modifications to food. Egg must be well cooked and it’s a good idea to avoid honey until the baby reaches 12 months. Small nuts and other things which may cause choking need to be avoided or modified. To start with, it’s easier to cut food into easy to hold shapes. And it’s best to avoid a lot of salt and sugar.
And understanding of the difference between gagging and choking.

We read the Gill Rapley books – Baby Led Weaning and the Baby Led Weaning Cookbook. The first one gives a good in depth look at Baby-led weaning, while the second one gives an overview and then some good recipes to try out (if you want to buy one, I’d suggest the cook book. We’ve tried some of the recipes and they’re great). You don’t need to read either book, but they do give some great background and information.

So we’ve got a few more weeks to go until we start and we’re just beginning to get ourselves organised. Squirm sits with us for most meals and enjoys the social aspect of dinner already. We still need to buy a mat to go under his chair, but we’ve been trying out a range of different recipes which we’ve really enjoyed. And we’ll be sure to share the adventure with you.

What was the hardest part about introducing solids with your child? What were the funniest bits?