So Lily is six months and two weeks old. We are past the six month mark people; it is absolutely crazy to me, six months has never gone by so fast. Even when I was pregnant with her I couldn't wait to get to six months. There are so many amazing things that happen when a baby gets to be at that stage of development, one of those amazing things being the introduction of solid foods. As we were getting closer to the date, I was starting to feel unsure; something just didn't feel right about mashing up food and spooning it to her. So I started doing some research and found that a lot of moms who "feed on demand" (simply feeding your baby when they show signs of hunger, instead of on a set schedule) start solids using the "
baby led weaning method". This essentially means offering your baby a variety of "finger foods" and allowing them to move at their own pace. They begin by picking up the food and licking it then move slowly to learning how to chew the food and finally, to eat when they are hungry and stop when they are full. This made so much sense to me and it seemed like such a natural progression from breastfeeding on demand. In addition to being six months of age (the recommended age to start solid foods) she was showing all of the signs of being ready: sitting unassisted, being interested in food and grabbing for food. Sure enough, we have given her cucumber, yams, watermelon, apricot, broccoli, celery, carrot, pears, banana, avocado and plum. Some she has liked more than others but each time we do it, less gets thrown on the floor and more ends up in her mouth. I know some people may be worried about this being a choking hazard but I assure you, done properly there is less of a chance of choking than with the standard spooning of mashed food. The idea is that the baby learns to chew before learning to move the food to the back of their mouth to swallow it. So far, under great supervision and adherence to the guidelines of baby led weaning, we have had only amazing results. The introduction has not been stressful but instead, a really fun, amazing and memorable experience. Do some
research and find out what is best for your family but this is what is working for us. I will be sure to update you along the way! P.S. get yourself an easy to clean high chair and a good bib (ours are from
ikea and you can pretty much hose em' down)
This is such a good idea! She's such a doll. I love how Montessori uses real glasses for kids to drink from too, not sippy cups. It just makes so much sense to help them be more independent.
ReplyDeleteWhen my son was six months old, yes that was now 3 1/2 years ago! I couldn't get him to even put puree food in his mouth. He always spat it out. I did a little research as it was getting stressful. I'd made up some lovely puree combination's and froze them and ended up throwing them in the bin. Baby led weaning was the only way I cold get him to eat or to try anything. There are little sucky bags which we used on occasion, which were fine, but to be honest he preferred the choice of picking them up by himself and choosing what he liked the look of. Definitely the way to go.
ReplyDeleteNow he's four and we get, 'I don't like that', quite a lot. We are having to give him the choices again. We put food that we have prepared for us all on his plate and he chooses what and how much to eat without any nagging. If he eats well he's rewarded with a more interesting desert. If he doesn't eat much or try new things he gets natural yoghurt and/or fruit. He's actually trying more things again. I'm sure it's just a 'phase.'
Great blog and will be sure to keep coming back. :-)