Adventures in Eating: Our Baby Led Weaning Journey

Guest Blog Written By: Dotty Gee

“He’ll figure it out. We just have to trust him.”

My husband and I sat on the edge of our seats, nervously watching as our six month old lifted the sweet potato off his tray. His hand hung in mid-air; his head cocked to the side as he eyed the orange wedge in his hands with instinctive curiosity.

Would he put it in his mouth? Would he eat it? Would he choke?

Finally, he made contact. He took a bite. Into his mouth the sweet potato went. He chewed. His face contorted into a mixture of surprise and disgust. He closed his eyes and turned his head away. His body shuddered. Then he opened his eyes, and looked at the remaining sweet potato in his hand, and repeated the entire process over again.

Our baby was weaning himself. Not weaning in the American sense — reducing his breast milk intake — but in the British sense, as in teaching himself how to eat solid food. For the first week our baby boy tasted every new food with apprehension and seeming disapproval, but as time went on, he began to smile as he ate, to kick his feet in delight, and to reach for foods he now recognized as pleasurable. 

At twelve months old, he now loves sweet potato and it’s a regular feature on our menu. Thanks to Baby Led Weaning (BLW), he has been able to explore new foods and new textures entirely at his own pace, picking up fine motor skills and a healthy attitude toward food in the process.

I’ve written this primer with the goal of helping to orient parents who are introducing foods to their baby, and to showcase BLW as a viable alternative to the traditional approach of offering cereals and pureed foods as first foods. We’re just a “regular” family who combed through a variety of options before deciding that this was the path that we wanted to take. Please consider this an introduction to BLW; there will be a list of suggested reading at the end for further information.

But first, the basics.

What is Baby Led Weaning?

Baby Led Weaning refers to a method of introducing solids in your baby’s diet. Coined by Gill Rapley, a British expert on infant feeding and child development, BLW encourages parents to let baby take the lead in food exploration by offering appropriately-sized pieces of food that baby can pick up and put in her mouth on her own — rather than parent-led feeding, which involves spoon-feeding pureed foods or cereals into baby’s mouth. The rationale behind BLW is simple: babies who have reached the developmental milestones of being able to safely consume food (typically, six months old, able to sit upright unassisted) should be given the opportunity to teach themselves how to eat.

According to Rapley, even the process of eating is developmentally-oriented. The first time baby puts food into her mouth, it’s quite likely that she’ll move it around with her tongue, and then spit it out. After some repeated attempts, baby will learn to chew. It is only when baby learns to chew that she will attempt to swallow her food. Now consider feeding a baby pureed foods, where she is taught to swallow before she learns how to chew. While one method is not better than the other (parents have to operate within their own comfort zone), BLW does have the added benefit of giving baby the opportunity to learn how to navigate new foods and textures from the very beginning.

Why Baby Led Weaning?

Why not?!

There are a lot of benefits to baby led weaning over traditional weaning. Here are just a few:

• Not having to spend countless hours peeling, chopping, steaming, and pureeing food;
• Making one meal, for the whole family to enjoy;
• Being able to eat together as a family (no shoveling food into baby’s mouth, then trying to take a quick bite of your own meal… baby is independent);
• Allowing baby the opportunity to explore varied textures from the very beginning;
• Allowing baby the opportunity to practice her fine motor skills;
• Trusting that baby will know how much she needs to eat (this is a habit breastfeeding moms are already familiar with);
• Stress-free meals — if baby wants to eat, great. If she doesn’t, that’s okay, too.

Interested? Here’s How to Get Started

You can really begin with anything. All foods are encouraged, though it’s never a bad idea to start with nutrient dense food. When thinking about what size of food to offer, with BLW, bigger is better. At six months, baby doesn’t yet know to open her hand to release food into her mouth, so you need to make the food about double the length of her fist. She’ll hold one half and put the other half into her mouth.

With regards to seasonings, the only things you need to avoid are salt. Babies love flavour!

Here are some ideas:

• Fruits like ripened apples and pears, can be served whole. Simply peel and offer to baby. Or, slice, soften (on stove top or microwave) and offer wedges to baby.
• Bananas can be cut in half, and half-peeled, so only part of the flesh is exposed. The remaining part can serve as a handle to make it easier for baby to grasp as bananas can be slippery.
• Avocado slices (you can leave part of peel on for gripping, or roll around in crushed cereal)
• Sweet potato, squash cut into large French-fry sized shapes, baked at 400 degrees, flipping every ten minutes (depending on size and oven, 15 to 20 minutes). Season with cinnamon, nutmeg, clove, pepper….
• Broccoli, cauliflower cut into florets. Steamed or baked at high heat. Toss with olive oil, parm, black pepper.
• French toast strips, scrambled eggs, toast with butter, mashed avocado, hummus
• Mango wedges
• Pasta. Shapes with grooves are great, like farfalle or rotini. Serve with sauce, either tomato or cheese
• Homemade meatballs, burgers (lamb/turkey/pork/veal)
• Steak. Seriously. Even if baby doesn’t have teeth, she will just suck the juices. You can offer steak in large strips.
• Quinoa patties
• Muffins
• As baby develops pincer grasp: peas, cereals, cheese cubes, grapes quartered…
• And any “main” you serve your family, be it spicy Thai curry (one of our son’s favourites), baked lasagne, roast beast with veggies, you name it – baby can try it!

Suggested Sources

Your family doctor is a good first place to start to look for information on Baby Led Weaning, but keep in mind that some doctors simply aren’t as well versed in this methodology as others. Knowing that, you may consider reading some of these sources to better acquaint yourself and your physician if you feel this is the path you want to take. And if you’re uncertain about how much food or what kinds of food to give your child, asking a nutritionist is never a bad idea.

Gill Rapley, Baby-Led Weaning: Helping Your Baby to Love Good Food.
Gill Rapley, The Baby-Led Weaning Cookbook: Over 130 Delicious Recipes for the Whole Family to Enjoy.
Andrea Traynor, “Let Them Eat Meat!” The Huffington Post, 10 September 2012
www.eatrightontario.ca
www.babyledweaning.com
wholesomebabyfood.momtastic.com/babyledweaning.htm
www.facebook.com/babyledweaning