Baby Led Weaning - BLW

This is a topic along with elimination communication (EC-ing) that I have wanted to cover for a while. If you have been following any of my themes for the last year you will see sleep has been at a premium in this house and catching up on life and work has been slow progress over the last few months, but I am getting there. 2013 is the year of clearing through the to do list - both big and small! Anyway back on topic: There are a number of things I wanted to do when I was expecting my first child - my son including doing BLW (baby led weaning, however I allowed myself as a new mum to be pressured out of it by those around me who knew nothing about it! I loved making all his meals - the freezing in cube trays was all a bit fiddly and a bit of a chore, but great time savers in the long run! I enjoyed getting fresh fruit and veg and whipping up batches of things for him to try and thawing 2 or 3 different things for each meal. My son was a great eater so it was all very rewarding, but then there comes the stage where you introduce textures etc - and that is a slow progress cautious stage, until the point where you introduce 'real food'! Well baby led weaning really is moving from liquids to solids without the puree stage. This is all perfectly safe and sensible, however if your wee one has any health concerns, of if allergies are a family issues or if you need extra advice see your family doctor. So you can assume that your wee one has hit the 6 month mark (or is close to it) they can sit up and hold there heads up properly, can pick up food, is showing an interest in food etc. Also you continue to supply liquid feeds be that in the form of breastmilk, formula or some form of milk or milk substitute ..whatever your baby is used to. To begin with it is best to not try this when your baby is hungry or tired. So perhaps after the morning feed - sit your baby in it's high chair - I recommend a plastic play sheet under the chair that you can shake outside after the meal! Place 2 or 3 items on your babies tray - for example steamed broccoli, a toast soldier and a piece of soft apple or pear. Do remember at this stage it is about your baby enjoying exploring tastes, textures etc - not about them sitting down to a 3 course meal! Try to remain calm whilst watching your baby - never give round chunks of food, i.e. cut a carrot in fingers etc. I recommend all parents BLW or otherwise attend a first aid course, this background will help you feel at ease. If you hover over your baby and panick at the first sign of their natural gag reflex - where they move food from the back of their mouth to the front, your baby will sense this and think the whole thing is a bit too scary! One point I would like to make and I have no idea about the science - people often instinctively slap someone on the back when they think something is lodged in their throat - this can actually cause food to do downwards in a baby and create a problem where there wasn't one. Getting your child to raise their arms is better. Luckily we had toddler brother to help demo this and my baby girl got this technique quickly! As with any method of introducing food babies can show preferences - my wee one LOVES HAM! We call her the ham monster, however I try at each meal to represent all the food groups - veggies, carbs, protein, dairy etc One thought also is that you do have to offer the same food many times in some cases to get take up... pureed or otherwise, with my daughter two foods that took a while were spaghetti squash and sweet potato - I found when I provided it on the skin for her to pick the whole thing up and chew on she did much better than when just served from the skin. Also I should mention that my wee one was eating tonnes when she had no teeth and chewing all kinds of food when she only had the one tooth! Not many people have seen babies doing BLW - so we would get all kinds of looks even from Gran and Poppa! I am glad that this time I have gone with my instincts and I just thrown down whole, home cooked delights in front of my daughter - it makes meal times a breeze and she is at her happiest as she is a part of the family not 'apart'! :) EC article to follow....