Pickles. Yum. I love pickles…the husband loves pickles…and we recently discovered that Monkey loves pickles! Being the crunchy/natural/cloth diapering/attachment parenting/etc etc etc momma that I am, it pretty much seems natural that I would be interested in the concept of baby led weaning. Have you heard of it? Well, it’s the practice of pretty much skipping over purees and moving to solids right away. The thought behind it is that baby’s really don’t need purees. The first year, babies still get their nutrition from breastmilk, so exploring solids is really just that…exploration. They don’t actually need them for nutrition, so instead of force feeding purees, why not just slowly introduce solids so that baby can eat when they’re truly ready?
At first, I was hesitant so I thought we’d do a mixed approach. Offer some purees (mostly homemade) and some solids…see what Monkey likes. I’ll admit the thought of choking had has me scared to death. I haven’t quite gotten over it yet, but I’m trying. Babies have a natural gag reflex that allows them to spit out larger pieces of food that they might not be able to swallow. I also bought the book Baby Led Weaning
I didn’t completely buy into it at first and kept trying to spoon feed Monkey. But of course (just like the book said) he wanted nothing to do with it. And I mean nothing. We tried sweet potato, apples, prunes, carrots, bananas, and meat. Both homemade and store bought (you know, because when he didn’t like my home made sweet potato+breastmilk puree, I thought for sure the store bought must have some magical powers that would get him to eat it.) Until finally, I gave up.
Since then we’ve been safely skipping the purees and feeding solids – true solids. We’re going crazy slow as we’re mostly just letting Monkey explore the textures and flavors of food. We are also making sure not to introduce any dairy (I’m still dairy free!) or any of the other high allergen foods. He likes it so much better than those dang purees! He’s had asparagus, sweet potato fries, eggs, bananas, apples, peaches, avocado, ground beef, turkey, and the ultimate favorite…pickles. I’m pretty sure he’d eat pickles all day and all night if he could. We actually discovered them when we were out to lunch and the husband offered Monkey his dill pickle spear that came with his sandwich. We thought for sure he’d give a disgusted face and want nothing to do with it. The result was quite the opposite. Now, we regularly buy him organic dill pickle spears and he gets one every couple of days.
You may wonder if I’m worried that he’ll end up behind in eating because we’re not feeding him baby food at every meal. But, I’m not! Not in the slightest. I am confident that he’s getting all of the nutrition he needs from me (and a recently introduced homemade formula due to a dip in my supply… that will be getting it’s own post soon.)
Do you practice baby led weaning? What’s your experience with introducing solids? Did your baby take to purees right away? I can’t help but wonder if it’s common for babies to hate purees, but they just learn to tolerate them as parents keep offering them. Thoughts?
This entry was posted in baby, Baby Led Weaning, Breastfeeding, Food, Monkey. Bookmark the permalink.
Hi and welcome! I'm Jenny - a green living new momma, adoring wife, and MSU fan.
oh my goodness! Monkey is so big, and soooo handsome!
We also did BLW with our Bug, and at 17 months he eats very well! He’s also been eating well with a spoon and fork himself since around 12 months. It’s messy at times, but I found it so much easier to sit down and have a meal when LO is occupied with their own food. :)
Thanks Amanda!! Glad to hear that someone with an older baby did BLW successfully. And I agree…totally easier. And, I think it’s great that Monkey is already learning what ‘family meals’ are since he sits down to eat with us!
We just started BLW a month ago (LO is 7 mo now). And we love it. I’ve stuck to mostly veggies and fruits. We’ve done cantaloupe, watermelon, broccoli, toast, carrots, etc.
Awesome – glad to hear that you’re enjoying it, too! Ooo watermelon is something we haven’t tried, I bet Monkey would love it.
It’s been ten years now since I was in the class, but something that I remember learning in my intro to linguistics class is that the reason babies can’t talk sooner than they do is the very reason that makes them fairly choke-proof. The larynx isn’t in the correct position for making a wide enough range of sounds for speech, but the position it is in makes it very difficult for something to choke the kid. It’s also why signing can work; they’re capable of language, just can’t “use their words”.
Wow, I hadn’t heard that! Totally makes sense though…the body’s natural way of preventing choking. Thanks for sharing!
Whoo! We did Baby Led Weaning with my son and it was wonderful! It just makes so much sense. My sister’s going to do it with her daughter now and we’re definitely planning to do it again with the next one! :-)
We just started BLW with our little bear two weeks ago and LOVE LOVE LOVE it!! I was worried about choking too, but I’m just so amazed by how quickly he caught on to managing how much food he has in his mouth. It’s just amazing to watch him learn and explore. We’re having the best time. I give him pretty much whatever we are eating unless it’s too salty or sweet. I’m trying to keep us in a good whole foods routine though so that means he gets to have exactly what we have! He also does great with a pre-loaded spoon. One of his favorites is oatmeal mixed with greek yogurt and strawberries. :) So fun!! Love your blog!
Thanks Jess! I totally find that feeding the little Monkey man means that we eat healthier…I don’t want to give him junk food, so I’m not letting myself eat it, either! Definitely an added bonus. I totally agree, watching him learn and explore is seriously the best! They’re like little sponges :)
We did BLW and now my son is a champion eater. He started actually eating vs. just gnawing around 8 months. He can eat whole grapes and blueberries with no struggle. I cut some foods up but never into tiny pieces. He is now 14 months and just got his 5th tooth, so really it is all him. When he gets something that he knows he can’t eat he spits it out. He has never actually had a moment where he scared me with choking, but I find other people freak out easily and that makes me upset.
Awesome to hear! Monkey has a heightened gag reflex (supposedly goes hand in hand with tongue/lip tie which he also had..we had it clipped) – anyway, so he has had some scary moments. He’s never been truly choking, just gagging. But, makes me nervous nonetheless! I try to remain calm though so that he can learn and explore! Glad to hear another person who has had success with BLW!
Pingback: Life Lately | The Crunchy Wife