Baby Led Weaning - The New Approach to Weaning
Baby led weaning is a new approach to weaning your child and, just as the title says, lets your baby take the lead in choice and flavour of foods. Forget about mushy baby food purees, this approach takes you straight to soft solid foods that baby can hold and explore themselves. Baby led weaning is the way forward. It has revolutionised mealtimes for baby and parent. Sure, there is a bit of experimentation and a little mess, but you are a parent, you should be used to that now!
It has been an untested theory for years that children actually ingest their food through the skin around the mouth rather than by swallowing. Or so it would seem to any parent who has wiped up, mopped up and picked up the remains of a toddlers lunch. Somehow they seem to actually throw away more food than they originally had. It is a miracle that they thrive at all. But thrive they do, so roll the sleeves up, we are moving on to solids people!
So solid:
The best approach to this transition is to be easy going and calm. This means, preparing for the mess and covering the floor under the high chair (if it really bothers you). Households with pets have a huge advantage here as family dogs are quick to learn that a high chair is a source of much discarded food. A living vacuum cleaner cannot be underestimated in the war against baby slops. Choose the foods which you wish to introduce to baby carefully. Shop wisely and research online to see which foods have worked for other parents, and indeed, which have not. Trying new foods with a tired baby is probably not the best idea and it is recommended that babies be over six months old. Finally, a relaxed attitude to introducing new tastes and allowing your child to explore the textures, flavours and smells of new food in their own time, will pay dividends in the long run.
Once you are armed with suitable nutrition for your wee one, you simply present the food in bite size pieces for them to enjoy. If they like it, they will eat it. If they do not, cue the pet hoover for the first mop ups. Some tasty starter foods are peas, rice, avocados, bananas, scrambled egg yolk and sweet potato. It’s a good idea to sit and eat together. Of course, baby will want to eat whatever you have on your plate, so it’s a good idea to have something suitable, i.e. not too spicy, to share. Get used to that! For so it will be for the coming twenty, thirty years. Nothing will ever be exclusively yours again. It’s your Pasta today and your Toyota tomorrow. Sharing is caring!
Your baby is sweet enough:
We all eat too much sugar and most of us are probably addicted to the stuff, if we care to admit it. With all the knowledge we have on the adverse effects of processed food and hidden sugars, we have a unique opportunity to free this new generation from the ‘sugar trap’. Do not give your precious baby any sugar/processed foods but rather let them enjoy the wonders of blueberries and raspberries and natural yoghurt.
Food is fun!
For most of babies weaning they will seem to play with food rather than eat it. (See previous thinking on the sucking in of foodstuffs through baby pores) Naturally you may worry that they are not getting enough nutrients. This is something all parents face. It is perfectly normal. Somewhere among the squishing, mashing licking and throwing, they are eating enough. You are likely still breast or bottle feeding also, so there is no need to panic. If in doubt contact your health advisor.
Some people worry about baby choking during weaning. It is true that your baby will probably cough and gag quite often, as they stuff too much in their mouths or struggle to cope with the sensations. The gag reflux is much further forward in babies than in adults and while it can be scary to witness, it is extremely unlikely that your child will choke on a pea. For complete peace of mind, here is a helpful Youtube Video on what to do if an infant chokes.
There really is no right or wrong way of feeding your child. Unless, of course, you chose to purchase fast food meals and blend them for your children (Yes that actually happened in Ireland!). Mealtimes should be happy times and baby led weaning lends itself to more harmonious dining at home. It has one more, and fairly important advantage to pureed feeding. It absolutely gets rid of the need to taste and test those jars of mushed up baby foods. If this was your only reason for choosing baby led weaning, it would certainly be considered a valid and compelling one. Good luck with the move to big people food and Bon Appetite
Welcome to Baby Led Weaning
