Baby led Weaning - No Baby Foods or Puree's

[sharper75]

BLW was the best thing we ever did. Small pieces and little seasonings to start. She's 9 months and will eat anything!!

[mollym]

OK, I'm really intrigued by the idea of BLW. But the mess. I just can't imagine the mess. Has anyone tried baby led weaning and managed to teach their kid not to make a disaster at every meal? I'm OK with a little mess and a little food exploring--that's how we learn about our world, of course. But table manners are a big deal for my husband and me. Any advice?

[jessyoung]

I was wondering about this! I'm about to start solids on baby 3. I want a vitamix to make baby food purees but was wondering when do you start with the little chunks? I have given her some mashed banana with little chunks in it and she loves it! She's been trying to get my food and making chewing faces for about 3 months now. I wear her everywhere so shes in my lap while i eat a lot! What physical signs tell you they are ready to attempt it?

[countrySt]

I was concerned about iron so I did grind up beef and added to mashed sweet potatoe. Other than that I followed BLW.

[jcook111]

is there a book out there on BLW that I could read?

[mrspnut82]

Originally Posted by mollym OK, I'm really intrigued by the idea of BLW. But the mess. I just can't imagine the mess. Has anyone tried baby led weaning and managed to teach their kid not to make a disaster at every meal? I'm OK with a little mess and a little food exploring--that's how we learn about our world, of course. But table manners are a big deal for my husband and me. Any advice?

DS2 is 12 months and we did blw with him as well as ds1. I never really had huge messes to clean up. I just put the food on his tray a little at a time and he eats it. The only time it gets messy is if the older kids are helping and give him too much or keep giving him more when he clearly is done. He'll throw the food on the floor when he's finished. Obviously some things will be messier than others, like strawberries are going to get all over his tray and face and stuff. Just get a big bib for the messy or slippery stuff. This may be cheating but if it's not something he can pick up himself I will feed it to him. He can't use a spoon or fork unless it's preloaded.
you are supposed to start after baby is 6 months old.
For the person who asked they have a book. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/AS.../chrisficti-20
I never used a book or recipes though. I just gave them what I was eating. If I was eating something they couldn't have like, fast food I would just give him leftovers or pieces of fruit or raw veggies, crackers... It doesn't have to be 3 big or 6 small meals a day every day. They were nursing and that was their primary source of nutrition for the first year at least. Anything they eat on top of that is a bonus and for learning and fun.

[shm_helene1]

We are currently doing a mixture of purees and blw. It does make you take a look at what you are eating I do the mixture because she didn't seem to be getting a lot of food otherwise and she needs to loose some chunk Seriously. The Doctor (who we love) said she needed to get on solids.

[Nerissa]

i do a mix of both. I personally am not comfortable giving my baby chunks of food so we do homemade mashes foods at first and cereal (oatmeal/cream of wheat) and then move on to more self feeding. I did this with my older two and both were completely self feeding and using silverware by a year.

[ulawolf]

My youngest dd who's 11 mo old never liked, baby foods or purees started at about 7, mo. She ate chunks of carrots, avocados, peaches, bananas, etc she, now eats everything.

[milkmombaby]

I started at 6 months and now almost 6 months later it has been a great success. My little girl ears what we eat, isn't picky, and self feeds.