Starting solids is yet another one of those highly debated and hotly contested areas in motherhood. I personally felt like there was so much information out there and so much advice given- it's really confusing to know what is the right fit for you and your baby!
To puree or not puree?
Organic homemade or store bought baby food?
What about gut flora and fauna? (for the record I had no idea that was even a thing before becoming a parent)
How much iron does he need?
What if he doesn't like anything?
SOO MANY QUESTIONS!!!
Recently some of my friends have been asking me how I have such a confident eater and the thought occurred to me. He is really pretty awesome at eating now but how did we get here? What I realised is that it was mostly all lead by him. We just helped him along by offering him lots of choices and opportunities to experience food in a positive way.
I thought I’d share a little bit about our journey into solids so far and a bit about what I’ve learned in the the last 8 months of Baby Led weaning.
Our boy he has pretty much loved food since about the 4 month mark. He actually initiated eating himself when he stole a bite from my piece of apple cake at our parent-infant classes. I was shocked to say the least because wasn't expecting to start until around 6 months ( that’s what all the books I’d read had said!)
Looking back on the last 8 months I think my best advice for starting solids would be to follow their lead, offer choices and take it slooooow. We also jumped ship from using purees to Baby Led Weaning (BLW) at about the 6 month mark and that really supported him to become an independent eater. He always wanted to hold the spoon anyway so by offering him mostly finger foods he seems to enjoy eating a lot more. The baby led weaning approach allows him to be in control of the food thats going in and also for him to experience the foods textures as well as figuring out how to swallow them. We did a mixture of some puree and finger foods for about the first 3 months and I do still help him with foods that need a spoon like yoghurt or mince but he has a good go at it too. I think it's all about finding what works best.
My baby was a hungry baby! Super hungry and he still is. We started with finger foods like cucumber, toast fingers, cooked sausages, cheese and banana. Fruit was also a go to and still is if he didn't seem keen to try anything else but now he eats it at the end of his meal like his little dessert. I think its just a patience game of observation somedays but I continued to offer him things even if he’d previously not liked it. Banana was a good example of this for us because he initially didn't like it at all but I kept offering it and now it’s a strong hold favourite.
After years of supporting children and the families with creating healthy eating habits at my job I think I really value providing choices for children. That way if they don't enjoy one thing then theres always a back up to try instead. I let Owen show me which food he’d like by offering him at least two choices each meal time. He would point or reach for the ones he wanted first.
We are also big foodies in our house and I guess for us food has always been about enjoyment and creating an enjoyable moment together. We try to eat all our meals together or as a family on the weekend (when we can) and I try hard to offer him lots of new flavours and textures. Theres nothing I don't let him try if he’s keen. His Dad even gives him some foam of his beer on the weekends which I can’t say I’m super excited about but he does seem to really enjoy it.
Somedays we had lots of success with trying new foods and flavours. Other days he might choose not to eat much at all so then we’d have to top up with milk. I think at the start it’s a real patience game. There will be food everywhere and mess so it pays to do some deep breathing because it totally stressed me out at the start. What really helped me was to think about his eating as another learning experience and that even if not much went in at first at least he got to feel that texture or taste that flavour. It’s all learning and experience.
I know this one is not for everyone but we have chosen to use real plates and cutlery with our baby when he's sitting at the table. He has a real teaspoon and a real ceramic bowl and plate for his food just like us (but it's a lovely peter rabbit plate and bowl). This is more about my own teaching philosophy around children being capable if we offer them the experiences to do so but I do think it will also make our lives a little easier later on. He won't need to transition into using a real plate and bowl as he already knows how to use them.
For me it's a lot about trust and confidence building. I think that by having a real bowl and spoon he learns that he needs to respect those objects more and in turn learns to respect other items in general. Plastic items often get flung around because the child quickly learns that they are unbreakable. By allowing him to use real things instead he can learn the value of carrying things gently and respecting dishes because they can break. Food also looks a lot more appetising on a real plate. Food that is presented beautifully encourages children to try things and also really helps me and him to get excited about enjoying our meals together. If you’d like to read more about this idea you should check out this article.
That’s a little bit about where we have come from and where we are now. It’s still a big learning curve for both of us and we still have good days and bad days (possibly more related to teeth coming in at the moment). Please know that I am in no way, shape or form an expert in weaning I’ve just learnt a lot and wanted to share some of those things in the hopes it could help someone else xx
To puree or not puree?
Organic homemade or store bought baby food?
What about gut flora and fauna? (for the record I had no idea that was even a thing before becoming a parent)
How much iron does he need?
What if he doesn't like anything?
SOO MANY QUESTIONS!!!
Recently some of my friends have been asking me how I have such a confident eater and the thought occurred to me. He is really pretty awesome at eating now but how did we get here? What I realised is that it was mostly all lead by him. We just helped him along by offering him lots of choices and opportunities to experience food in a positive way.
I thought I’d share a little bit about our journey into solids so far and a bit about what I’ve learned in the the last 8 months of Baby Led weaning.
Our story…
Our boy he has pretty much loved food since about the 4 month mark. He actually initiated eating himself when he stole a bite from my piece of apple cake at our parent-infant classes. I was shocked to say the least because wasn't expecting to start until around 6 months ( that’s what all the books I’d read had said!)
Looking back on the last 8 months I think my best advice for starting solids would be to follow their lead, offer choices and take it slooooow. We also jumped ship from using purees to Baby Led Weaning (BLW) at about the 6 month mark and that really supported him to become an independent eater. He always wanted to hold the spoon anyway so by offering him mostly finger foods he seems to enjoy eating a lot more. The baby led weaning approach allows him to be in control of the food thats going in and also for him to experience the foods textures as well as figuring out how to swallow them. We did a mixture of some puree and finger foods for about the first 3 months and I do still help him with foods that need a spoon like yoghurt or mince but he has a good go at it too. I think it's all about finding what works best.
Follow their lead:
My baby was a hungry baby! Super hungry and he still is. We started with finger foods like cucumber, toast fingers, cooked sausages, cheese and banana. Fruit was also a go to and still is if he didn't seem keen to try anything else but now he eats it at the end of his meal like his little dessert. I think its just a patience game of observation somedays but I continued to offer him things even if he’d previously not liked it. Banana was a good example of this for us because he initially didn't like it at all but I kept offering it and now it’s a strong hold favourite.
Offer choices:
After years of supporting children and the families with creating healthy eating habits at my job I think I really value providing choices for children. That way if they don't enjoy one thing then theres always a back up to try instead. I let Owen show me which food he’d like by offering him at least two choices each meal time. He would point or reach for the ones he wanted first.
We are also big foodies in our house and I guess for us food has always been about enjoyment and creating an enjoyable moment together. We try to eat all our meals together or as a family on the weekend (when we can) and I try hard to offer him lots of new flavours and textures. Theres nothing I don't let him try if he’s keen. His Dad even gives him some foam of his beer on the weekends which I can’t say I’m super excited about but he does seem to really enjoy it.
Go slooooow
Somedays we had lots of success with trying new foods and flavours. Other days he might choose not to eat much at all so then we’d have to top up with milk. I think at the start it’s a real patience game. There will be food everywhere and mess so it pays to do some deep breathing because it totally stressed me out at the start. What really helped me was to think about his eating as another learning experience and that even if not much went in at first at least he got to feel that texture or taste that flavour. It’s all learning and experience.
Why we use real things (cutlery and plates not plastic)
I know this one is not for everyone but we have chosen to use real plates and cutlery with our baby when he's sitting at the table. He has a real teaspoon and a real ceramic bowl and plate for his food just like us (but it's a lovely peter rabbit plate and bowl). This is more about my own teaching philosophy around children being capable if we offer them the experiences to do so but I do think it will also make our lives a little easier later on. He won't need to transition into using a real plate and bowl as he already knows how to use them.
For me it's a lot about trust and confidence building. I think that by having a real bowl and spoon he learns that he needs to respect those objects more and in turn learns to respect other items in general. Plastic items often get flung around because the child quickly learns that they are unbreakable. By allowing him to use real things instead he can learn the value of carrying things gently and respecting dishes because they can break. Food also looks a lot more appetising on a real plate. Food that is presented beautifully encourages children to try things and also really helps me and him to get excited about enjoying our meals together. If you’d like to read more about this idea you should check out this article.
Final thoughts
That’s a little bit about where we have come from and where we are now. It’s still a big learning curve for both of us and we still have good days and bad days (possibly more related to teeth coming in at the moment). Please know that I am in no way, shape or form an expert in weaning I’ve just learnt a lot and wanted to share some of those things in the hopes it could help someone else xx
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