When Rhapsody was 6 months old Richard and I decided to try out Baby Led Weaning. For you American's don't get caught up on the 'weaning' word! We aren't decreasing breast feeding! Baby Led Weaning in Britain means, quite simply, giving your baby EXACTLY what you are eating. It's not mashing up food, or buying baby food, or making baby food, or worrying about 'this and that'. And dear Lord, the relief was instantaneous! I was feeling overwhelmed with trying to sit down and feed Rhapsody baby food. Especially because she hated it! She would just spit it out and cry... At a WIC appointment I was told she needed to be eating "6 tablespoons of baby cereal, and a jar of baby food a day." WHAT! I could barely get a single tablespoon of baby cereal down her happy little throat! That day I came home, and with a quick google search found a couple of great sites about baby led weaning. What it told me was that I didn't have to worry. I was a good mom. And my baby had the ability to chose how and when she ate. YES! I wasn't doing anything wrong! (contrary to the WIC lady's words.) And since that day at the breakfast, lunch, and dinner table Rhapsody get's what mommy and daddy eat! I have to say this has seriously encouraged me to eat healthier. Instead of opting for a quick microwave meal, I instead make an organic whole grain spaghetti. It's healthier, takes only a bit more time, and Rhapsody loves it! So in the AM, Rhapsody gets cheerios, some fruit, and whatever else we are eating. Snack time she gets freeze dried fruit (she loves those things!) Lunch she gets whatever we eat, or if what we eat isn't convenient for her she gets the last days leftovers, and dinnertime she gets whatever I make. It's fantastic! I don't worry about anything. Rhapsody hasn't shown a single sign of allergy. We don't stay away from cheese, and just recently gave her some whole milk (she accidentally put something very spicy in her mouth! And she loved the milk...) I have to say that Baby Led Weaning was the best choice that we could have made for Rhapsody and ourselves. I no longer worry about how 'good' of a parent I am just because of what I feed my child. She knows when she is hungry and what she wants. She's quit nursing as much (thank God!), and my supply is dropping. I'm okay with this. I feel like an easy transition out of breast feeding is really good for both of us. For some mom's and baby's the whole baby food thing isn't a big deal, but if your child hates baby food I suggest just giving them whatever you eat! We have found that Rhaps dislikes bland food. She'll eat a biscuit over cheerios, or steamed and seasoned veggies over rice. Baby led weaning is very messy, but get a good catcher bib (we have a plastic tommy tippee one) and messes can be kept to a minimum. The whole thing with baby led is letting your family figure it out without the pressure of preparing extra food, or testing things out a week at a time. It is my biggest advice for mom's struggling to get that yucky baby food into their child's belly!
Here are a couple links for some BLW sites! (keep in mind these sites are British so make the proper wording adjustments. i.e. chips are french fries)
And enjoy this youtube video of Rhapsody eating her whole grain spaghetti with organic tomato sauce (lightly seasoned with sea salt and Italian seasoning)
And my advice for first foods, at least the ones Rhapsody liked!
Any steamed veggies, especially carrots (they are very flavorful) and broccoli
Chips (french fries)
Freeze dried fruit (there is a Disney brand that I buy that is cheap and really good)
Raw carrots or string peas
Cheerios!
large noodles (penne and bowtie because they can pick them up)
An organic whole grain pancake
Toast! or bread of any kind
Whole grain mini bagels
Also, when we first started feeding Rhapsody she wouldn't let us use a spoon to feed her. It wasn't until recently that we were able to 'feed' her ourselves, and its only the messy stuff. Just let your baby feed him or herself!
Gabriel hated baby food too. In fact, John & Jo bought us the baby bullet when we were pregnant & we never even got to use it because he hated baby food.
In the states I believe iit is called letting them "self-feed" or at least that is what the information i found way back then called it.
I don't understand why people try to get you to shove jars upon jars of baby food down their throats. I gues that's why Gabriel has never been a chubby baby because I wouldn't do it to him.
I was all stressed about it going to a dr appt one time & finally I just said eff it. He's more than healthy let them try and argue with me. They didn't say a word. You could tell they wanted to argue with me about the baby food issue, but they're looming at him walking at eight months and new they didn't have a leg to stand on.
Exactly! Rhapsody's weight is still the "25 percentile" but she's been there since birth! I am small, she is small, so what! But her cognitive is far past most babies her age. She isn't walking yet, but she's been a master stander since 8 months, and the reasoning this girl can do is amazing!
Gabriel hated baby food too. In fact, John & Jo bought us the baby bullet when we were pregnant & we never even got to use it because he hated baby food.
ReplyDeleteIn the states I believe iit is called letting them "self-feed" or at least that is what the information i found way back then called it.
I don't understand why people try to get you to shove jars upon jars of baby food down their throats. I gues that's why Gabriel has never been a chubby baby because I wouldn't do it to him.
I was all stressed about it going to a dr appt one time & finally I just said eff it. He's more than healthy let them try and argue with me. They didn't say a word. You could tell they wanted to argue with me about the baby food issue, but they're looming at him walking at eight months and new they didn't have a leg to stand on.
Exactly! Rhapsody's weight is still the "25 percentile" but she's been there since birth! I am small, she is small, so what! But her cognitive is far past most babies her age. She isn't walking yet, but she's been a master stander since 8 months, and the reasoning this girl can do is amazing!
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