My son eats like a champ!!!

It has been 2 months since we started our BLW journey and I think it is about time I gave you a good update! I can not stress enough how glad I am that we chose to introduce foods this way. It has been so much fun watching Aiden explore and learn how to properly feed himself, chew and swallow.

Eating Sweet Potato Pie with a Kick :)

Aiden is now eating 3 meals a day. If he does not have food when we are eating, he gets very upset! He is like his mom, a little vacuum when it comes to food :) The first week or so of starting BLW, we only offered him pieces of fruit (pears, peaches, oranges, plums, etc.) Once he got the hang of handling the food and consistently getting it into his mouth, we moved onto softer foods (like sweet potato fries, steamed veggies and toast) and meat. Around 6 months (so 2 weeks after he had his first taste of food), we noticed he was actually swallowing foods. He now gets his own plate of food at every meal.

Last weekend for Easter, he had 3 turkey dinners!!! Our families were pretty interested and in awe over how well he eats. They couldn't believe he was only 7 months old and able to chew and swallow everything we were eating!! (Unfortunately I didn't get a picture of him eating.)

Here are a few things we give him.
Breakfast:

• Toast with butter and cinnamon or jam
• Oatmeal pancakes (Put enough quick oats in a small microwaveable container add just enough milk to wet the oatmeal and mix in some brown sugar. Cook for 45 minutes in the microwave and allow to cool. Cut into strips)
• Muffins - Aiden really like the Blueberry Oatmeal Muffins
• Cheerios
• Fruit
• Scrambled eggs

Lunch:
(I find lunch hard, we are not always home for lunch, so it isn't always at the same time)

• Grapes (cut in half or quarters)
• Leftovers from dinner
• Wraps
• If I go out I try to pack a couple containers we Cheerios, grapes, tomatoes, oranges, etc. Things that are not too messy and that he can eat.

Dinner:
Whatever we have for dinner! Last night it was chicken wings and perogies, tonight it was ribs and bruschetta. I started giving him larger pieces but now that he is mastering his hand to mouth motion, I am starting to give him smaller pieces to improve his pincer grip.


Loving the Roasted Cauliflower Au Gratin

 Occasionally I do spoon-feed him. However, I did not start doing it until he knew what food was and how to chew and swallow. I do not puree anything!!! I only spoon feed him foods that are hard for him to pick up. For example, I spoon feed him rice, mashed potatoes, soup, and yogurt.

Aiden has always been a very gassy baby, so I did notice when we first started with the food he was having tummy pains fairly frequently. I now give him pear juice once a day (or once every couple days). I do 1 oz of concentrated pear juice to 3-4 oz of water and try to give him yogurt on a regular basis. This has helped tremendously.

**I may update this post as I think of new things, or things I forgot!**

Happy eating!!!! :)

Introducing meat

We have been doing BLW for just over a week. Aiden has made some great progress! He is actually swallowing bits of food and has tried fruits, vegetables, bread and we have now moved onto meat (beef, pulled pork and chicken Parmesan).

So far he has only really gagged on banana. I think it is a little mushy for him and easily slides to the back of his throat (but I will keep offering it to him). He has done great though! One cough and it moves back to the front of his mouth where he either chews a little more or spits it out. I am really impressed with him...and myself! I think the reason I have been so relaxed is that I see my friend's daughter (who is almost 1) eat all the time, and her little coughs have somewhat prepared me for when Aiden gags. I am so happy with our choice to do BLW and I am very thankfully that my friend introduced me to it.

I started with only giving him breakfast, we then moved to dinner. But now he wants to eat whenever I am, so I just offer him whatever I have. I think he might be like his mom and love food!!! :)

Monday we made steak with mushrooms and potatoes. Aiden did an awesome job with the steak! He ate a bit of the mushrooms and potatoes, but he was really interested in the steak and wouldn't put it down! (I even got a cute video of him)

Tuesday we had pulled pork, rice and asparagus. Again he wasn't interested in anything but the pulled pork! (I think we might have a carnivore on our hands!)

Tonight we had chicken Parmesan with noodles. Honestly he wasn't really interested in it at all. He would put it in his mouth and push it out again. He was getting a little fussy so I offered him a mummum cookie. Not the healthiest choice, but at least he was eating something while we had dinner.

Tomorrow morning I think we might try scrambled eggs :)

Starting the BLW Journey...

If you missed the explanation of BLW check it out here. Remember...I will not judge you, so please do not judge us for our feeding practices :)

First time in the highchair

Day 1:
We officially started the process of BLW over the weekend. Sunday was the first day (he is about 5.5 months). We offered Aiden a piece of pear, a piece of peach and a slice of pancake at breakfast. Since this was his first tastes of food other than breastmilk (or a bit of formula), his facial expressions were pretty funny. He wasn't quite sure what to make of it. He hardly kept the food in his mouth, but this part is all about introducing him to different tastes and textures. He sat in his highchair for 10 minutes or so and then started to get fussy, so we decided to stop for the day, and try again Monday morning.

Tasting the pear.

Day 2:

We only did breakfast again. We offered him a slice of pear, peach and orange. It was pretty much the same as Sunday. He just made funny faces and didn't keep the food in his mouth for long. He started to get fussy so we took him out of the bumbo and called it a day!

Trying to get the orange in his mouth!

Day 3:

Breakfast again (and it was my first time alone as my husband was at work). I added a banana this time but I found it got really slippery so he couldn't really pick it up very well. BUT we made more progress! Aiden really enjoyed the pear and orange. He kept the pear in his mouth for a long time. A piece actually broke off and I was very nervous. I had to keep reminding myself to trust him. He will figure it out. I really wanted to put my fingers in his mouth and take the piece out, but I stopped myself... And he DID figure it out. He spit the pear out and moved on to the orange without any gagging.

Happy to try more food!

He loved the pear!!

Day 4:

We were a little rushed this morning. I feel asleep and we only had about 15 minutes to get ready for swimming. I gave him a piece of peach and an orange as I ate my breakfast. It was pretty similar to yesterday. He really enjoyed the food and sucked on the pieces. Once he dropped them, I quickly cleaned him up and we were out the door! I am hoping to give him some baked sweet potato tonight :)

Notes:

- I am happy that our pediatrician is on board with BLW! The concept was new to her, but I explained it and she is doing more research, but liked the idea :)

- Sunday morning I cut up the pear and peach and put the pieces in a container and just took the pieces out every morning. We finished it up this morning, so tomorrow we will try something new!

- He hasn't gagged and I am dreading the day he does, but I know it is a natural thing and will happen eventually.

Baby Led Weaning (BLW) - An introduction

**DISCLAIMER**

I am not judging anyones feeding practices. I know the norm is to spoon feed and I completely understand that! My husband and I have decided to take on a different approach and I know people are not going to agree. But as I respect your decision, please respect ours!!

I have always hated the thought of giving my children store-bought baby food. It absolutely disgusts me. I remember my cousin eating it when she was like 10 years old. I put my hand in it by mistake and literally threw up. How could I possibly give my children that?

When we had Aiden, I had a plan of just throwing whatever we had for dinner in the blender or food processor and spoon feeding him...That is until I met a girl at a mommy group who kept saying she was doing BLW with her daughter. I had no idea what this "BLW" thing she was talking about. So one day I asked her about it, and I have been thinking about it even since. I am now really good friends with her and she lent me a book so I could do my own research. I am so excited to take this approach in feeding Aiden that I wanted to share this concept with others. Since it is food related I am probably going to share our progress here with you!

I am going to try to explain what BLW is. All my information comes from a BLW book, a facebook group, multiple blogs, and of course my BLW-expert friend :)

**NOTE**

I have not starting doing this as Aiden is only 4 months old. This is just my take on the process. We will be starting in roughly 2 months and I plan on sharing our experience with you as we move forward. If you think this is something you would be interested in, I encourage you to do your research as well :)

What is BLW?
It is the process of weaning a baby onto solid foods by following their lead...Not the parent's. It is a no purees, no spoon feeding approach. Around 6 months of age, when the baby can sit unassisted and starts reaching for food, you give them actual pieces of food (the same food you are eating) for them to explore taste, texture and smell. The baby feeds themself!! The parent offers the food, but the baby chooses what to eat and how much to eat. The baby sits at the table alongside everyone else and joins in on mealtimes.

Key Points:

• A baby doesn't need any food before 6 months of age. Their bodies are not capable of properly digesting foods before then. Some people believe you can start rice cereal at 4 months of age. However rice cereal has no nutritional value and is basically empty caleries. The only nutrition they are getting is from the breastmilk you mix with it.
• It is a natural weaning process. When babies are breastfed, they know how much they need and decide when to stop eating. By allowing them to feed themselves they learn to know that food satisfies hunger and they learn to know when to stop eating so they don't overfeed themselves (which happens a lot with spoon feeding because we as parents do not know when our child has actually had enough to eat)
• A baby has a natural gag reflex which is located near the front of their mouth (at 6 months of age). When a child gets to experiment with food, they learn that they can not shove food in their mouth or they will gag themselves. As the child grows, their reflux gradually moves to the back of their mouth and the risk of choking is decreased. With spoon feeding, the child never actually learns that they can not shove food in so choking is more of a problem.
• The chances of having a fussy child are lower. Since the baby is not only introduced to purees, they learn to accept different tastes, shapes and textures at a young age.
• It helps develop the "pincer grip". Since the baby has to rely on themselves to pick up the food, they are practicing and improving their pincer grip. This is why you start with larger stick-like pieces of food and gradually move to smaller pieces.
• "Food before one is just for fun". Before a year of age, most children are just exploring. They are not actually using the food for nutrition. All their nutrition comes from breastmilk or formula and their nutrition stores in their body.

Choking vs. Gagging
This is what scared me the most about taking this feeding approach. However there is a lot of information in the book and like I said I have done my research! You really need to know the difference between gagging and choking. It is OK and normal for the baby to gag. Like I mentioned before they are learning that they can't shovel food in. When a baby coughs, it is a good thing! You should never touch their back when they are coughing; chances are they will be able to recover themselves. *IF* the baby chokes they will stop breathing. This is where you will need to assist them in dislodging any food. From most of the reading I have done, this is very rare. AND it is actually more common in spoon fed babies since they don’t actually learn where their gag reflux is and how to recover themselves.

Disadvantages

• It is going to be messy!! But eventually a spoon fed baby is going to have to learn to eat themselves as well. And when they do, it will be messy!! When my friend's daughter (who is 10 months and has been doing BLW since 6 months) comes over to eat, she hardly ever makes a huge mess. Obviously she has food on her hands and the highchair. But the floor is always clean.
• BLW is not widely known in Canada, so a lot of people will have strong opinions about it. This is part of the reason I am choosing to blog about it! Just to let people know that we are doing this. We have done our research and hopefully they will respect our choice.

So there you have it! I think I have covered most of the information. I may edit this post to make sure I have included everything I think is relevent! But if you have anything you would like to add you can post it in the comment section!