Chronicles of Chicken Scratch: Thoughts on baby-led weaning

I love doing baby-led weaning so much that I wanted to share some experiences and thoughts. Go read "The Baby-Led Weaning Cookbook" for additional help and information.

I always wanted to wait until my baby was six months old to start eating foods. I felt that this was the best thing for him to do since you don't need to start solids sooner. Although, it was hard to not try to get him to eat something because breastfeeding around the clock at 5 months does get a bit tiring! But I persevered because I felt like he wasn't ready.

Anyway, we initially started by letting him chew on carrot sticks or apple slices first since he was teething around that time anyway. I don't think he really swallowed anything, but it gave him experience chewing. I think though the key is to give your baby something they can hold onto while eating. So slices of fruit and vegetables were easy to give him (although he now doesn't care for raw carrot sticks... they were so easy!)

(I then went back to traditional feeding techniques by giving him plain yogurt to help his gut gain good bacteria a few times. Something my Turkish neighbor did with her daughter which made sense to me. Although, I tried to get him to feed himself with the spoon for the most part.)

Gagging is normal, although scary, and much different than choking. Tycho never choked--he gagged. That was the hardest part about starting this process because he would gag at every meal. Tycho got the eating and chewing down within a couple of months. He eats well for the most part now. A baby's gag reflux is a lot closer to the front of the mouth so they can't swallow anything too large--helpful to know, but still disconcerting to hear a baby gag!

Some first foods Tycho liked trying:

Bananas: at first in a large piece (1/2 banana), and then it has been fun for him to pick up smaller slices.

Potatoes/sweet potato. This kid is in love with potatoes. Must have relatives from Idaho. ;) I cook the potatoes I stew or give it took him roasted usually. Loves it.

Cucumbers. I don't know what it is about cucumbers, but this kid loves them so much. Maybe I'm baffled because I didn't like them until I was older.

Meatballs: a new shape and texture. So fun when dipped in tomato sauce! He was about seven months or more when I introduced meatballs.

Cheese: I introduced this around nine months, but Tycho loves it. I give him little pieces of cheddar cheese or melted cheese on bread. But only a little bit because this kid is gassy!
Bread and pancakes. He likes these foods quite a bit, so I go through the little bit of work to make thee from scratch. Gives me peace of mind.

Thoughts:

Avocado was hard for Tycho since it's so squishy. Spreading it on toast or just mashing it so they can spread it all around later was easier than slices.

Tycho gets bored with eating the same things over and over again, so I try to switch it up. Eggs for breakfast one day, pancakes another.

Regular oatmeal is easy to make and cheaper than the baby stuff, too. I make oatmeal for Tycho and he likes trying to stick it in his mouth with his fingers or I just load up a spoon and Tycho attempts to put that in his mouth. I flavor the oatmeal with unsweetened applesauce with cinnamon (yum!), a bit of butter, and a pinch of salt. Sometimes we switch it up and add pureed pear to oatmeal.

Solids for baby led weaning don't have to be solid per say. You can dip toast in applesauce, for instance, or even in a stew so the baby will get the flavor of stew without the mess of a liquid.

Rice is annoying. I find it every where after meals with rice, but it gives him some practice at picing up small things, so I give him some.

I try to keep things healthy for Tycho. Although, one thing I wish we had delayed introducing is cheerios. My son loves cheerios.

Anyway, pictures of baby being grown up, eating food.