Baby-led solids: Where on earth do I start???

[Melody7]

Hi,

As an attachment/natural-style, co-sleeping, babywearing, fully-breastfeeding mummy of an almost 6 month-year-old I have been pondering what to do about introducing solids. Having recently come across the idea of "baby-led solids" (BLS), I've become quite excited as this approach seems to fit much better into our parenting philosophy than the standard feeding of pureed foods (that seems to be the only way people know how to start a baby on food).

Having said that, I am finding it really difficult to find any substantial literature on, specifically, how to start! I don't even own a high-chair as yet and I suppose you need one so bubs can make lots of mess

I'm an ABA subscriber and have read their recent article on BLS and am also aware of the DVD, but cannot justify $125 for 13 minutes!

I'd welcome any advice people could give me regarding the type/size of food and how it should be prepared. I'm surrounded by puree-feeding mums and so have no-one else to ask...

[Trillian]

I'm going to follow this style of feeding this time too, although we have just started on cereal for now till he has adjusted to the idea of eating, but he has had an arrowroot biccie and managed that fine.

Start with what you naturally start with (low allergenic foods - mostly fruits and veges) and soften them a little by either par-boiling or steaming (which is no different to what you would do if you did the 'traditional' method of purees, then finger foods - it is just skipping the puree stage) and give them small and easy to manage pieces. It is hard at first when they haven't quite got the knack of picking up things (depending on their level of manual dexterity) but they do get the hang of it pretty quick. having a high chair will make the job a lot easier, or you could sit him on your lap at the table and do it that way until you get a high chair - either way you have to sit and watch them. There are mesh feeders you can buy, but we don't eat our food through a mesh feeder and the whole idea of it is for them to eat family foods.

[pip2jays]

I second the PP. I started at 10 months. you dont have to start at 6 months breast nilk is quite enough if that is all bubs shows interest in or you are the very lazy AP parent which is my leaning..LOL..the whole point is to let baby know when he wants solids in a genuine way. ( as opposed to the curiosity to handle everything we handle and not being particulary aware its food KWIM?) the longer you leave it the easier it is. Studies show that if you leave them to their own devices and wait to start closer to 12 months they all end up eating the same types of food naturally ( finger foods/ table foods,) as their puree led buddies who started at 6 months ( or 4 months ) the point is to skip the purees so it makes snese as you skip the spoon feeding and wait till they can feed themselves. I think it averages out to 9 months starting to get it.

I started with an arrowroot at 10 months, he got the idea to swallow pretty quick as the bickie dissolved in his mouth and we never had any chocking issues as he gagged once ( on a piece of pasta day 2 ) and he realised you have to bring it back and chew a bit more and that was that. so it pays to wait longer for the natural processes to kick in.and then just gave him whatever we were having and by the end of 2 weeks he was happily eating crumbed chicken breasts, rice, baked potato/ steamed veg and his all time favorite fish. Only special prep i did was to cut grapes in half so his gums had traction on the fruit. He didnt get any teeth till 11 months..LOL

I followed the allergy guidelines and intro'd suspect foods a little later so you would have to think about that but we have no history with any of my 3 other kids or family so it was pretty safe going for us. He is now 16 months old and the best part is I go to cafe's, parties, friends places etc..and never have to take any provisions. I have boobies and he snacks of my plate.. pure bliss after the rigmarole of the other 3 kids.. any hoo.. it was for me and it was so traumatic with horrible eaters I wish i could go back and do it this way then..

Oh yeah, we dont use a high chair. He is so used to sitting in my lap and sharing my food. Never squirms or tries to get away as its always exciting what is mummy getting..LOL.. One drawback when he is done he pushes my plate away, but Im not done..LOL..Carry lots of wipes and go for it.

I highly recommend it if you want advocates them my experience is it. Each bub is different I guess and its best to follow their lead.

good luck.

[MantaRay]

Melody, firstly, there is no need to get too hung up on starting right at 6 months. Your baby might be ready by then, but also might not be. My first DS didn't have any interest in solids until nearly 12 months, my second was quite ready by 6 months.

I would say that the place to start is with the food that you are preparing anyway for you family. As Trillian said, you can steam or par-boil nearly any vegie and they can eat is as finger food - either fingers, or small cubes work well. The ABA have a great booklet on starting solids - it's only $5 and I found it really helpful. The idea is really to get your child eating the family foods as soon as possible and make life easier for everyone. I basically followed infant-led weaning with DS2 without really knowing that's what I was doing, and he was eating the family meals with us before he was 12 months olds. He has always been a much better eater than DS1 who started on the purees (not that he ate much LOL!).

There is no one right way to do it. I would just follow your instinct - watch for the readiness signs of teeth, losing the tongue-thrust reflex, and showing an interest (being aware that reaching for food alone is not a sign). Then when you feel the time is right, start out with one food at at time (to watch for allergies), and introduce it slowly. Don't be too stress about choosing which food to start with. Just be aware of the guidlelines for allergy risk foods such as egg, dairy, nuts, strawberries etc and go with what you are preparing anyway. If you are relaxed and flexible (and prepared for mess LOL!!) you will be fine. GL.

[Melody7]

Well, we've given solids a go, and I must say, BLS definately seems to be a much nicer way to offer a baby food (IMO). Ethan has had pear, avocado, banana, steamed sweet potato and a peeled grape (that I held while he sucked/munched). He has had a great time just mushing the food in his hands and trying to put it in his mouth (with and without success at times ).

This approach seems to be a lot more empowering than shovelling a spoon into his mouth. He chooses what he wants to eat and regulates how/when it goes in his mouth.
I was actually really interested to see him take a piece of food, put it in his mouth and then bring it forward with his tongue if it was too big and start again. I thought "that's my big boy!" - taking control of his own food and eating

And yes, he made a great mess, but that's all part of the learning process.

[pip2jays]

Sounds like it was what he was looking for. When they are ready then yes they really do know what to do with that tongue...LOL... No stopping him now.

[kungfubecca]

Hi,

it's a good idea. We did start on puree, and he loves apples, but at the same time we found merging to the next step difficult, because xavier got an chest infection. so I started offering finger food, and he now eats more finger food than most his age. he is just shy of 9 months old, but has always had very good fine motor skills. We have tried a fresh food feeder but he didn't like it.

His fav finger foods are steemed carrot, melos, and banans, and some naughty ones like chips, and teddy bear biscuits. He has had cheese, but mushes it up. I am planning to introduce a mix of whole noodles and vegies for him to eat soon, so he can essentially feed himself. Cruskits are good to start with though, 'cause they are easy to hold, and you can always spread some avocado on them.

I quite often now just et him try things off my plate.

[Melody7]

OK, so now I'm feeling a bit out on a limb - I went to Mother's group today and they're all feeding their babies cereal etc (up to 3x day) and Ethan has never had that - he just has occasional whole foods (fruit/vege). Should I be feeding him the cereal? I thought BLS meant I bypassed all that....hmmm

[Artechim]

Melody, you don't need to offer him cereal if you don't want to. Most people don't know that babies can start eating whole food this young. I bet if you suggest finger food to them they will look at you in horror and tell you the baby will choke. They are feeding cereal because they don't know any different.

My mum growled at me for feeding my DS finger food and said she hoped we knew first aid for when he choked but then she saw him actually eating something and I haven't heard anything about it since lol

My DS is 7.5 months now and apart from a few dismal attempts to spoon feed him he has never had puree or cereal. He is very happy to eat bits of fruit/veges/cheese or whatever is on our plates. He loves to chew on meat even though he usually doesn't swallow any. To be honest he probably only eats a couple of spoons worth of food a day but he is happy trying and at this age the amount they eat doesn't matter.

Try not to doubt yourself, if you and your bub are happy then it doesn't matter what the other mums are doing.

[MantaRay]

Melody, I agree with Artechim. Most people start their babies on cereal because that's what everyone else does, and they don't know better (like you do ). There is actually no nutrional benefit to those commercial baby cereals, so you are doing your baby an extra favour by not giving them. If you do want to give cereal, you would be far better off to make your own. But what you are doing is far easier, and will continue to make life easier for you and bub as they will be eating the same as everyone else earlier. How much better will it be for you to not be preparing two different meals each time - and also for meals at restaurants and other people's houses!!

[happygirl]

can I just say I looked for this thread looking for some encouragement and thankyou I got it!!

My bub is 7 months old and HATES being spoon fed. He loves and is so interested in food though. I didn;t know about baby led weaning - the only thing I have been able to do is give him bits of banana, steamed carrot, broccoli, cheese, cucumber, pieces of mandarin to feed himself. He loves doing this but doesn't really get any in. (although there was some bits of broccoli in his poo-yuk) I 'm still breatfeeding him as much as he wants.

I've been worrying because the other babies in my mums group are eating heaps and the lady on the parent help line said I might have 'missed the boat' when it comes to solids because he hasn't learned to eat from a spoon and that he should be eating a cup of food plus dessert by now!

It has really stressed me out because I felt like a bad mum for not getting him onto solids earlier. The parent help line lady made me feel scared he will never learn to eat, that his nutrition is compromised and will never wean! I don't want to wean him yet though and he certainly doesn't!!!

Anyway thanks for the great comments and discussion. I felt better after reading this.

CAn you just reassure me that it is ok for him just to play with his food at this stage? Wll he get better at actually eating it? I just really don't want to force feed him with a spoon its horrible.

Thanks again.

[MantaRay]

Oh happygirl, big hugs. It's awful when people undermine you like that. Absolutely he will be fine. Many bf babies don't take to solids until later on. My first DS really didn't eat anything until 8 or 9 months, and only ate any sort of quantity at nearly 1. He is now 3yo, very, very healthy, a good weight - and a great eater. I know of many others who's kids were the same. Your DS sounds perfectly normal to me - probably he's just smarter than most bubs, he knows where the good stuff comes from . I'm guessing your MCHN doesn't see so many bf bubs - how sad really!

[Melody7]

Hi,

CAn you just reassure me that it is ok for him just to play with his food at this stage? Wll he get better at actually eating it? I just really don't want to force feed him with a spoon its horrible.

The Breastfeeding Association have told me "food is for fun until they are one" - a great mantra! They say that introducing solids is more about a baby exploring tastes and textures and developing technique. My DS has a great time exploring and experimenting with his food now.

I must say, I've come a long way in the month since posting this thread. I now have great confidence in my son's ability to feed himself. I watched my MIL today hovering over him and getting agitated over every little cough or movement - thinking he was going to choke - and he wasn't. He's constantly refining his techniques and is becoming better at feeding himself as time has passed. Having said that, he doesn't have 3 meals a day every day and eats varying amounts each time. He's still a BF baby, with no intention of stopping (from my perspective or his).

I tried some rice cereal with him one day because I was eating porridge - and he hated it. Why bother with the hassle? He'd much rather feed himself a nice 1/4 pear or finger of zucchini (his fav atm).

Don't be afraid to be a bit different. I'm now asking mums when I see them feeding their babies mush, something like: "why are you feeding him/her that?" (nicely, of course). It's got them thinking!

[LimeSlice]

So I am startingto think about all this solids stuff (omg shes growing up on me!!)
I know this will sound silly given everything everyone has posted, but am really paranoid about her choking! I have had choking scarethis week with DD chewing (gumming) envelopes to their very soggy death. she has been doing this for a while, and I didnt think much of it, until a few days ago when she started choking on a soggy wad of paper!! Mum tells me we all ate papaer at that age and now to worry, she will learn, but I am so paranoid now! So lucky she was on my lap at the time!
So now I am paranoid about her choking on food!

Is there really no chance of her choking?

[MantaRay]

LS, it's not that there's NO chance, but it's very unlikely. There is less chance of choking on finger foods than on spoon fed mush. And you should always supervise them when eating jic, but it not likely to be a problem. Certainly neither of my boys have ever choked.

If you haven't done a first aid course for parents/carers, it is a good thing to do for a variety of reasons, including learning what to do if they choke. St Johns and Red Cross run them, and mostly likely other organisations too. Might give you some peace of mind?

[Janie]

LS, MR is right, it's not that there's NO chance, but it's less likely when they are feeding themselves, rather than you feeding them from a spoon. When they feed themselves, they are in control, rather than having an unknown quantity of unknown food shoveled into their mouth, IYKWIM?

We do a mix of spoon feeding, and DS feeding himself, whatever works at the time (I only heard about BLS when DS was 10 months ). We very much follow his lead. It works really well for us all, particularly when DS is feeling a bit fussy, instead of it doing my head in I just steam him up some vegie fingers, and some pieces of pasta, maybe a stick of tasty cheese, and let him go for it, he loves it! And that way, if he's not particularly hungry, I don't stress, because I don't really know how much he's eaten LOL. Otherwise I tend to get a bit worried and wonder why he doesn't want to eat Even though I know it's perfectly normal. I do wish I'd known about this when we introduced solids, though it hasn't impaired his self-feeding in any way. Oh well, there's always next time

[LimeSlice]

Thanks girls!
I think I'll have a chat to DF about this, now that Im feeling confident about it...cheers!

MR: have thought about doing a first aid course, will have to do one in the mext few weeks I think. Havent done one for about 5 years!

[QueenMab]

I am starting to read up on BLW - not for us just yet mind you, but it's great to be prepared!! It seems just so... obvious, doesn't it??

Everything I've read so far just makes soooo much sense & definately seems like the way to start once Punky looks like she might want to have a crack at eating a thing or two.

You'll have to let us know how you go starting Charlotte with finger foods LS. (and how your first aid course goes!!)