Baby-led Solids Chatter #7

Welcome to the Baby-Led Solids (BLS) Information and Discussion Thread. This is a place for sharing your experiences with BLS and also to ask questions. Please feel free to share your food ideas, successes and challenges with BLS.

What is BLS?
BLS is also known as Baby-Led Weaning or Infant-Led Weaning. It is way of introducing solids. Instead of starting with pureed foods, it involves starting with finger foods. Traditionally purees were introduced as a first food as babies were starting solids at 3 months or so. Now the recommendation is to start solids at 6 months, and by this age babies are capable of feeding themselves finger foods.

Interestingly, many parents naturally follow the BLS method with second and subsequent children. Physiologically, it has been shown that choking is less likely when a child is feeding themselves at this age, rather than having a spoon of food put in their mouths.

Why use BLS?

The many benefits include:

- Less mess
- Easier and less time-consuming, as food doesn?t need to be pureed or spoon-fed
- Children enjoy feeding themselves, and it is good for their development to do so
- Exposure to a great variety of tastes and textures earlier
- Children are eating adult foods sooner, so that the whole family can eat the same meal

Your previous thread can be found HERE.

DS2 *loves* solids.

BLW is going great guns :D

Joining in. DD was five months on Christmas Day and I am looking to introduce solids in January at some stage.

I really cant be bothered atm tbh, with my first I was so excited to start solids, but with the 2nd - Meh, the mess, more work for Mum, stinky poos etc hahahahaha, I'm not in any rush to start. DD has had a few spoonfuls of custard and yoghurt (as I got a thermomix last week) and she gobbled it down and swallowed properly etc, so once all the festive season settles I'll look to start her around the 6 month mark.

I can't really remember how much I used to feed DS at the start, I think I started with just lunch and then worked up to two then three meals a day - how have you ladies started? - eg how many times a day do you offer food. We are breastfeeding, do I offer before or after milk at this stage?

What's a good first food from a BLS perspective - I am thinking some steamed veg? I fed DS puree's and mashed veg to begin with, but this time with a fussy husband, toddler and a baby I really don't want to be cooking 3-4 different meals so plan on just giving her whatever I am eating. Although DS is actually a good eater, he is in the 3.5yr "wont try anything new" stage which I am hoping he will get past soon, so really looking to make DDs introduction to food as easy on me and her as possible.

whats the 'rule' with eggs? im having an omlette for brekky. can i just give her some?


MN ~ ive only been doing it a month. but.. i just offer her whatever i am eating. and random times, basically if she is awake and happy i will do it. means some days she has 5 offerings, somedays one, somedays none. so based on that she has alot of toast (peanutbutter or avocardo) hot chips and baked vegies. i also offer lots of fresh fruit if im having simething i cant (or wont) share.
oh and bf first before that is still her primary source of nutrition. id say she only ingests like 10% of the food i give her.

from "Baby-led Weaning" by gil rapley

"parents used to be advised to avoid giving babies egg whites. this is no longer considered necessary now that 6 months is recommended minimum age for all solids, but eggs should be cooked thoroughly (including the yolk) because they may contain salmonella, which can cause a serious stomach infection".

awesome thanks hoti! i ended up just giving her some =)

the only foods i was wary of was honey (none til after 12 months), and peanuts / nuts from a choking point of view.

Generally avoided honey until 12mths unless it was cooked in something then I didn't worry; nuts cause of the choking; and lettuce as after the first attempt it got stuck in the roof of ds1's mouth.

yeah, leaves were a bit tricky until later for my LOs too. DD gagged heaps on broccoli, but DS was good with it from the start.

my DD2s first food was spaghetti bolognaise and a lamb chop :lol: (she was and still is one feisty and determined kid...just grabbed the food and started shovelling in lol)

But, after that episode i realised she wanted to eat, and on her terms. so we offered mostly stuff that we were having at meals. rarely did i invest in doing up stuff separately...unless it was a quick snack of broccoli or apple or nectarines etc.

we also avoided whole nuts for ages due to choke risk fears. but egg came in early. i dont think she had honey for ages...we dont really eat the stuff...

MN: in the beginning i offered DD2 food when we were eating. i didnt really pay much attention to whether it was before or after feeds...eating is a social thing in our house and if she wanted to eat with us right then and there, then that's what would happen...whether that was boob or solids ITMS. i am totally lazy though and it was probably more convenience that it happened that way :lol:

oh man, now i want avvo on toast!!

my neighbour pops in about once a week just to say hi and tell me all about her grandkids (and great grand kids), and she saw Spock eating avvo toast, and was amazed! she said I must be the only mum in the world who gives her child avvo on toast and it is the most awesome thing in the world =) I was surprised because a) it tastes so nice, b) avvo is so good for you, c) its easy and perfect for her little hands and d) its tastes so nice!!!

How funny, avo on toast is a big favourite here

i should just clarify i dont force a feed before offering. its just that bf is still priority over food. most if the time she asks for milk after anyway

So we are just starting out on BLS here. We have one wee girl who is loving the different tastes and textures but only if we hold food for her which kinda defeats the purpose and another wee girl who has the idea of picking food up and putting it in her mouth with no prompting from us but then squeals and cries. Any suggestions about the squealing and wee girl who doesn't like holding her food?

just give them time. offer food when you can, but if they are not really into it, or you are not up for it, don't stress if you don't get to do it every day at this stage.

HI ladies,

been a while since I was in here... We did BLS with DD1 and now have been doing it with DD2.

Does anyone know what the current recommendation is regarding regular milk? WIth DD1 I had loads of frozen EBM and would give her that on cereal when we had our breakfast, but I don't have the stocks ATM for DD2, so was wondering about giving her regular milk on her cereal? She is 7 months.

Also, a question with using utensils - DD1 has "used" utensils from very early on (used the spoon herself from the beginning and had been introduced to a fork farily early too - can't exactly remember when - but we did also let her use her fingers if she wanted, just to clarify!). Howver, now DD1 (who is now 2 yrs 4months) is refusing to use her cutlery. I am not so much worried for "big things" like her meat or veg, but when she is doing it for rice, noodles or even jelly it is getting a bit much. I think at first she started to do it because she could get more in faster that way, or maybe she was copying her little sister, IDK, but any suggestions on how I can encourage her to use her cutlery again? Being a big girl or copying mummy and daddy don't seem to cut it!

Whoa, this thread has been silent for a while. Anyone want to join me in here for a bit? I did BLW with my now 4yo and have just started with my 8mo twins. One twin seems to be totally into everything where the other is only keen on certain things. How are your littlies going with BLW? Struggles? Positives?

Hi :)
I did BLS with my now 4 yr old as well , and I am currently doing it with my 6 month old , have only just really started with her .. She is really enjoying banana and papaya . She has a good go at the food we offer , has. Few gags at times but nothing more than that ..

The first few times I gave food to my girl twin she gagged and then had big chucks. She had been a refluxy baby so I don't know if it was associated with that.. I took it easy for a few weeks and she seems fine now.

How are you serving the banana? My two seem to find it difficult to grip...

What food have you tried her on so far ?
I just get a whole banana and break in in half and give her the two pieces , after a while she may drop some if it falls into smaller bits but I just give it all back to her haha until she is done with it

Oh tons now - Chicken, beef, pork, tomato, corn kernels, hokkien noodles was dinner tonight, avacado, cheese, yoghurt, tuna, chips (oops :)), cucumber, beans. I tried partially peeling the banana to allow a grip at the bottom but they both seem useless at it! :). Will give it another go soon.

What are you using for out and about foods that aren't too messy?

anyone around? my little boy is 6 mths, actually he's nearly 7 mths but I'm in denial that he is growing so quickly...

we started at just over 6 mths with some steamed carrot, avocado & a lamb chop to suck on - he loved it! since then we've had a range of fruit & veg, with brocoli & avocado being favourites. it's a messy process but fun to watch him try different things. wasn't sure about how much he was actually eating, but his nappies tell a different story... : )

I'm here. I found the first few months are much messier then spoon feeding, but they are cleaner and quicker in the later years with spoons and self feeding. Twins have enjoyed lately boiled egg, cantaloupe, corn on the cob (huge hit!), and beans. What have you been using for out and about foods?

hi dollyroux : )

my little boy has had porridge & did quite well at getting the spoon in his mouth by himself. I was hoping that it may mean easier self feeding later, so good to hear that was your experience.

when I've been out & about I've just given him something off my plate. dh & I had lunch out on the w/end & we gave him a piece of pita bread & a piece of lamb. he sucked & gnawed at those for at least 20 mins. but we are just a couple of weeks in, so he's happy with small amounts atm.

not sure about packing snacks though... I guess fruit?! cheese?! guess I will have to start thinking about this too. we are only doing 2 meals a day atm, and tidbits here & there if I happen to be eating when he's awake.

crumbed salmon patties last night. as expected, they were squished in hands/tray & most ended up on floor. his favourite, broccoli, barely got a mention either. I think his gums are annoying him atm though. he's definately discovering the drop/retrieve thing lately... porridge this morning was an endless game of loading spoon, passing to him, him popping in to his mouth, then dropping spoon off the side of highchair. kind of cute bc then he would lean over & chew side of highchair while looking at the floor. : )

dollyroux - how's the snacks thing going?

They're 10mo now so I'm a little more confident in giving them bread/toast (I'm always wary about bread creating a ball in their mouth) so I've been using cold grilled cheese on toast, apple slices, chicken legs,
Baby mumum biscuits (gosh they end up as a gluey mess!) ...or
Whatever I'm having. I really can't remember what I gave my 4yo as snacks so ideas helpful! Glad to hear it's going well, mess and all!

hey dollyroux (and anyone else reading...), how & when did you introduce cheese? just cut a stick off a block and let them gum/suck at it? grate it? just wondering if 7.5 months is too early, seems like a hard food (texture wise) to give atm. maybe grilled on toast like you mentioned you did for your girls... I know they're older bit my little guy has avocado on toast atm & seems to like it.

Andie I did the softer triangle cheese to start... Laughing cow? Probably not the healthiest choice but the texture and shape allowed her to pick it up and bite bits off. Started those at 10 months, DD isn't a great eater though!

thanks, joeve. hadn't really thought of that soft cheese, I'll check it out. : )

Andie we have given cheese already . We just cut a piece of block cheese and she eats that :)

thanks, cinder. might give that a go too, just wasn't sure as my little guy has no teeth yet. wondered how he'd go with something harder than the softer veges/fruit he's been having.

No teeth here yet either :) still all gums haha
DD went ok with it , she kinda sucks on it breaks bits off with her gums .
But I figured she would be ok with that as I give her cucumbers all the time in pieces and she does the same thing with those ..

cinder, do you take skin off cucumber or leave on?

also, with veges like zucchini, squash - do you peel the skin off, or leave on?

I peel the cucumber and then cut it down the middle so it's two pieces ..

No I don't normally peel those vegies as I make sure they are steamed well so the skin is softer , I find that when they gum off the skin they spit if out anyway . So far have had no probs with skin .
Except we had dinner out the other week and the zuchini was so hard I couldn't give it to DD same with the carrots :/

I leave skin on, because it makes it easier for them to grip :)

thanks, ladies. might try with skin on now & see how we go. id like him to be able to see the different coloured skins & will make things easier by not peeling. : )

I've always left skin on for things the rest of us have skin on ITMS.

Cucumber was a fave for both my older DDs from first try.

So, I may be joining here sooner than I thought! I had every intention of waiting til 6 months like I did with DD, but DS is stealing our food and getting seriously cranky when we take it back. He puts it straight to his mouth and chews. He has a good pincer grip too, which surprised me.

I caved and gave him a rusk the other day, it went straight in his mouth, he chewed and swallowed the bits that came off! He's only 5 months next Friday, so this really goes against everything I thought about solids with DD lol. But o guess, if we do BLW again and he takes food and eats it, he must be ready, right? Otherwise he wouldn't/couldn't eat it?

I think we'll keep stopping him til he's 5 months, then let him have what he grabs, then actually give him food when he's 6 months.

solids has taken a step back this week as my little one has been sick & is teething too. he didn't have solids for 2 days, breastfed more regularly but took less so I think he's lost a bit of weight. makes me a bit nervous bc he's so lean anyway.

teeki - how is your ds, has he managed to grab any more food...?