Baby Led Weaning

Wow, so lots of new stuff has happened in the past three years! Yikes! I still love my job and I am still trying to lose weight. For a quick summation, I did get on the right track and was doing yoga about 5 days a week, I ran/walked a 5k and ran/walked quite regularly. In this past three years, I had my precious baby boy who I live for and is now my reason to get back in shape and healthy! I had a great pregnancy, no morning sickness or other problems and gained about 17 pounds total which was perfect for my weight category. Baby boy (BB) is now 10 months and I am finally getting my schedule together. It's been a rough 10 months of trying to juggle working and being a mom. My wonderful mom and mil take care of BB while I work. I did prenatal yoga and walked quite a bit while pregnant and during BB's first few months but not since work picked up.

I am exclusively breastfeeding, nothing but the liquid gold for my little angel and we began baby led weaning at 6 months. We read this book in preparation and kind of "winged it" from there. We started with pears, broccoli and sweet potatoes. A few other root veggies since it was winter. I cut them in French fry shape and roasted them until they were tender. Then around 7 ½ months we introduced carbs like oatmeal and pasta and wheat bread and eggs. Pretty much by the time he was 8 months old he eats everything we eat. His pincher ability was developed by the time he turned 9 months so he can pick up small pieces but I just leave them about an inch in length because it takes a long time to cut things smaller so that doesn't happen haha! Some people try not to give their kids nut butters, some fruit and eggs but I did. Mostly because I forgot you’re not supposed to but my pediatrician said it’s best to introduce allergy-prone foods early so the body doesn't think they are foreign.

Now that we kind of have a better grasp on what we’re doing BB usually eats oatmeal (not instant) with a little maple syrup or grandma’s homemade jam and cinnamon for flavor or eggs plus some kind of fruit; he loves mangoes, apple slices, banana (I usually spread it on a piece of bread if it's pretty ripe) strawberries or grapes. Then for lunch he has some kind of meat, steamed or roasted veggies and like crackers or cheerios and something similar for dinner. The biggest problem we've faced is constipation. It doesn't happen in all babies but BB had some serious problems. I slice prunes and give them to him with lunch and that has helped the problem.

Here are some good blogs for recipes and food ideas:

Blwideas.com (also has an instragram feed)
Dirtandboogers.com

BLW things I've generally learned, but I'm not a professional so use your best judgement...

BLW babies will gag, it's they're gag reflex keeping them alive it's good for them even though it creates a new wrinkle each time. No sound while gagging is choking (that was helpful information to know). I would try to get whatever was in his throat out and just make it worse, they still have a strong gag reflex at 6 months, so it’s best to let them try first. Sometimes I pat his back to make myself feel better :)

We also get a lot of “food waste” so I got a floor mat like this to catch the food he drops.

I’ve also used a silicone mat for the tray to help him pick up slimy food.

Also, I don’t know what you use to clean but I love white vinegar. I have a squirt bottle and spray bottle with a 1:4 ration of vinegar and water. It cuts through food really well and leaves everything really clean and is baby safe so you don’t have to rinse before baby puts in mouth. I use it for all BB'stoys and I put some in his wash cycle to get out the food in his clothes

I hope to start writing more often about the food we eat, the food BB eats, my new fitbit and getting back into yoga. More to come...