For those of you who don’t know, baby led weaning is basically a fancy way to say feeding your kid real food. Baby led weaning is all the rage these days, and for good reason. Not only is it awesome for the baby because they get to decide how much and what to eat; but, it is awesome for the mom because it easier, healthier, and cheaper. You don’t have to make or buy any purees. No sitting feeding the baby spoonful by spoonful and having the kid spit the food back out at you. The kid figures out how to eat himself when they are ready (they will tell you!) And the baby decides how much they want to eat, so there isn’t any overeating. If you are at all interested in it, I would recommend reading what is considered the bible of baby led weaning. However, I wouldn’t rely completely on it. If you are up for it, read Real Food for Mom and Baby and French Kids Eat Everything. These are the three books I base my family’s eating on. Each have their own strengths and weaknesses, and the three have provided the foundation for our family’s food philosophy:
1.) No Purees:
Unlike with Bowe, where I supplemented with purees because our pediatrician scared me into believing she be iron deficient, we are 100% Puree Free! Not that there is anything wrong with them, but it is unnecessary work and cost. I don’t have a lot of time, and the free time I have is not going to be spent making purees when the baby can eat the same thing in its natural form.
2.) Only Real Food:
There are no animal crackers in our house, nor are there gold fish, puffs, num nums, or teething biscuits. The baby only eats what I consider real food (*and the toddler does too aside from when we are out and if friends are eating goldfish she can eat them as well.) Nothing is chemically processed or artificial. In the first 12 months, food is only meant to supplement the baby’s main food source–breastmilk or formula. Gradually, food begins to replace the breastmilk/ formula. So if anything is going to take the place of what I consider liquid gold (breastmilk) you can bet your buns it won’t be something that is empty calories. I want to teach my kids to eat healthy, tasty foods (basically the opposite of what my tastebuds really want!) I want what they eat to be as healthy as possible and I want it packed with vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants!
3.) No Special Meals:
Yep, I am not cooking a special meal for the baby or the toddler. This goes hand-in-hand with our philosophy of educating our children’s taste palates. Like the French believe, we are in charge of teaching our kids to be good eaters. I am not a good eater and I am determined to make sure my kids don’t fall in the same traps as I did. My poor parents had to put up with me for way too long! There is one meal at dinner in our house and we all eat the same thing. Our kids have learned from an early age to like spices, seasoning, and fresh foods. Bowe’s favorite meal when she was a baby was, I kid you not, white bean soup with kale. Her second? Israeli couscous with swiss chard. Early on, when you are just introducing one food at a time, I would serve Jack our veggie side for his dinner (sweet potatoes/ peas/ cauliflower/ or broccoli.) Since we usually have a vegetable side with dinner that Jack can always eat, it has never been a problem. Sweet potatoes are his favorite, and since they are often our carb for a dinner, we usually have them a couple times a week. I almost always make 1.5 times the amount we will eat for dinner so we can have leftovers for lunch. He eats eggs, oatmeal, yogurt, or bananas for breakfast; fruit and leftover dinner for lunch; and whatever we are eating for dinner. He eats what we eat. Now, this past weekend, we had Bowe’s birthday and while I didn’t give him a piece of cake, he did get to eat the lasagna (and my dad may have slipped him some frosting!)
We have these three rules to make our lives easier and our kids better eaters. This is not to say our kids are perfect eaters or that these rules are for everyone. They work for us and I stand behind them, even though we are going through a picky phase with Bowe right now. What she used to love, she now won’t touch. But instead of making it a fight, I am just making sure she has good choices to choose from at each meal. If she eats, she eats. If she doesn’t, she doesn’t. While talking to another mom the other day, she quoted a book that is now on my reading list. She said that the author argues that as parents, it is our job to provide good choices and options for food for our children; but, it is not our job to decide how much or if they eat. By making it a fight, we give the kids power. So we are trying to keep her lack of eating a non-issue. Luckily, she still eats all fruit and meat, so she is just missing out on the vegetables. But, I know this is just a phase, and she will be back to normal soon. Thankfully, Jack still eats everything you put in front of him!
Please tell me, have you heard of baby led weaning before? Is it something you have done with your kids? And if you want to read more about our food philosophy and how I fed Bowe when she was a baby (some things have changed) read this post and this post! And if you want to see our current meal plans for the last four weeks.
Jacquelyn @ The Lowcountry Mama says
I’m doing baby led weaning! At first I was so afraid of choking but she’s gotten better. The one thing I’m always confused about though.. what about spices and seasonings? I know you said Jack loves it all so do you just give him whatever side you’re having, even if it’s seasoned? I go pretty heavy on that stuff so I’ve been steaming a separate vegetable or separating some food before I season it. It would be much easier if I could just give her whatever we’re having without worrying about it.
Kate says
With our first (3 years ago) we did purées and baby cereal and he has turned out to be such a picky eater! our second, we did solely BLW and he is the best eater ever and I attribute it solely to the fact he did BLW! We used to make our first special meals as well when he turned into a toddler but quickly learned from that mistake. Now they eat what we eat (because I mean who has time to make two separate dinners anyway?)and that’s all that is offered. Our family doctor and paediatrician fully supported our decision to baby led wean and although it was s slow start, by 9 months our little guy was loving it.
Brittany @ PerpetuallyDaydreaming says
Great post! Thank you for the info! I’ve been really curious about BLW, but not really sure and of course the pediatrician has no information about it. I’d love to switch us over to BLW!
Christine says
Brilliant. I am totally pinning this!
Logan says
I love BLW! It was so easy with my son, but my daughter is struggling a little more than he did. She is 9 months old and only has 2 little teeth, so she can’t chew as much. She is pretty good about gumming a lot of softer foods, but struggles with a lot.
NG says
I’m trying to do BLW with our 6 month old. We only eat together either when she’s asleep (weekday dinners) or in the weekends with her. I’m worried that’s not often enough for her to learn to eat.
Also we cook very spicy food which even I struggle with sometimes. So I’m not sure what to give her from our usual meals.
Annie says
Hi! Don’t worry, so many people (us included) struggle with the same thing. It’s hard to get dinner together as a family before bedtimes. Here’s what I do: we do a lot of leftovers. Give your daughter your left over dinner (or components of it) the next day. Eat meals together on the weekends, even if it’s just breakfast and you are snacking on a banana. Kids will learn to eat, and it takes a long long time for kids to be efficient enough to actually get anything into their mouths. But, that’s ok. They don’t need it yet. They will get food into their mouths when they need it. At 6 months, it’s just time to start introducing them to foods. They will gradually increase their food intake as they get better and better at eating. Regarding the spicy foods, if it’s truly really spicy then, just pull some out for your baby before you season it (e.g. we made chili last night and I just reserved a bit of the butternut squash on the side for my baby.) But, babies in India somehow learn to eat spicy foods as they grow too. It’s just what they learn is normal. Don’t worry about seasoning food though. I would highly recommend the book, French Kids Eat Anything, it made me think differently about the normal “baby food” we all give our kids to eat here in America. Good luck! And you are doing amazing even if you are just thinking about it!
Annie