Today we started solids with Eleanor! We had planned on starting when she turned 6 months old, but then waited since she was sick. Now she's finally back to normal (and finally back to mostly sleeping through the night again, thank goodness - it's rough getting up every 1-2 hours when you haven't had to do that in 4.5 months!), so we decided to give it a try today.
We are doing baby-led weaning with Eleanor, which basically means we are not giving purees and are offering table food. If you're interested in learning more here is the website. There is also a book about it that I found helpful. We have several friends who have done BLW and quite a few mamas in an online group I'm part of have done it as well. As a disclaimer, I'm not against purees. As long as you're feeding your kid(s) healthy food, feed them however you like :) But for us, BLW makes sense. Here are some of the reasons why we thought this would be the best choice for our family:
-At some point kids need to go to solid foods anyway, and regardless of whether they do purees first or go straight to table food, most kids end up gagging a bit when they start finger foods. Let's just let Eleanor figure it out from the get-go.
-BLW isn't suggested until babies hit 6 months of age and are showing interest in food, can sit up unassisted, and can take food/objects to their mouths. Good news since our pediatrician doesn't recommend starting solids until 6 months anyway.
-With the amount of thickening we have to do to the formula in Eleanor's bottles because of her reflux, purees really aren't that much thicker than what she's got in her bottle. She's still choking/gagging, though it is definitely better, with the thicken formula. I'd rather just go straight to solid foods than give her food that is about the same thickness and might be just as likely to come back up like her formula.
-With BLW Eleanor can eat while we are eating. I don't have to spoon-feed her a puree before our meal or while I'm trying to juggle eating my food too. Just put some food on her tray and let her have at it :)
Those are just a handful of the reasons why we're choosing this route. Today went well, I think! Right now food is for exploration, figuring out that there are different textures and tastes. Eleanor did get a few pieces of avocado in her mouth and mushed them around for a minute before spitting them out, which is great for her first try! It'll take her a little bit to figure out that she can actually swallow food, but she'll get there. We've also got some green beans and zucchini (I'll cut it into strips) that we're going to try soon too!
We are doing baby-led weaning with Eleanor, which basically means we are not giving purees and are offering table food. If you're interested in learning more here is the website. There is also a book about it that I found helpful. We have several friends who have done BLW and quite a few mamas in an online group I'm part of have done it as well. As a disclaimer, I'm not against purees. As long as you're feeding your kid(s) healthy food, feed them however you like :) But for us, BLW makes sense. Here are some of the reasons why we thought this would be the best choice for our family:
-At some point kids need to go to solid foods anyway, and regardless of whether they do purees first or go straight to table food, most kids end up gagging a bit when they start finger foods. Let's just let Eleanor figure it out from the get-go.
-BLW isn't suggested until babies hit 6 months of age and are showing interest in food, can sit up unassisted, and can take food/objects to their mouths. Good news since our pediatrician doesn't recommend starting solids until 6 months anyway.
-With the amount of thickening we have to do to the formula in Eleanor's bottles because of her reflux, purees really aren't that much thicker than what she's got in her bottle. She's still choking/gagging, though it is definitely better, with the thicken formula. I'd rather just go straight to solid foods than give her food that is about the same thickness and might be just as likely to come back up like her formula.
-With BLW Eleanor can eat while we are eating. I don't have to spoon-feed her a puree before our meal or while I'm trying to juggle eating my food too. Just put some food on her tray and let her have at it :)
Those are just a handful of the reasons why we're choosing this route. Today went well, I think! Right now food is for exploration, figuring out that there are different textures and tastes. Eleanor did get a few pieces of avocado in her mouth and mushed them around for a minute before spitting them out, which is great for her first try! It'll take her a little bit to figure out that she can actually swallow food, but she'll get there. We've also got some green beans and zucchini (I'll cut it into strips) that we're going to try soon too!
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