Introduction of real food or “Solid food” to your little one rather than mashed food is termed as Baby led weaning. In this approach mother needs to offer soft cooked food cut it into small manageable pieces so that baby can manage to eat on his own. In this approach we never feed baby with the spoon rather baby can decide what he wants to eat and how much.
It doesn’t mean that we can leave the child unattended because care takers need to guide little ones. Slowly and gradually kids will learn this approach. Kids first learn to grasp the food with their fist and try to suck them slowly. This way they will develop the taste of food they like.
They might play with their food initially but will do really better in the future. Continue giving them solids along with breast feeding for a healthy growth.
Good age starting of weaning:- Around 6th to 8th month of baby age, we can introduce BLW at this age the baby can sit on their own and can grasp and hold finger food properly.
Great foods to be introduced:-
• Avocados, bananas ,sweet potatoes, soft cooked apples, soft cooked carrots, green beans, zucchini, and beets.
• Ripe peaches and pears, plums, melon and pumpkins can also be tried
• Slices of sprouted bread, cooked pasta, brown rice (Some decide to wait until molars come through before introducing grains. Wheat is recommended to be avoided until later in the first year.)
Foods to be avoided:-
Honey, added salt and sugar, chips and popcorn, cerelac, chocolates, chocking risk foods like grapes, tomatoes, cherries, nuts, seafood.
Most parents do this mistake of introducing cow’s milk. We should not introduce cow’s milk before the age of 12 months .Instead we can feed yogurt and cheese to the baby.
Never force-feed your baby, they will slowly lose interest in food and become a picky eater.
Right nutrition’s Intake:-
Introduce right amount of solid food to ensure baby is eating proper healthy food .For example if we are offering three meals a day, make sure it’s a mix of cereal/rice/fruits/veggies/egg/yogurt these combination.
There are lot of recipes available for baby led weaning. Mothers can cook different variety to make little one happy. A good book to read for BLW is by “Gill Rapley and Tracey Murkett “
When to feed your baby?
Each baby is different, no two babies should be compared. Babies eat as much as they want to eat and drink breast milk/formula as much as they want to drink.
There is no fix timing rule, some babies feed after every 2 hours and some after every 3 hour .Their needs are just perfect for their growth. So Mothers don’t worry at all.
Benefits of BLW
Baby led weaning has lot of benefits. The baby develops the habit of eating healthy. You will not be raising a fussy eater and eventually even when you are not there to help the baby; he will always choose the right and healthy food to eat rather than junk food.