Welcome back to the last question in my 10 questions and answer series about baby led weaning. In this question, mamas answered: “What were some of your favorite products for baby led weaning?”

To see their answers, keep reading =)

First, I will show some products that were extremely useful in our baby led weaning journey.

Disclaimer: As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases but this comes at no additional cost to you. 

Le Highchair

The essential item to have for baby led weaning is a good high chair. I am very whimsical and easily distracted by appearance over quality. Since Lennox had a mint theme going on in his nursery, I thought it would be cute also to buy a mint-colored high chair. Well, that was a stupid decision on my behalf, because the highchair featured in the picture below sucks. Don’t buy it, just don’t.

The point of this post isn’t to trash talk our highchair, but if you are curious as to why I loathe this highchair, you can ask me in the comments below =)

Anyhow, for my next babe, I will definitely get a more practical highchair. My friend has the Chicco Progress Relax Highchair, and I love it. It grows five times with your baby! Also, It has a newborn recliner with a toy bar and an infant high chair, a toddler booster, a big kid booster, and lastly, it turns into a kid stool. Pretty cool, huh? 

The Chicco Progress Relax Highchair is a bit on the pricey side, so my next recommended highchair is Ikea’s Antilop Highchair. Not only is it minimalistic, but it is ridiculously cheap. At Ikea it is $19.99. That’s a steal.  

My favorite part about this high chair (see picture above) is that it is not so “high as normal highchairs. This is great for baby led weaning because your baby should partake in family mealtimes, and that can be hard when he is sitting way higher than the table height.

If you do not have an Ikea near you, don’t fret. Amazon carries this high chair. It is a bit more expensive, but hey you’re getting two-day shipping, and saving gas!

Les bibs

Another important thing to have ready are bibs. One of the only downsides about baby led weaning is that it gets messy, so it’s important to have bibs on hand. Here are some of my favs, but I am not gonna lie, I’m one of those moms whose child is always naked, so if you are in my boat, then you might not need the bibs so much =)

Small shop, BibaDo, has some of the best bibs I have ever used. Not only is their material super soft, but the fabrics are adorable.

They were kind enough to let us try two of their bibs. The first bib they sent us was the Double Dribble bib which is perfect for babies. Especially teething babies.

Related: 9 Hacks To Alleviate Infant and Toddler Teething Pain

It has one two layers to it made out o 95% absorbent bamboo fabric. The first layer is meant to catch the food and protect the clothing. The second layer is to protect your baby’s chin from getting a rash due to irritation from a wet bib.

Now that Lennox has passed his drooling years, I have tucked the Double Dribble bib away for our next baby led weaner. Lennox did have fun touching and playing wth the soft fabric. See for yourself below.

This Catch-It-All Coverall is my absolute favorite. It still fits Lennox at almost three years old. Now, we use it for more than just eating. We use it for arts and crafts as well as haircuts! It’s amazing.

Below are a list of some other bibs that I really liked:

• Mushie Silicone Baby Bib
• Bumkins SuperBib
• Bumkins Junior Bib

Les Utensils

It is crucial to introduce utensils to your baby at a young age because they will be feeding themselves. At first, they will use their hands, but once they start getting better fine motor control with their hands, utensils will come in handy. By seven months, Lennox was already feeding himself yogurt on a spoon. I was impressed.

*Remember, don’t confuse them by hand feeding them. Baby led weaning is all about the baby feeding himself, all by himself.

Related: Purees and Baby Led Weaning

Here are great Utensils for baby led weaning.

• Olababy 100% BPA Free Silicone Soft-Tip Training Spoon for Baby Led Weaning 
• NumNum Pre-Spoon GOOtensils
• Bumkins Utensils

Le tableware

 With infants, it is easiest to serve the food directly on the high chair top or tabletop. However, plates can come in handy for separating foods or attempting to contain the mess. Good luck! 

With toddlers, I recommend tableware that suctions to the table because if your toddler is anything like mine, you never know when a plate will go flying across the room. Watch out! 

Here are some recommended tableware items.

• ezpz Mini Mat
• Baby Dröm Toddler Self-Feeding Suction Plate
• Termichy Suction Plates for Babies
• Ali+Oli Silicone Suction Bowl & Spoon
• Munchkin Stay Put Suction Bowl, 3 Pack 

Out & About

Lastly, we dine out quite frequently, these disposable placemat stickers will help your baby led weaning experience on the go!

Other important baby led weaning posts you cannot miss out on!

• Four Benefits of Baby Led Weaning
• The Pros & Cons of Baby Led Weaning
• Mamas Answer Why They Chose Baby Led Weaning

What did other mamas say about there baby led weaning must haves?

Kassandra at Adelaideandi

I really love OXO forks and spoons. The forks and curved and food stays on them well for the early fork days, and the spoons are pretty deep as far as baby spoons go, so they’re a lot easier to get food to stay on as well.

Taylor at Mindful.mom_ents 

We quickly transitioned out of a high chair, he loves sitting at his IKEA table. I detest high chairs with any sort of fabric on them. Grabease spoons are nice to transition to.

Emily at This Crazy Maze

We honestly haven’t used any special products. We got bibs from the baby shower. My son sits in my lap to eat.

Sheridan M.

E-Z mini mats for plates and grabease utensils, but really we don’t use a lot of gear

Brooke at Simply Well Family

Fisher-price makes a booster seat with a removable tray that I liked using. IKEA also has a variety of baby & toddler sized utensils and dinner ware that I like.

Thank you so much for staying tuned for this baby led weaning Q & A Series. Nine months ago, I started this series, and back then, it seemed like we were still doing baby led weaning. Now, I can’t exactly call It baby led weaning anymore because, well, Lennox is a big preschooler.

Related: 13 Tips to Prepare your Toddler for Their First Year of Preschool

 I hope you enjoyed this series and got some insight into the ins and outs of what baby led weaning is. I hope it helps you to help your child become an excellent eater as it did with Lennox.

Follow us on Instagram or Facebook to follow Lennox’s adventurous appetite and bilingual beginnings!!

The post Baby Led Weaning Must Have Products appeared first on Bilingual Beginnings.

Welcome back to the Mamas Tell All: 10 Q & A Baby Led Weaning Series.

Today, I want to go into four benefits of baby led weaning.

I will start with offering the benefits my son has received from doing baby led weaning. At the end, you can read the baby led benefits from other mamas who have embarked on their baby led weaning journey.

Did you do baby led weaning? If so, let us know your experience in the comments below!

Disclaimer: As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases but this comes at no additional cost to you. 

1. Baby led Weaning encourages Courageous Eating

Once Lennox hit six-months of age and started baby led weaning, he has tried an array of foods.

From his first foods, avocado and fruits, to chicken and seafood, there were very few limitations on what we could give Lennox. To see what you should not offer during baby led weaning, click here.

Not only did Lennox develop a rich palate for a diversity of foods, but he learned to appreciate different food textures, colors, feels, smells.

Exposing him to different foods, with different textures is the reason today, at two-years-old, I can serve Lennox dinner, and he will gladly try everything on his plate. There are times that he doesn’t like something, and that is completely fine. However, he is not hesitant to try new things. I love that about him, and it makes my life a little easier because I do not have to worry about preparing separate meals for him.

2. Baby led weaning encourages intimate family time and socialization

Since it is recommended that baby led weaning take place around the dinner table, for us, it has forced us to allocate a special part of our day to mealtimes and family socialization. This forces us give the phone and TV a break, and create genuine family memories. This brings me to my next point.

3. Baby led weaning facilitates dining out experiences

Since Lennox is used to having a mealtime routine, this makes going out to eat a lot easier. NOW, that does not mean that Lennox is an angel when we go out and about because that is FAR from the truth. In fact, he’s quite the terror. However, as soon as Lennox has food in front of him, the scenario changes.

Also, from a financial perspective, we save money going out to eat because since Lennox is such a courageous eater, he shares food with Carlos or me.

4. Baby led weaning allows parents to eat at the same time

This is the best part. Since Lennox started BLW, I have hardly had to feed him. He feeds himself and insists on feeding himself. It’s beautiful to be able to eat my own food, and also to watch him develop his fine-motor skills using utensils.

These are four awesome beneficial impacts baby led weaning has had on Lennox. Let’s see what the other mamas said.

More baby led weaning posts:

• Baby Led Weaning Must Have Products
• The Pros & Cons of Baby Led Weaning
• What to Know About Purees and Baby Led Weaning

Let’s see what these mamas have to say when I asked them about the benefits of baby led weaning

Kassandra at Adelaideandi

Adelaide is definitely the opposite of picky and will eat pretty well whatever is put in front of her. I never have to worry when we are out to eat because there’s always something on the menu she’ll like!

She’s a really great eater and is not picky at all besides a handful of veggies she has never liked. She has days where all she wants is peanut butter toast, but don’t we all?

Taylor at Mindful.mom_ents 

Russell is pretty good at trying new things and eating clean. I think it’s great for fostering independence and works well with our Montessori style of learning

Like a normal toddler – likes something one day, doesn’t want it the next. Sometimes isn’t too hungry but likes to snack all day. But he does sit down at his table and eats things with a utensil well and doesn’t just play in his food.

Jessica at HeyMamaJess

My son developed his pincer grasp very early. He also is a pro at using silverware at 18 months, like a 30 year old haha

 Emily at This Crazy Maze

My son is independent and actually eats really well for his age!

He just turned 1 and he eats with his hands (I JUST bought baby sized utensils… oops) but he eats everything and wants to eat everything!

Sheridan M.

My children are very adventurous eaters and love sharing meals with family.

Both have a great variety of fruits and veggies they eat, 2 is teething and picky right now, but stills eats veggies!

Brooke at Simply Well Family

My children benefited from being able to taste multiple foods at each meal.

They are good eaters today. My oldest is willing to at least taste whatever I offer while my second enjoys every fruit & vegetable offered to him.

Lastly, I want to get the results from question 10, If you had the option to do baby led weaning again, or with your next child, would/will you do baby led weaning again?

Thank you for reading this series. I hope it has helped you with your weaning journey. Please feel free to reach out to me for any questions. Follow us on social media for daily toddler tantrums and activities.

The post Benefits of Baby Led Weaning appeared first on Bilingual Beginnings.

First, I will start with the pros and cons of my personal baby led weaning experience. Then, you can read the pros and cons from other mamas who have embarked on their baby led weaning journey.

Did you do baby led weaning? If so, let us know your experience in the comments below!

Pros of Baby Led Weaning:

1. Encourages better eating. Your child will most likely be less picky eaters.

This is why I praise baby led weaning the most. Lennox took to baby led weaning very well. He enjoyed trying new foods every day and very rarely did he not like something. His adventurous eating carried over into toddlerhood.

I am curious to see how Lennox’s palate would be today if we would have continued down the puree path. We originally started  Lennox off with homemade purees at four-months-old and what’s interesting is that he despised carrots. However, once we stopped purees and started baby led weaning, carrots became one of his favorite foods.

2. Increases motor skills and hand-eye coordination.

It allows your baby to use all of her senses while eating and exploring with different colors, textures, and shapes.

Once Lennox started baby led weaning at six months…

he loved being able to grab at his own food and bring it to his mouth. It improved his eye-hand coordination, as well as fine-motor skills. It was an awesome experience being able to watch Lennox develop and learn new skills each day.

For a baby…

eating is so novel, every part of it; the different types of foods, their tastes, learning how to chew, how to hold the food, use utensils, etc.. They need to be able to have the liberty to play around and understand their food to promote healthy eating skills

3. It allows your baby to decide when he is done eating, promoting appetite control.

Since the baby is in control of his eating, baby led weaning allows the baby time to digest and feel full, unlike purees, which are fed to the baby. A baby could feel too full if fed a puree too quickly which could put him in an uncomfortable state, especially if he has Gastroesophageal Reflux.

4. It allows your child to take an active part in mealtime and encourages socialization.

Related: Four Benefits of Baby Led Weaning

5. It is less time consuming.

You offer your baby exactly (minus the condiments) what you are eating, eliminating the mess and time of having to blend purees.

6. It teaches independence and confidence.

7. It allows you, mom, dad or guardian, to be hands-free and enjoy your food while baby enjoys hers.

8. It encourages healthier eating on behalf of the parent.

At least for me, anyways. I wanted Lennox to be a healthy eater so in order to do that I had to change my bad eating habits at mealtime.

9. It’s cheaper than store-bought purees.

Since day 1 of our baby led weaning process, meals always happened at the table, together. It was a sacred time of enjoying and exploring our food.

While Lennox benefited socially and nutritionally from eating around the table, I benefited also because I was able take a much-needed break to sit down to enjoy a meal with Lennox. I started noticing myself enjoying my food, instead of inhaling it.

Furthermore, I started cooking healthier items. I wanted Lennox to eat healthily, so in turn, I had to change my bad eating ways.

It was less time consuming as well because I was only preparing one meal each time, instead of having to blend purees.

Furthermore, I could enjoy my meal because I didn’t have to feed Lennox. He was feeding himself! The only thing I had to do separately for Lennox was cut his food differently, and not add any condiments.

10. It aids your baby in understanding what is edible and what isn’t.

Cons of Baby Led Weaning

1. It’s extremely messy

I recommend using a plastic wipe-clean bib or even better, let your baby eat in just a diaper.

Related: Baby Led Weaning Must Have Products

2. The reactions of family members and bystanders

The older generations and people who think they know it all will constantly nag you that your baby is too young to be eating this type of food or is going to choke. You do you, mama. You know your baby the best.

3. My hypothesis: baby led weaning may make teething more uncomfortable

I am not sure if this is BLW-related or not— or if Lennox just has stubborn teeth— but, I hypothesize that baby led weaning makes the baby’s gums harder from chewing solids so early on.

This might cause teething to be a bit more difficult for them if their teeth are late bloomers.

Has anyone else experienced this? Comment below and share your experience, if so.

More baby led weaning posts:

• Baby Led Weaning Must Have Products
• Baby Led Weaning First Food Ideas
• What to Know About Purees and Baby Led Weaning

What other mamas think about the pros and cons of BLW

Kassandra at Adelaideandi

I love how fun it is! Seeing Adelaide’s reaction to new foods is the best. I hated (and still do sometimes) how messy it can be!

Taylor at Mindful.mom_ents 

I don’t really dislike anything, it made it easy when cooking dinner and made me make better choices for myself as well. Reading labels is key… just because baby eats what you eat doesn’t mean they should be eating the processed, pre packaged food available.

 Jessica at HeyMamaJess

My son is a good eater. Dislike the mess!

 Emily at This Crazy Maze

Overall, I like BLW. It is messy so I really don’t like feeding my son solid foods. Breastfeeding is just so easy! And I’m super picky about organic food – trying to keep my son organic for the first 2 years, but it’s tough when I don’t always eat as good as I should.

Sheridan M.

It’s so easy! No need to pack baby specific food, they can always eat off my plate at restaurants and they have both been great eaters of fruits of veggies

Brooke at Simply Well Family

Baby-led weaning is natural for babies. I like that children are introduced to a variety of food textures & colors with baby-led weaning. I also like that it helps to foster independence, since children feed themselves instead of relying on a caregiver to spoon feed them purées.

The post Pros and Cons of Baby Led Weaning appeared first on Bilingual Beginnings.

Is your baby starting to take interest in your food? Well, once you get the go ahead from you pediatrician, it’s time to make a big decision, will you give your baby purees, or do baby led weaning?

You might be wondering what is baby led weaning? Or, maybe you want to combine them and do both!

Regardless, this post will answer some of your questions about purees and baby led weaning and hopefully guide you into the right decision for your family!

I will start by telling you a little bit about my personal experience with both purees and baby led weaning. Then, at the end of the post, some other seasoned baby led weaning mamas will share their experiences too!

Did you do baby led weaning? If so, let us know your experience in the comments below!

Our experience with purees and baby led weaning

We stated with purees

If you read my post What were some of the first foods you offered, you know we began giving Lennox homemade purees when he was 4.5 months old.

He was already sitting up and was grabbing at our food, so we decided to give it a try.

His first purée was apples mixed with breastmilk. He loved it.

Then, we switched to carrots because Lennox’s pediatrician recommended that we start with vegetables to avoid Lennox becoming accustomed to the sweetness in fruit. Side note, he hated pureed carrots. This is interesting because during BLW and now as a toddler, carrots are one of his favorite snacks.

Then we switched to baby led weaning.

It was one of our best parenting decisions

It was right about the time that Lennox suffered through pureed carrots that some online mom friends introduced me to the baby led weaning phenomenon.

I was sold. Immediately, I ditched the spoons and threw away my stash of frozen purees. It was a fabulous decision, and I don’t regret it one bit. See the adorable video below of Lennox thinking he is about to get a yummy treat, only to find out its carrots 😀

Related: How Old Was Your Baby When You Started Baby Led Weaning?

Here is a cute video of Lennox eating pureed carrots.

What to do if you already started purees with your baby, but want to switch to baby led weaning?

Give your baby a week break in between

After stopping purees, we gave Lennox a week off from solids to reset his mind and tongue-thrust and then, we embarked on our baby led weaning journey.

For the first few weeks, we did not use purees to avoid confusion. Once Lennox was getting used to exploring new food items, I slowly reintroduced purees again, mostly as a snack when we were out and about.

This purée experience was different than the first because this time around, Lennox was in control of his eating, whereas before I spoon fed him.

If you want to have a combination of purees and BLW, allow your baby to self-feed the purees

Once I reintroduced the purées, Lennox still didn’t have complete control over his hands so I would put some of the puree on a spoon, set it in front of Lennox, and let him bring it to his own mouth. Or, I would allow him to play around and have some sensory fun with his mush. He enjoyed making a mess.

Overall, the vast majority of the time, Lennox was uninterested in the pureed foods so, we eventually stopped using them.

Related: Mamas Share Their Negative Experiences or Scares With Baby Led Weaning

To wrap thing up, if you are deciding to do baby led weaning and are not sure whether or not to offer purees, Feeding Bytes offers a comprehensive post about the combination of both weaning methods here.

In my personal opinion, each baby is different, and you, mama, know your babe the best.

Do what feels best for you and your baby. All I can say is that you should give BLW a go because it is so nutritionally and educationally beneficial for your baby.

Check out the other mama’s responses below.

Kassandra at Adelaideandi

I did both purees and baby led weaning – we adults eat stuff like soup and mashed potato so I felt it appropriate that she should eat everything too! I never purées and solids at the same meal though, as I feel that’s what can confuse babies and lead to scares.

Taylor at Mindful.mom_ents 

No purées, if my son had something soft like mashed potatoes, he fed himself.

 Jessica at HeyMamaJess

We did not do purees. Not until after 1 we started giving yogurt.

 Emily at This Crazy Maze

We would use mashed up food sometimes and we have used those baby food pouches a few times (like, less than 5) when we have gone out to eat. It did not cause any confusion.

Sheridan M.

We did some purees for my 1st, it never caused confusion, she also didn’t have a problem with being spoon fed occasionally

Brooke at Simply Well Family

None of my children have been given purées. Though my oldest enjoyed softened apple chunks. At 9 years old he still prefers apple sauce over whole apples.

Thank you for reading. Go get your baby led weaning on! You might be surprised by the results!

Learn more about baby led weaning:

• Mamas Answer Why They Chose Baby Led Weaning
• Baby Led Weaning First Food Ideas
• The Pros & Cons of Baby Led Weaning

The post What to Know About Purees and Baby Led Weaning appeared first on Bilingual Beginnings.

Today I want to share some baby led weaning scares that I have experienced in my son’s baby led weaning journey.

Then, I will share some other mama’s baby led weaning scares at the end of the post.

Did you do baby led weaning? If so, let us know your experience in the comments below!

My own personal baby led weaning scares

Choking was one of my biggest fears upon starting the baby led weaning process.

I remember before learning about BLW, one of my close friends who has a little girl a month older than Lennox, gave her six-month-old daughter a whole piece of steamed broccoli. I was in disbelief! How was she so comfortable giving her infant an entire piece of cooked broccoli? She’s was for sure going to choke!

At that point, Lennox was five-months-old, and I had begun giving him some homemade purées because he was extremely interested in table food.

Shortly after, I discovered what baby led weaning was and I knew I immediately wanted to change routes. My ultimate goal was to have Lennox be a fantastic eater, and baby led weaning seemed like it would promote healthier and more independent eating. So, I stopped the purées, let him reset for a week, and then we embarked on our BLW journey.

Read more: 4 Awesome Benefits of Baby Led Weaning

Lennox took to his first foods like a champ and the more foods we introduced, the more comfortable I felt. Of course, with baby led weaning comes the natural reaction of gagging which can be terrifying for a parent who may think that their baby is choking. However, that is most likely not the case. In my introductory post on BLW, I go more into choking versus gagging and mention foods that pose choking hazards.

Family Style Nutrition says:

Basically, if baby gags but keeps on happily eating and shows no signs of distress, everything is fine. You will know if she’s choking because her eyes will get wide, she won’t be getting any air and she will stop eating. This NEVER happened with either of my children and is highly unlikely with Baby Led Weaning.

Lennox gagged A LOT, and as scary as it was at times, I believe it was an educational process for him because he learned how much food he can adequately fit into his mouth, and how much he can comfortably swallow.

Related: The Pros & Cons of Baby Led Weaning: Mamas Tell All

As an infant, Lennox never had a choking scare. However; a couple of months ago, when he was around 22 months or so, he did start to choke on one of his favorite foods; edamame, as he accidentally got some of the shell into his throat.

I could tell that this time it wasn’t his normal, I put too much food into my mouth, let me gag it out. This time he seemed worried and was having trouble breathing. I immediately put Lennox on my forearm and gave him a firm blow between the shoulder blades. After a couple coughs the edamame shell came back up.

Lennox is usually a champ at eating edamame, but I am glad that I was with him so that I could prevent further damage. It is vital that you are always present when your baby is eating, and to make sure you are preparing your baby’s food in the appropriate manner.

Sarah Remmer offers great tips for choking in her post Choking and Baby-Led Weaning: What You Need to Know. Most importantly, it’s vital to know what to do if your baby starts to show signs of choking.

This post is not to scare you or to prevent you from doing baby led weaning. In my opinion, baby led weaning was one of the best things I did for Lennox because today he is a healthy eater and does not hesitate to try anything!

Let’s hear what other mamas have to say about their negative experiences or fears during the baby led weaning process. Enjoy, and if you are a mama who did baby led weaning, please share your story with us through the button below.

Related baby led weaning posts:

• Baby Led Weaning Must Have Products
• Baby Led Weaning First Food Ideas
• What to Know About Purees and Baby Led Weaning

Did you experience any baby led weaning scares?

Kassandra at Adelaideandi

Yes, for sure. She started choking once but got it up herself before I intervened.

Taylor at Mindful.mom_ents 

I knew what to look for and could tell the difference between gagging and choking. Gagging would make me nervous, but I wouldn’t interfere. One time he did begin actually choking, and I quickly held him down at an angle and delivered angled hits in between the shoulder blades to expel it, and it worked within a few seconds.

Jessica at HeyMamaJess

It’s scary at first but once you realize gagging is natural it gets easier.

 Emily at This Crazy Maze

The gagging was kind of scary in the beginning, especially when other people were around. It was also tough when he would gag, and we would be out to eat because I wasn’t giving my 100% focus on him like I would be at home. And my husband HATED this. Everyone made me feel like my son was going to choke and die, and like it was going to be all my fault. I actually have a whole blog post about this.

Sheridan M.

A few moments that scared Dad/grandparents, but they were gagging, not choking. Scariest was a blueberry with my oldest and my mom had to suck it out of her throat (she probably was choking, I wasn’t there). We have always 1/4ed or squished them since then.

Brooke at Simply Well Family

I have not had any negative experiences with baby-led weaning.

Thank you for reading. We hope you still feel encouraged to try baby led weaning. It really is a fantastic and interactive way to encourage healthy eating.

The post Baby Led Weaning Scares appeared first on Bilingual Beginnings.

So your baby is showing all of the readiness signs to start baby led weaning?

Great! In this post, I am going to share some great baby led weaning first food ideas to give to your infant!

Did you do baby led weaning? If so, let us know your baby’s favorite first foods in the comments at the end of this post!

My baby’s baby led weaning first foods

I was super excited to start the baby led weaning process.

A little before my son Lennox was six-months-old, I tried some homemade purees with him because he was showing extreme interest in table food. Since I introduced him to some purees first but then decided to do baby led weaning, I stopped offering him solids for a week to reset the process. I did this to avoid chewing confusion. 

Baby led weaning consists of a baby holding and exploring their food. When giving them purees, they are merely swallowing and not learning how to chew.

The week interval that I gave between offering purees and starting Baby Led Weaning allowed Lennox’s new and developing brain to forget to swallow immediately to avoid choking on his pinky-sized, baby led weaning food.

Related: Baby Led Weaning: What is it and Why is it worth it?

Of course, after Lennox learned how to chew and digest food properly, we added yogurts and other soft foods to his diet. It was also convenient to carry around bagged purees for when we went out and about, but I highly suggest holding off on purees until your baby understands all the eating motions fully. 

To avoid Lennox craving the natural sweets of fruit, the first foods that I gave him were vegetables.

Below is a list of vegetables we offered.

• Roasted Carrots
• Cucumbers
• Roasted Zucchini
• Roasted Potatoes
• Steamed Broccoli
• Roasted Sweet Potatoes
• Roasted Squash

Unfortunately, I did not take pictures at the time to show how to cut or prepare the food for baby led weaning correctly, but Jenna Helwig offers graphics in her post “How to Cut Foods For Baby Led Weaning”.

After a week of offering vegetables, I started introducing fruits.

First Fruit Ideas

• Strawberries
• Mangoes
• Bananas
• Watermelon
• Avocado
• Tomato
• Pears
• Oranges
• Plums

Then, after a month or so of fruits and vegetables, we started offering proteins and starches. 

First protein and starches

Chicken
Turkey
Egg
Bread with butter or peanut butter

When Lennox was around nine months, and once we knew he didn’t have any allergies to any fruits, vegetables, or proteins, we started offering seafood and shellfish, which was a big hit. We were astonished when at 9 months old he gobbled up a plate of Caramelized Sea Scallops where we work. Below is a video of Lennox eating spinach and tilapia at ten-months-old.

Lennox loved trying an arrangement of food and I seriously credit baby led weaning as being one of the reasons why Lennox is such a healthy eater. It allowed him to explore and experiment instead of just being spoon-fed mush. 

As a 23-month-old toddler Lennox still adores food. He will go and sit at the table when he is ready for his meals or snacks. That is another benefit of Baby Led Weaning because table eating and partaking in family meals is how baby-led weaning works best.

Babies and children mimic everything their parents do. I am just glad he doesn’t have my sweet tooth. Today for lunch I served broccoli and chicken nuggets. The plate is clean of broccoli, and leftover are the nuggets. I also made oatmeal raisin cookies (damn sweet tooth of mine), and Lennox wasn’t interested in them at all. It makes me wonder how my eating habits might be different if this phenomenon was implemented more back in my childhood. 

One of Lennox’s favorite meals : Salvadoran Shrimp Ceviche

What did these mamas give their babies for their first baby led weaning foods?

Kassandra at Adelaideandi

Sweet potato, avocado, potato, squash.

Taylor at Mindful.mom_ents 

Guacamole and sliced avocado, roasted sweet potato and carrots with spices, oatmeal, sliced peaches. Everything was cut in quarters and as thick as my pinky to avoid choking.

 Jessica at HeyMamaJess

Banana and avocado.

Emily at This Crazy Maze

Avocado and sweet potatoes

Sheridan M.

1st: sweet potato, avocado 2nd: avocado, eggs, bacon

More baby led weaning posts:

• Baby Led Weaning Must Have Products
• Mamas Answer Why They Chose Baby Led Weaning
• What to Know About Purees and Baby Led Weaning

The post Baby Led Weaning First Food Ideas appeared first on Bilingual Beginnings.

Welcome to the second question of Mothers Tell All: 10 Baby Led Weaning Q & A Series by Real and Unfiltered Mamas. In this series, mamas answered: How old was your baby when you started BLW? And, what signs were your baby showing that she was ready?

The purpose of this series to offer insight from mamas who have done Baby Led Weaning and to portray not only how beneficial it is for babies, but for mamas as well.

My almost two-year-old son is an excellent eater. I kid you not; he prefers vegetables and fruit over fried food and sweets any day. For the most part, I give BLW credit for Lennox being a fantastic eater. As soon as he turned six months, he got to play around with all foods and textures and learned that food comes in all shapes, sizes, colors, and textures.

Now if I would have blended all of those foods into purees, Lennox would have never been able to differentiate the blended foods. I hypothesize that he would have preferred the consistency of purees and would have been more hesitant to try real food if we would have done traditional weaning.

Disclaimer: As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases but this comes at no additional cost to you. 

More Baby Led Weaning Posts:

• Baby Led Weaning Must Have Products
• Mamas Answer Why They Chose Baby Led Weaning
• What to Know About Purees and Baby Led Weaning

When Did Lorena Start Baby Led Weaning?

We decided to start Baby Led Weaning right at the six months mark, maybe shortly beforehand. Why? Well because American Association of Pediatrics and all of my research said to start at 6-months. I like to follow protocol.

Also, Lennox was extremely advanced. By 5 months he was already crawling and grabbing at table food; hence I knew six- months-mark was an appropriate time to begin. Since Lennox was so advanced, when he was around 4-5 months, I did do some breastmilk purées and popscicles, which I will go into further detail in a future post.

With that being said, just because Lennox started BLW at six-months, and just because it is AAP recommended that your start after six months, doesn’t mean your baby is ready at six-months.

Babies grow at different paces, so don’t feel pressured by a number or by society. Instead, look for the following cues below which signal that your baby is ready to start baby led weaning

Check out this cute video of Lennox eating a lemon at five-months-old =)

When did these mamas Start Baby Led Weaning?

Kassandra at Adelaideandi

Between 7-8 months old. She was reaching for my food when I was eating and could sit up. 

Taylor at Mindful.mom_ents 

Almost seven months. The signs of readiness – sitting up unassisted, interested in food when we were eating, tongue thrust reflex is gone, etc.

 Jessica at HeyMamaJess

6 months. He could sit up, showed interest in food, holds his head up.

 Emily at This Crazy Maze

We started solids around seven months. My son has all of the signs of readiness, but he wasn’t entirely sitting on his own. He could sit on his own if we propped him up or stuck him in a high chair, so I counted that since that is what most people do. Though we did not use a high chair or prop him up. Goes back to the natural abilities thing – I only put him in positions he can get into on his own. So, I held him up in my lap and completely supported him sitting up. In the future, though I would have just waited until he actually started sitting 100% on his own

Sheridan M.

6 months with 1st, 7ish with 2nd, lost tongue thrust, sitting independently.

Just a reminder from my introductory post on Baby Led Weaning: 

The Benefits Of BLW

• Increases motor skills and hand-eye coordination.
• Encourages better eating. Your child will most likely be less picky eaters.
• It allows your baby to use all of her senses while eating and exploring with different colors, textures, and shapes.
• It allows your baby to decide when she is done eating, promoting appetite control.
• It allows your child to take an active part in mealtime and encourages socialization. 
• It is less time-consuming. You offer your baby exactly (minus the condiments) what you are eating, eliminating the mess and time of having to blend purees.
• It teaches independence and confidence.
• It aids your baby in understanding what is edible and what isn’t.
• It allows you, mom, dad or guardian, to be hands-free and enjoy your food while baby enjoys hers. 
• It encourages healthier eating on behalf of the parent— at least for me anyways. I wanted Lennox to be a healthy eater so in order to do that I had to change my bad eating habits at mealtime. 
• It’s cheaper than store-bought purees.

The Cons Of BLW

• It’s extremely messy. I recommend using a plastic bib or even better, let your baby eat in just a diaper. 
• The reactions of family and bystanders who are constantly nagging you that your baby is too young to be eating this type of food or is going to choke. This is a fairly new phenomenon so be prepared to be criticized.
• I am not sure if this is BLW-related or not, or if Lennox is just having a bad experience with teething, but my guess is that BLW makes the baby’s gums harder from chewing solids so early on and teething might be a little more difficult for them if their teeth are late bloomers. Has anyone else experienced this?

Thanks for reading!

The post How Old Was Your Baby When You Started Baby Led Weaning? appeared first on Bilingual Beginnings.

Welcome to the first question in this baby led weaning series, why choose baby led weaning?

First, I will give you a little background about my baby led weaning experience and why I decided to choose baby led weaning with my son.

Then, I will leave the responses to a few other mamas who did baby led weaning with their babies!

Did you do baby led weaning? If so, let us know your experience in the comments below!

My experience with baby led weaning

My 21-month-old son is a great eater…

I kid you not; he prefers vegetables and fruit over fried food and sweets any day.

For the most part, I credit baby led weaning for Lennox being such a fantastic eater.

As soon as he was showing signs of readiness at six months, he got to play around with all foods and textures and learn that food comes in all shapes, sizes, colors, and textures. Now if I would have blended all of those foods into purees, Lennox would have never been able to differentiate the blended foods.

I hypothesize…

that Lennox would have preferred the consistency of purees and would have been more hesitant to try real food if we would have done traditional weaning.

Baby Led Weaning allowed Lennox to explore solid foods types. However, I credit Carlos (DH) and myself for always diversifying his palate.

The older Lennox got, and the more confident we felt in his eating abilities, there was no limit on what we fed him, except foods that were choking hazards and foods not recommended for babies under 1, for example, honey. Go to my introductory post to see which foods are big NO NOs and post chocking hazards.

I remember when Lennox was nine-months-old…

I took him to where Carlos and I work, Seasons 52, and our coworkers were astonished that Lennox was inhaling Caramelized Sea Scallops. 

At that moment, I was a very proud mama.

One of my biggest goals as a first-time mama was to have a non-picky child.

Working in the restaurant industry was one of my biggest motivations because more often than not, I see families come into our workplace, and I see the parents get nervous because it is not that kid-oriented. There are four items on the kid’s menu, none of which are breaded or fried. Sometimes we go out of our way to go to a near restaurant and provide chicken nuggets and French fries for unhappy children.

One thing that baffles me the most is when the parent orders their kids pasta which is around $5.00, and they don’t want anything but butter on it. Listen, I am NOT shaming whatsoever; I simply cannot imagine paying $5.00 for a little bowl of buttered pasta when a whole box of pasta at the grocery store costs $2.00>. Consider me frugal, but at that point, I would just bring my own buttered pasta in.

To finally answer the question…

I decided to do BLW because I didn’t want a picky eater. I also wanted a healthy, well-rounded eater. Thanks to BLW I have just that, and thanks to all the Mamas in my June 2017 mama group who recommended BLW to me. If it weren’t for their recommendations, I would have had no idea about it. I hope other mamas read this post and feel encouraged to give BLW a try, but don’t forget to read my BLW introductory post to know how to do it correctly. You can find that here!

Let’s hear from these mamas:

More baby led weaning posts:

• Baby Led Weaning Must Have Products
• Baby Led Weaning First Food Ideas
• What to Know About Purees and Baby Led Weaning

Why Did You Decide to do Baby Led Weaning?

Kassandra at Adelaideandi

I thought it was the most appropriate way of feeding my daughter – getting her used to real food from the start instead of having to teach her to eat purées and then chunky food and then whole foods 

Taylor at Mindful.mom_ents 

It made the most sense to me. Food before one is just for fun, so they should be learning rather than having bland food crammed down their throats. Babies learn texture and flavor, and how to make chewing motions. Babies who have food blended up and fed to them are more likely to choke once other food is introduced since they are used to just swallowing everything.

Jessica at HeyMamaJess

My son showed a huge interest in table food.

Emily at This Crazy Maze

The post Why Choose Baby Led Weaning? appeared first on Bilingual Beginnings.

Is your baby getting ready for solid foods? Great! Now you have to make the decision of whether you want to go the traditional weaning route, or the baby led weaning route.

Which will you choose?

Hopefully this post can help, as it will offer a brief introduction to baby led weaning, the differences between baby led weaning and traditional weaning. Lastly. it will mention the benefits of baby led weaning and how to start BLW with your baby today!

Did you do baby led weaning? If so, let us know your experience in the comments below!

Related posts:

• Baby Led Weaning Must Have Products
• Four Benefits of Baby Led Weaning
• What to Know About Purees and Baby Led Weaning

What is Baby Led Weaning?

The word “wean” means a passage from one relationship to another –
not a loss or detachment from a relationship.

First things first, the word weaning is misleading. It does not mean the elimination of breastmilk/formula but rather the addition of solid foods to your already established milk schedule.

Traditional weaning is when you supplement your baby with puréed foods and gradually advance to solid foods as your baby develops.

In most cases, the purees are fed to the baby by a parent or guardian.

Baby led weaning, on the other hand, is weaning led by the baby. This means that your baby is given the freedom to explore with their food, their tastes, textures, and colors all through self-feeding.

Yes, I know what you’re thinking; this sounds terrifying.

Read More: Mamas Share Their Negative Experiences or Scares With Baby Led Weaning

Your baby is only six months and thus far has only had liquids, maybe a few purees, they are going to choke for sure.

That’s what I thought at first, anyway. However, after doing BLW, I found it to be quite the opposite.

Not only did Lennox not choke, but he learned how to chew and gag something up if it was too big for him. Also, he has become an AMAZING eater. I cannot emphasize this enough. He eats anything and everything, except for canned tuna fish— I don’t blame him.

Related: When to start baby led weaning

How to do Baby Led Weaning

Before beginning BLW, or traditional weaning, make sure your baby is ready for solids. This is typically around 6 months of age, give or take.

Below is a chart with baby led weaning readiness signs.

What do you need to get started with baby led weaning?

• A place for your baby to sit; preferably a high chair. Your child can also sit on your lap. Just make sure she is supported.
• Baby utensils and plates– We started with the munchkin spoons because they are small and narrow for baby’s tiny mouth. The EZPZ Mini Mat is also great to separate foods and keep your highchair or table clean.
• Bibs to protect your baby’s clothing.

Related: Baby Led Weaning Must Haves

d Lennox off with vegetables; that way he wouldn’t get acquired to the sweetness of fruit. Then I slowly started implementing fruits and proteins.

Remember, solids are additional nutrients for your baby. They should still be getting the same amount of breastmilk/formula, as usual, therefore, don’t worry if you think your baby is not consuming enough solid-food.

For food preparation, you want to make sure the food items are soft. I preferred to boil most of my vegetables, but you can also steam or roast them. For harder fruits such as apples or ripe pears, I would bake them in the oven until they were soft enough for baby to chew with her gums. To test if your food is soft enough for your baby try biting into the food with your lips.

The most critical part in the beginning of BLW is to make sure you cut all your foods into fry-length shape. I would always cut them around the size and length of Lennox’s pinky finger.

This is important primarily to avoid choking. You will not be feeding your baby; therefore, you want to make sure baby takes appropriate-sized bites so that she can swallow her food. Also, your baby does not have the best motor control of her hands, so the French-fry length allows her to hold the food in her palm.

It’s also essential to introduce new foods every 2-3 days after another to be precautious of any potential allergies.

Some of Lennox’s first foods were:

• Carrots
• Broccoli
• Cauliflower
• Zucchini
• Tomatoes
• Sweet and regular potatoes
• Oranges
• Plums
• Apples
• Kiwi
• Avocado
• Banana
• Rasberries
• Pears
• Chicken
• Fish
• Short rib
• Cheese sticks
• Yogurt
• Hardboiled eggs (this was a big winner for Lennox and a great source of protein)
• Hummus

What about choking?

It is imperative that with BLW you are always monitoring your baby. It is also essential to know the difference between choking and gagging.

Lennox used to gag all the time in the beginning of his BLW journey, and sometimes to this day he still gags when he shovels too much food into his mouth. It is terrifying but it is also beneficial for the baby’s understanding of what she can or cannot swallow. It also encourages proper chewing.

Family Style Nutrition states:

Basically, if baby gags but keeps on happily eating and shows no signs of distress, everything is fine. You will know if she’s choking because her eyes will get wide, she won’t be getting any air and she will stop eating. This NEVER happened with either of my children, and is highly unlikely with Baby Led Weaning. 

Here is a list of some foods that pose choking hazards:

• whole nuts
• seeds
• popcorn- Age 4 is the recommended age to start giving popcorn as they can choke on the popcorn itself and kernels can get lodged in their throat.
• gum
• grapes/cherry tomatoes anything small and round. Make sure if you offer these foods in later stages of BLW to always cut them in half, long ways, or even better into quarters.
• Hot dogs. Make sure to cut them lengthwise. Hot dogs are the top cause of food-related choking in children under the age of 3.
• Fish or chicken with bones

What if my baby has no teeth?

This is okay. Lennox did not have teeth until he was 10 months old. That is why the food should be softened so that baby can mash it with their gums.

Some important things to keep in mind:

Baby Led Weaning again means that the baby is in the lead of his eating. This means that you should allow your baby the freedom to explore, play and eat her food at her own pace. You should not hand-feed your baby because this can confuse the process.

Avoid starting with purees. This can cause chewing confusion. As I mentioned, I did give Lennox some homemade purees at around 4.5 months. Once I decided I wanted to do BLW, I took a break from the time I gave him purees and started BLW to avoid him trying to swallow immediately without chewing.

Read more: Purees and Baby Led Weaning

Avoid salts and sugars. One benefit of BLW is that you feed baby precisely what you are eating so that he can mirror your eating habits. However, if you have a heavy hand on condiments, prepare your baby’s food separately. According to the NHS babies 12 months and under need less than 1 gram of salt a day.

Offer your baby foods that are high in iron. Babies do not receive enough iron in breastmilk and formula; therefore it is extremely beneficial to offer foods that are iron fortified.

The benefits of BLW

• Increases motor skills and hand-eye coordination.
• Encourages better eating. Your child will most likely be less picky eaters.
• It allows your baby to use all of her senses while eating and exploring with different colors, textures, and shapes.
• It allows your baby to decide when she is done eating, promoting appetite control.
• It allows your child to take an active part in mealtime and encourages socialization.
• It is less time consuming. You offer your baby exactly (minus the condiments) what you are eating, eliminating the mess and time of having to blend purees.
• It teaches independence and confidence.
• It aids your baby in understanding what is edible and what isn’t.
• It allows you, mom, dad or guardian, to be hands-free and enjoy your food while baby enjoys hers.
• It encourages healthier eating on behalf of the parent— at least for me anyways. I wanted Lennox to be a healthy eater so in order to do that I had to change my bad eating habits at mealtime.
• It’s cheaper than store-bought purees.

Related: 4 Awesome Benefits of Baby Led Weaning

The cons of BLW

• It’s extremely messy. I recommend using a plastic bib or even better, let your baby eat in just a diaper.
• The reactions of family members and bystanders who are constantly nagging you that your baby is too young to be eating this type of food or is going to choke. This is a relatively new phenomenon so be prepared to be criticized.
• I am not sure if this is BLW-related or not, or if Lennox is having a bad experience with teething, but I hypothesize that BLW makes the baby’s gums harder from chewing solids so early on and teething might be a little more difficult for them if their teeth are late bloomers. Has anyone else experienced this?

Related: 9 Hacks To Alleviate Infant and Toddler Teething Pain

In my opinion, there are WAY more pros than cons, and from my experience, BLW has been a blessing for us. Lennox is such a fabulous eater— even better than myself. I can’t wait to share some of his favorite foods with you all. I hope you enjoyed reading and please feel free to ask me any questions that you may have. Thank you =)

The post What is Baby Led Weaning and Why is it Worth It? appeared first on Bilingual Beginnings.