Alright. So with more than several attempts at solids (purees), I realize Rafferty is just not going to get into spoon-feeding anytime soon. I am more than willing to put it off longer because I meet many who say their babies didn't take solids until 8-9 months and we all know VERY well that Raf is NOT starving at more than 23lbs. and just a bit over six months. I'm not even worried about it, but it does intrigue me since none of his sisters engaged in this type of behavior. I will say, he has starting looking at us with great curiosity during meal times and he's even making chewing motions while he watches us too. Funny. Anyway, I started looking on the internet to pass the time really and discovered a concept called Baby-led Weaning. Basically this means allowing the baby to self-feed on his own terms. He takes total control of the food once I put it on his tray and I never put it in his mouth for him. Essentially you skip spoon-feeding and purees altogether. I thought this sounded interesting and was very curious to see how he would manage with actual solid food in front of him. Here are the pictures to document our first try with banana and avocado. This first picture is his actual first sampling of the goods (banana) and he wasn't too sure about it as you can see, but by the time I introduced the avocado he was quite happy. Another perk, or maybe not, you decide, was that he had a great deal of fun with the food. He made SUCH a mess, think finger painting, and I really think it was a great learning experience for him. So, crazy or not, I think this baby-led weaning thing is going to be a fun, yet messy process for Rafferty and am really looking forward to broccoli and carrots next week. Until then.....
5 comments:
I say, do what works! My only concern would be them getting a big bite off and choking. I haven't read anything about baby-led weaning though. It does look like he had some real fun...squishy, messy, fun...
Yeah, choking concerns me too. There wasn't anything like that today, not even gagging, but I decided since the foods are extra soft, I hope we'll be fine. He seemingly was very instinctive about the whole process and the nature of it seemed very safe. We'll see how it goes!
Cute pics! BUT I don't did the huge gasp thing when I saw that he had a banana in his hand. One of my kids choked on a banana when we did that. I figured out that if I sliced it up and then pinched each slice in the middle that it naturaly breaks into 3 pieces. The perfect size for them to pick up and yet they don't get such a huge mouth full that they over do it. I totally freaked out when my child started gasping for air.
I'm very concerned about choking. I had one kid who choked, or gagged anyway, A LOT. I will do more research on this method as I want to be absolutely certain I'm being safe. Rafferty is not capable of picking up small pieces of food yet because he doesn't have his pincher grasp developed and was only able to mostly play with the food and get small bits that he could handle. I will definitely take your experience into account though. How old was the baby that choked, btw? I have yet to have a baby that didn't get into a scary situatin with teething biscuits and yet I always used them appropriately. That always confuses me too!
I love how delicate you put things! I don't remember the age...they all seem to choke on something. Good luck with it! It is so much fun to see when they started eating and what the likes and dislikes are. We never did the teething biscuts...way too messy. I am surprised that the choking thing didn't come into account with them. Shows you were my first concern was, ha!
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