I learnt a few things from this Baby Led Weaning book.
But first let’s start with the question: when is the right time to start solids? It seems to depend on who you are asking.
The nurse at the clinic where I have been weighing and vaccinating Nicky was quite adamant that I should be starting solids at 17 weeks and this was backed by the latest research. I did a bit of googling and came up with this article.
It says that some preliminary studies are showing that you can help prevent allergies by starting solids sooner rather than later.
However, none of these studies were conducted on breastfeeding babies, and we know breastmilk will help with that sort of thing anyway. The World Health Organisation still says 6 months.
And did anybody ask the baby?!
Well, we should, according to this book: Baby Led Weaning: The Essential Guide to Introducing Solid Foods and Helping Your Baby to Grow Up a Happy and Confident Eater. No purees, no stress, no fuss!
This book is against giving solids before 6 months for the following reasons (p6). Solids don’t have the same nutritional value as breastmilk or formula and if given too early their appetite for the milk goes down and they get less nourishment. Also their immune and digestive system are not mature enough, so they are more at risk of allergies, and won’t get the nourishment anyway.
“If she can sit up with little or no support, reach out to grab things and take them to her mouth quickly and accurately, and if she is gnawing on her toys and making chewing movements, then the chances are she is ready to start exploring solid foods.”(p8)
Nicky can not yet sit up, but he is starting to grab. He is starting to put his hands in his mouth. I can see he is slowly learning as he watches me eat, but it is curiosity, not hunger. So I think I’ll be waiting a bit longer.
I found their thoughts on spoon feeding very interesting. Spoon feeding, by its very definition, is about discouraging independent thought. It is one of the hardest jobs as an educator not to spoon feed. When you have time constraints and the kid still doesn’t get it, I am guilty of often giving the answer. It is better they work it out for themselves. It is my impatience that often got the better of me here.
When you think of a typical scenario of introducing solids, you picture a mom with a spoon full of puréed food trying to get a baby to eat. What’s wrong with this picture?
Being spoon fed means the baby is not in control. They will land up having too much and this can lead to problems with over eating later. Furthermore the gag reflex is often stimulated because the food is sucked off to the back of their mouth. Babies cope better with food they have placed themselves at the front of their mouth. Babies want to explore, and feeding themselves is a lot more fun.
Puréed food may seem easier, but it then does not allow the baby to practice chewing and the saliva to mix well with the food.
There will be some foods you will have to spoon feed e.g. yoghurt, cereal, but working up to the child holding the spoon himself is a much better thing to aim for.
Another interesting thing I learned from this book is that breastfeeding helps in the transition to solids. They learn to move their mouth muscles in preparation for chewing. Nicky can now pretty much latch on and off by himself which means he can tell me when he’s had enough. Breastmilk also exposes the baby to different flavours depending on what mom has been eating.
Between 6-9 months baby should be experimenting with food. He will still get what he needs from his milk. It is only by 9 months that solids actually start replacing SOME of the milk. And of course every child is different; this is just a rough outline given in the book.
So how do Gill Rapley and Tracey Murkett propose that baby feed himself?
It is all about finger food. You make these strips of food that are long enough for his fist and some to stick out. You start out with say, three pieces e.g. broccoli, cheddar cheese, carrot stick. (The carrot must be lightly cooked by the way, raw will be too hard for him). You can expect a big mess with this kind of method, but ultimately the baby will benefit and will get it right eventually. And the dogs will help clean up!
The kind of food they recommend is: steamed vegetables, raw cucumber sticks (good for teething too), avocado, chicken strips or on the bone, meat strips, cheddar cheese, bread sticks, rice cakes or toast, meatballs, fish cakes or fish fingers, lentil patties or rice balls.
The food to avoid is nuts (choking hazard up until 3), salt and sugar. Salt and sugar are hidden in many prepackaged foods, so it is important to read labels. In fact, fresh good food, not processed, is best.
I’m sure this post is controversial, but this book made a lot of sense to me. I just hope when I get there I can do all this! Otherwise I just know I’ll have those lazy days when I just want to spoon feed him purity!
So interesting. I heard about baby-led weaning a little too late for my girls but in retrospect I think starting with finger foods would have worked well with them. We did wait until six months though because of the allergy risk.
Hi Heather! I was so excited to see you’re looking into BLW! I did this with my son and it was one of the best things I ever did for him. We started at 5.5 months with fruit, veg and rice cakes, and then introduced protein and wheat at 6 months. I never, ever spoon fed him anything and he thrived! Yes it was messy, especially his porridge in the mornings but I’d just load the spoon and hand it to him – it’s amazing how well he fed himself! And I believe this helped him become the non-fussy, will try anything 5 year old he is today. He’s always been in control of what food he’s put into his mouth and I feel this is really important. Just get plenty of washable bibs with sleeves for him and a nice big plastic floor mat. Good luck!
Thanks, I’m so glad it worked for you. Thanks for your encouragement.
I have heard that starting solids makes babies sleep better…so the earlier the better, right? However, my husband is a pediatrician (and will also be a board certified neonatoligist soon!) and he is firmly against giving solids before 6 months (for the same reasons as the book you quoted). So I won’t be giving her anything for a couple more months. Very interesting about the spoon feeding – I had not even given that any thought!
Thanks Sybil, I think your hubby is unique as many pediatricians here advocate the 4 month thing. You are lucky to have him!
I started feeding Kyra solids at just about 20 weeks. She was sitting up in her high chair and she was not only interested in food she drooled when she watched us eat. I am very interested in the LED feeding but I am very worried about the choking hazzard. So she get’s spoon fed for now. I can tell you one thing if she does not want something there is no way you will get that spoon in her mouth again, and when she has had enough she indicates she does not want more, so I can’t see how she will be overfed. When she really likes something she grabs the spoon en help to feed herself. There are so many theories of what and how to do it that I have come to the conclusion that it probably really depend on your babies personality. Go with your gut and start feeding your little boy when you both are ready. You will know when that is!
Thanks for your input! I am going to a workshop on solids next week to hear even more theories, but I think it’s like you say, trust your gut. And I’m glad Kyra lets you know when she’s had enough.
I can’t wait to try this with Ike! (I do plan to wait until six months to start, two more to go!) My mom keeps talking about rice cereal and the jarred peaches and pears that were my favorites as a baby, but I think I am going to have to send her a link to this post so she’ll be on board! Thanks for digging into the details for us – I haven’t read a single parenting book since Bringing Up Bebe!
Yes, since our little ones were born in the same month I guess we will be experiencing this together! I think there is a link to BLW on the Pail resources page too.
Hi Heather, Visiting from ICLW. It seems liek there is so much advice about how to raise your kid, and half of it conflicts with the other half, so I figure we do what works for us, and leave the rest behind. Since having my baby, I’ve gained a whole new acceptance for a very wide range of parenting styles and choices. We are all doing what it takes to survive, right!
I like your book review and it turns out that we’ve been doing BLW without knowing about it. Maybe we are just lazy, but it is so much easier for us to just set food out and let the baby grab it himself. I always set out a few spoons, but hardly ever offer foods that require a spoon. He loves frozen peas, whole beans, blueberries cut in half, and little bits of whatever we are eating. Somedays he gets multiple meals, and other day he doesn’t get any. Its what works for our family 🙂
Good luck figuring out what works for your babe!
Thanks Foxy, I agree we do need to accept everyone’s choices, and do what works for us. Thanks also for all the suggestions on the kinds of foods to try.
Hi, I had a hungry boy the first time and so started at 17 weeks on baby rice (with a spoon, not sure how else to feed it to him!) and then I was too scared to give him solid food so kept him on purees and the like for a long time. My sister then had a baby and did baby led weaning and by 9 months Dahlia was eating the most amazing things on her own. It was like a miracle! So I am going to try it with Georgie who is now 21 weeks but showing no interest in food yet. I am going to wait for a few more signs xx
Interesting, I guess this will be a journey for both of us, will be following you to see how it goes.
We started BLW two weeks ago but so far Zoárd is only playing with his vegetables. He will be 9 months old next week. We waited this long because he was not able to sit up for a long time but now he is standing and took his first steps holding on to furniture… so he caught on quickly. Maybe it will be the same with solids. He starts off slowly and then… wham! Note: he is not the type of baby to put everything in his mouth…
xoxo, Eszter
http://kukolina.wordpress.com/2013/10/11/beauty-pageant-at-the-hotel/
We are still struggling with eating and doing a combination now of BLW and soft baby food. What normally happens is he plays with the real food or throws it at the dog and I manage to get him to eat a bit of the baby food before or after.
Really don’t stress about the food thing, it will come.