Mashed potato rules the Baby Led Weaning world!

Our next foray into BLW was salad stuff - cucumber and tomato to be exact. They weren't quite such a hit, although she gave them a good try (cucumber has since become a favourite btw). But two days later, based on the fact that chips were popular, we decided to go for an All-Out Messy Tea and tried mash and peas....

Now I couldn't cope with having to get mashed potato out of the cracks in the laminate every day, but boy did Baby Bean have a ball! She scrunched it and watched it ooze between her fingers; she smeared it round the tray; she banged the tray and watched it fly off, and she grabbed handfuls and shoved it in her mouth! She'd tried so hard to pick up the interesting little green things (peas to you and me) the previous time, but this time they were stuck in the mash and couldn't evade her (mwah-ha-ha-ha!). But best of all, she just looked so chuffed.

Now, who can resist a happy baby! :-)

FYI - mash is a good one to batch cook as you can freeze the leftovers into ice cube trays or use it on a cottage/shepherd's pie.

A baby led weaning nappy...

A proud moment

I was always so sure that I wouldn't be the kind of Mum who poured over the contents of her little one's nappy, more because of the Ick Factor than for any other reason! But I've become a woman possessed, especially with whether it's the right 'kind' of poo! But the day after Baby Bean first fed herself was a particularly high point (or low, depending on your POV) in my nappy-watching career, because THERE WAS CARROT IN IT!!!!! Proof that she had, indeed, eaten some of what she'd picked up and put in her own mouth!

I could not have been more proud.

However, I think the diners in the pub we were in would probably have preferred it if I hadn't come flying out of the changing room shouting the news out to my bewildered husband. Ah well, can't say I care! I'm still so very proud even now, exactly one month later! :-)

So it was with renewed enthusiasm that we put Bean in her new, cover-all, wipe-clean bib; placed her in the highchair, and put some peas and oven chips on her tray. And she must have picked up on the happy vibes because she got stuck in straight away, especially with the chips as they were an easier shape.

As she sat there, picking things up, chewing and (as I now knew), swallowing as much as she spat out, she looked so much older than her 5.5months.
And that was it!
That day I was converted - Baby Led Weaning was what we were doing!

Progressing to "real food"

That first weekend we were away, staying with my husband's mother, so the baby rice was duly brought out once a day with the intention that real food would start when we got home. But at dinner on Saturday night we (the adults) had carrots and there were loads left over, so I once again did a complete u-turn (you'll soon realise this is a common occurrence!) and said we could cook these a bit more and give them to Lucy for her to experiment with.

 

My suggestion was met with excitement from everyone so the next day we did just that. The carrot was already diced so we went with that, putting it in a bowl and giving it to Baby Bean and we were rewarded with outstretched hands and an excited face.

 

Of course, she'd had never had a bowl before..... Turns out the excitement was for the chance to eat a bowl! :-)

Within seconds the bowl was upside down and the carrot was on and around the Bumbo. But then, amazingly, her hands went out and started trying to pick up the little pieces! Each time she got one it went straight into her mouth and she chewed it. I have NEVER felt so incredibly proud of her; my 5month old baby girl was feeding herself.

First Foods - 23wks+4days

These first posts are going to be retrospective as we started weaning our little Baby Bean on September 19th, exactly 1 calendar month ago, but the journey has already been so extraordinary an experience that I've come to feel the need to write about it!

So here goes......

I'd always planned on waiting the specified 26weeks before starting solids, but in week 20 the first tooth emerged; week 21 Bean suddenly sat all by herself, and in week 22 she stopped sticking her tongue out the moment something touched her lips. She still wasn't grabbing for food, but she wanted to be sat at the table, she watched us intently and anything she did get her hands on went unerringly into her mouth!

So on September 19th I had the "talk" with my husband about whether she was Ready! We agreed we should wait a little bit longer......and then my resolve crumbled and I admitted that I really really wanted to try her with something!

So....despite being pro-baby led weaning we did what so many first time parents did and reached for the baby rice. We started making it up as per the box instructions - 1 spoon of rice to 10 spoons of breastmilk. But by the 8th spoon it was as liquid as plain milk so I stopped there and took the pot into the living room where Bean sat, with her Dad, in her Bumbo. As she saw the spoon and the (vaguely thick) milk she got VERY excited, grabbing at the pot and spoon! It was so cool!!!! My baby wanted to eat!!!!

And eat she did. The whole tub was swallowed and we swelled with pride. It may have just been like milk, but she drank it from a spoon (this is a baby who's all about the boob) and most of it stayed in her mouth! Woo hoo!!!

And so began our journey, with bland, safe baby rice. To be fair, I'd spent the first 5months of her life dairy-free so was a little anxious about anything new coming into her diet; and I didn't know what I know now about how nutritionally poor baby rice is (see 9 Good Reasons Not To Use Baby Rice). Plus we were going away that weekend and I thought that this wouldn't put an additional burden on our host and we could serve it thicker and thicker each day.

So that night we went to bed full of joy that weaning had Begun. And we slept......for 8 whole hours!!!