We’ve hit another fun stage with my 6-month old son, Evren. It’s time for REAL FOOD. Yahoo! He’s been sitting up for awhile & regularly grabbing for our food. Plus, have I mentioned that he is a moose? At 6 months, he weighed in at 21 lbs! So, all signs point to food introduction and I am just over the moon about sharing a good meal with him! For the past few months, I’ve been devouring studies, books & blogs on the topic of food introduction to infants. Finally, we’ve decided on an approach that works for our family called Baby-Led Weaning.
Essentially, baby-led weaning requires letting Evren control his own path to adding complementary foods to his diet, or in other words weaning from breast milk to solid food. The real kicker with this approach is that we start with solid food. Once he can feed himself, we can move onto to purees, soups, etc. I know there are some mamas out there with two more more children who are thinking, “there’s an actual name for when the baby swipes food off your plate, or when your two year-old shares his dreadful string beans with his baby sister?” Once these fiascos occur, many mamas just say “eh,” and go with it. Here’s why we decided to go with baby-led weaning for introducing food.
1. I don’t have time to make pureed food. I was 40 pages into the Super Baby Food book, the bible of food introduction, and found myself in tears. I desperately want to feed my son organic, pure foods. But, I had no idea where I’d find the time since I cook a ton already. This pureeing thing was just not in the cards for us. Never mind the hassle of defrosting & heating & transporting…aaaahh.
2. I am kind of freaked out by pre-packaged food for everyday use. The ingredients on many packaged organic baby foods are amazing. But, our family very rarely eats food from a package, so why would I feed my son processed, packaged food? Like most families, I will likely use these convenience foods on-the-go or to help with allergen introduction, but I just don’t want to use them all the time.
3. I want to reduce his risk of obesity, diabetes, etc. Studies show that babies who are in control of their food prefer healthy choices & learn how to regulate food intake that leads to healthy weight & BMI. I know this sounds unbelievable. But, I’ve seen this with my own eyes working with adults! Our bodies are amazing machines that know exactly what we need to function & live vibrantly. Remove the emotional connections (that babies don’t have yet) and most people would crave real whole foods instead of processed food & take-out.
Is baby-led weaning for your family? Why would baby-led weaning work for you?