Just wanted to make people aware that the method of delaying solids until babies are old enough to self-feed and just giving them pieces of table food to feed to themselves actually has a name!

There's a blog on this topic:

http://babyledweaning.blogware.com

That blog has a lot of great info on the specifics of it. (i.e. serving suggestions, allergy concerns, etc.)

We mostly did that method with my daughter although I occasionally have spoon fed her. Mostly she liked self-feeding though.

Cool, so where do I start? Before, it was start with rice cereal, then move to each grain by itself, then mixed, then start with vegetables, then fruits, all pureed of course. So now? Should I give her a piece of broccoli at supper tonight? I assume I stick to introducing one food at a time just in case of allergies, though I'm not the least concerned in that regard. No family history whatsoever. But still, nice to know what doesn't sit well.

I would figure I could still stick to the guidelines on when to introduce dairy, meat, etc. This is so foreign to me, but I'm really excited about it. It sounds great and wonderful and way better. But now I am here thinking, how do I do this! LOL TIA

I think steamed carrots or sliced avocodo would be a better option then brocoli. Brocoli could be a little hard on your babies stomach.. kinda like cabbage.. it can cause gas.

I think its best to start with fruits and veggies but staying away from citrus, strawberries and acidicy things like tomato until the appropriate age (around 1). Basically like you said go by the same guidlines as what NOT to give.

Foods like small pieces of avocado, banana, watermelon, etc. are great first foods! Definitely wait on the more allergenic foods. At 9 months old, I started my daughter on avocado. 1 week later she tried banana and immediately broke out in a rash! So, just like you would do with purees, it's important to give only one food for a whole week.

The advantages of this method is that the baby gets to learn to like all different kind of textures, you save the hassle of spoon feeding (although it does make a big mess to have them feed themselves!), and there's no way to really force them to eat more than they're ready to or force them to eat before they're ready, since they control their intake.

And you don't have to have them only feed themselves! You can combine it with some spoon feeding if you like. The main thing is to make the method your servant and not your master, lol! Baby food grinders or forks can make table food more manageable for babies. You don't have to bother with blending if you don't want to.

Using this method helps the baby keep breastmilk primary in their diet for the first twelve months and helps prevent them from prematurely losing interest in nursing due to excessive amounts of solids. My daughter (other than a few bites here and there) "officially" started solids around 9 months old, but was around 15 months when she really started eating heavily and having lots of interest in food. At 18 months old, she's a very heavy nurser still.

I decided to upload some pics of my daughter eating, since a picture is worth a thousand words.

This photo is of her eating nectarine when she was just over 6 months old:

http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g89/ExpectantMommy/DCP_4817.jpg


And this one is of her chowing down on watermelon around 9-10 months old:

http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g89/ExpectantMommy/DCP_5128.jpg

Here's a side profile of the watermelon shot:

http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g89/ExpectantMommy/DCP_5132.jpg


And here's a pic of her on her first birthday practicing her spoon skills on a bowl of carob pudding:

http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g89/ExpectantMommy/DCP_5509.jpg

When did you introduce breads and how? Is it a choking hazard if they gum the bread up too much. Would toast be better? I'm trying to work this out in my head, it's hard going from what I know to this new way. Like I said earlier, I understand what I did before. I guess I'm just wondering where cereals come in as they are first with the spoon feeding method, but bread doesn't seem like a good idea.

I have a recipe book of baby foods, so I'll use that as a guide of what food to introduce and when, but just let her gnaw on carrots and stuff. I'm excited about this as it really sounds like a better method, but I'm still going to wait a little bit longer because I just don't feel like starting quite yet!

Thanks so much!

Great pics Ruth.. she's a little cutie!

When did you introduce breads and how? Is it a choking hazard if they gum the bread up too much. Would toast be better? I'm trying to work this out in my head, it's hard going from what I know to this new way. Like I said earlier, I understand what I did before. I guess I'm just wondering where cereals come in as they are first with the spoon feeding method, but bread doesn't seem like a good idea.

I have a recipe book of baby foods, so I'll use that as a guide of what food to introduce and when, but just let her gnaw on carrots and stuff. I'm excited about this as it really sounds like a better method, but I'm still going to wait a little bit longer because I just don't feel like starting quite yet!

Thanks so much!

I think that I did bread after one year old because of the allergy factor. (wheat) I just about freaked when my MIL innocently gave Hannah a piece of bread at 10 months old, lol.

I honestly don't think that bread is a choking hazard. At least, I've never had the problem with it. Just break it up into little pieces. After a year old, I spread almond butter or cashew butter or healthy margarine on it from time to time. (waiting on peanuts due to allergies)

Thanks for the compliment on the pics, Ashlee! :)

and cereals, there's lots of ones that can be finger foods, such as cheerios. Or you can cook a cereal with a heavy consistency and let her pick it up with her fingers. But strictly speaking, cereals aren't really necessary for any nutritional reasons. You can always just wait until she can put it in her own mouth with a spoon.

After about 9 months old, you can do protein foods. Tofu cubes, little blocks of soy cheese, cooked beans and lentils all make good finger foods. Actually, though, I waited until closer to a year for soy, if I remember right.

The main thing to remember is that, "Before one, food is for fun."

You know.. I have never thought of bread being a choking hazard either but I wonder if that because we use whole grain breads. I am thinking that white bread would be more doughy and maybe get stuck to the childs throat kind of like peanut butter does. cjropher, if you use white bread I would suggest not giving it to your baby at all.. ever. Not because its a choking hazard but because it is really unhealthy. As far as whole grain breads I would wait until 1 because of the wheat allergy risk like Ruth said.

Hey Ruth...isn't there a list somewhere of what foods first? Meaning...beyond the typical 'rice cereal, bananas, pears...' thing ??

I thought I remembered reading somewhere about actually starting veggies first...so the babe doesn't get so accustomed to the stark sweetness of the fruits. They are more likely to like and eat more veggies if you start with them, as opposed to starting with fruits. But that was a while ago that I read that and I don't recall where.

A few of mine have started with peas. Good finger food, small enough not to choke. Soft enough even to gum. ;) And sweet potatoes and squash. Oh and pumpkin..though, pumpkin IS a squash but anywho :p

And I just can't remember much else. It's really amazing how much I forget from child to child. I remember bits and piece of each stage as I approach it again with the next child LOL So, I'm a year or so past this stage now...I'm worthless in remember just what I did when LOL

Oh..yeah..we did the small, dry cereal stuff too. Cheerios, Kix or that Kashi one we call 'kibble' (it has pieces that look just like that Kibbles n Bits dog food...I'm sorry LOL) They're small enough not to choke and soften up rather quickly.

All I can remember about bread is that mine were eating sandwiches shortly after 1 yr. With store bought ww breads. BUT...we don't have allergy issues so I don't stress terribly over THAT aspect. I mean, I don't go throwing things at them early, taking 'no allergies' for granted, I'm just saying...I didn't purposely hold out longer on that because of allergy history. We felt safe to start such at 1 yr. They probably had a wee smidge of pb on there at that time as well. Not positive. No, I think I originally started with a light smear of natural fruit spread. Pb came a bit later..maybe 14 mo or later??

Sorry, I'm really not a lot of help here LOL I'm trying. I KNOW that info is up there somewhere, I just can't call it forward LOL

Thanks so much, this is all stuff I've been mulling over.

Ashlee, I don't do white bread, just whole wheat or (if I'm in a really good mood) home made! LOL So no worries there.

I still have a few questions. This is a really hard transition LOL. Carrots, raw to gnaw on, cooked, or both? Big ones cut into coins, then cooked? You mention sweet potato, squash, pumpkin, stuff like that, so mushy finger food? I've heard the starting veggies before fruits. Cheerios, that's pretty easy. As I said earlier, I don't have any allergy concerns (just start stuff when they recommend (with all their wisdom :roll:!)) but it strikes me, cheerios are mostly non-allergenic? Cool! It's amazing to find anything now that's not got something. I know it drives you crazy Ruth.

Hannah looked like she enjoyed the green parts of the watermelon LOL, why do they always want to chew on that side?

I'm still going to wait a little while, but this is sounding like fun. I'm not dreading solids this time, and I did last time. With J, I didn't know any better, so I started at 4 months, all excited to move on to the next step and all. Besides, I was told to! With D, I knew it wasn't fun and put it off and he actually probably didn't do baby food for long, but he did it for a while, I made most of it. I never do baby food past the purees, the rest are so gross and I can't handle them! LOL. I wasn't looking forward to starting foods this time either, but now, well it's fun. Thanks so much!

Raw carrots are only ok for the teething stages before they have teeth. If they are actually going to be eating them you definetly want to cook them.. raw woud be a choking hazard for sure. I steam baby carrots for Gabriella until they are pretty soft (which is actually over cooked to me, but I like mine more on the al dente side) then I cut them into little slices.

I also think its a good idea to start with veggies! Getting them to eat fruit wont be a problem.. almost all kids like at least some fruit!

In my experience, I don't know if it makes a difference which is started with. Hannah was started with fruits and she eats veggies fine now. I've given her cooked brussel sprouts with Earth Balance butter on them, cooked carrots (although she prefers raw), steamed broccoli with various dipping sauces, cooked cauliflower, etc. She also comes and steals spinach and other things out of my bowl.

But maybe other kids are different!

You know, Jaylene, I think that you nailed the nail on the head when you said that starting solids with purees isn't that fun. And now that we know that babies don't "need" the nutrients from those solids, why even bother with that? Because the sole purpose of food below 1 year is for fun and practice. My daughter got 80-90% of her nutrition from nursing until well over a year.

So yeah, have fun, enjoy photographing cute babies chewing on watermelon rinds and make sure that you're nursing as much as she needs! :D

You'll do great.