First Attempts!

The theory behind BLW is quite simple.  Infants are born, and when placed immediately on the mother's chest, are able to root themselves around, find the nipple, and latch on.  They're born knowing how to eat.  It's a survival instinct.  You can't make the baby drink from the breast; they'll do it if and when they want.  They lead the way.  It's the very same concept with BLW, which is really just a fancy way of saying, "offer food and they'll figure it out".    The timeline for a traditionally weaned child goes something like this:

• Birth to 4 months: breastmilk only, baby led
• 4-6 months: start purees, spoonfeeding.  Parent led.
• 6-12 months:  move baby onto 3 meals a day, eliminating milk feedings.  Parent led
• +12 months:  give baby 'real' food cut into manageable sizes and let them figure it out.  Baby led.

See where the problem comes in?  Instead of trusting your baby's instincts to feed themselves, you're putting yourself in the middle and over-riding those instincts.  Baby led weaning is really no different than what you would do at age 12 months or older; you're giving your baby food and letting him manage it.  With BLW, you're cutting out the middle man, the dude getting in the way of your baby learning to eat properly:  YOU!

I have a bigger challenge with BLW than a breastfed baby would have, simply because Amelia is formula fed. (I blame the hospital, firmly.)  So I've already over-ridden her self-feed instinct by providing her feedings for her.  Though, because I feed her on demand rather than a time table, and I don't dictate how much she eats at a feeding, we're in a great position to still attempt BLW.  Although the experts warn it can take a bit longer for formula fed babies to get the concept.

This week marks our 'official' start.  The whole idea here is not for her to actually eat food; contrarily, it's for her to explore food and textures.  When she's ready, she'll eat it.  I don't need to worry about her nutrition at this point, because she's getting everything she needs from formula still.  The idea is that the more opportunities you present for your baby to practice eating, the better she'll get at it!  So here's some photos from Week 1!

 First Breakfast Attempt.  Yes, I know Fruit Loops and cookies aren't nutritious.  But hey, that's breakfast around here sometimes.

 Definitely more interested in the mirror than the food.  Don't mind the hand prints ALL OVER the mirror; we live in our house. ;-)

 Dinner:  French fries, pears, and another teether cookie.

 Actually managed to get some fry to her mouth!

 Glorious mess!  Er, I mean, playtime!

 Why do you keep taking my picture?

 Lunch:  Banana, cookie, cantaloupe (musk melon for you Northern folk)and watermelon.  Kaleb eats pb&j pretty consistently, and that's still a no-no for her for a while yet.

 Exploring the cantaloupe.  Very slippery.

 BRINNER!!  French toast and pears.

 Not a fan of plates, apparently.  As soon as I got rid of it, she dug the food more.

 See?  These dip awesomely!

 We love Brinner!

Tonight's dinner, carrots, broccoli and cauliflower!  Also a teether cookie.  She wasn't even remotely interested, but she had shots yesterday and isn't feeling so awesome today.  Though I steamed them nicely!

Yes, I'm also very aware that some of her bibs are rather...boyish.  (Ahem, Handsome Like Daddy.)  This child produces more saliva than a pack of grown St. Bernard's, I have to switch her bib at least a dozen times a day because she's soaked thru.  Being poor-ish, I have recycled some bibs left over from Kaleb's Spitball Period.  Hey, 3 kids, you use what you got!