I knew that I wanted to breastfeed long before I became pregnant and it has come fairly easy to us, thankfully. The significance of this is not lost on me; I know it can sometimes be a struggle and I had prepared myself for that possibility before he was born. But, this is not a post about breastfeeding, so moving on...
There we were, just trucking along in our breastfeeding journey; then, in a blink of an eye, my tiny baby was six month old. Now, I had done plenty of research on starting solids and different feeding methods, but I had not made a formal decision on what to implement. I liked the idea of Baby Led Weaning, but in all honesty, the idea of giving my kid a piece of whatever we were eating and saying "have at it" made me nervous. Yes, I've read about babies' strong gag reflexes and all the jazz, but it still made me uneasy. At the same time, purees didn't feel right to me, either. So I channeled my inner hippie (we all have one deep, down inside) and this is what I came up with -- follow the baby's cues and developmental milestones, don't push, and gently help him learn to self-feed. So simple. I didn't give any big hunks of food for him to gnaw, as advocated in Baby Led Weaning, but I also didn't offer purees or feed from a spoon. I offered soft, whole foods that I either fed off my finger, or let him mush. We're talking avocados (his first food), bananas, baked sweet potatoes, steamed carrots, scrambled eggs, and the like. Things that made sense for a baby just learning about "chewing" to eat. I also did a bit of *cough* "bird feeding" *cough*. I know... but, I didn't do it mouth to mouth like some crazies. I'm looking at you, Alicia Silverstone.
Just to let you know, I didn't offer solids everyday. Maybe every other day, at best. Don't feel like you suddenly have to follow an eating schedule simply because your baby is now six month old. I mostly just wanted to slowly introduce his digestive system to food beside milk and let him practise chewing.
Fast forward two months and his self-feeding has taken off. Now, at eight-and-a-half months, I can give him small, non choke-able sized bits of almost anything and he can pick it up with his itty-bitty, chubby fingers; chew (and by chew I mean "gum"; he only has three teeth); and swallow with no problem.
So there you have my very meticulous and elaborate infant feeding "strategy". I feel like this is the way my great great grandmother would have fed her baby. It's basic, it's simple, and stress free. Just what I like in my life.
P.S. I'm in no way saying that I think my way of feeding is any better than anybody else's. I wrote this, because when I was looking for a feeding method I scored the Internet searching for ways people modified BLW and I was disappointed that I couldn't find much. I don't think I'm the only one looking for such a thing, so I hope this is helpful to someone.
The natural Progression:
Six Months - Avocados
8 1/2 Months - shredded chicken and tomatoes
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