A Life In Review

Baby Led Weaning: Tips, tricks and my favorite products.

As always, I spent a LOT of time researching and preparing to do baby led weaning with my youngest. If you’ve been around a while, you know that my first born has struggled with eating since birth and we were never able to do the traditional feeding routes. With my son, we got to do everything. So I took a course and read a book and made all the food and tried all the products. I’m far from an expert, but if you’re nervous and need a place to begin, I’ve got you covered.

^{** I make a small commission on some of these links, others are just links to places that have helped me during our BLW journey. **}

Best Course: Feeding Littles

This is the place to go if you are not confident and you feel like you need a down and dirty walk through. I took this course before doing BLW with my second born because I knew his experience would be so different from my first. The course is taught by two of the loveliest ladies over at Feeding Littles. Find it HERE!

Feeding Products: These are products that are tried and true for us. We have used them or have found them later. A lot of this stuff was suggested for us through feeding therapy, so I took it pretty seriously. I want to mention that cups are a personal preference. If anyone says that they have found a completely “leak proof” cup, they are lying or their kids are just super gentle. My kids are not and have found a way to make EVERY cup leak. That said, I will link ones we love and the ones that were recommended to us in feeding therapy!

All Things linked HERE, broken down into my favorite ones below

• Utensils: NumNum Gootensils || The BEST set
• Bowls: Munchkin Stay Put Bowls || Love-a-bowls set
• Plates: Munchkin Stay Put Plates || 4 Piece Toddler Dining Set || Ez Pz Plate Mat
• Cups: Weighted Straw Cup || Open Cup || Water Bottle #1 || Water Bottle #2
• Bibs: Bumpkins Long Sleeved Bibs || Silicone Bibs (they have a lot of fun ones too, but these are the ones that we have at my mom’s house and they are great).
• Seats: Maxi-Cosi Seat || Fisher Price Space Saver || Ikea High Chair (super popular, but if you get this one you need to buy a foot rest for it)

Cookbooks & Accounts to Follow:

• Feeding Littles and Beyond Cookbook
• Feeding Littles Lunch Cookbook
• Feeding Tiny Bellies Blog (this one is the one that I have used the most. Below I will link some reels under the recipe tab with our favorites).
• Feeding Tiny Bellies Cookbook

Recipes: These are ones that we have made and LOVED. Most of them are from Feeding Tiny Bellies blog. She has the best and easiest recipes. A few of them are ones from Pinterest that we have used and loved.

Broccoli Egg Bites – Recipe Here

Apple Oatmeal Bites – Recipe Here

Carrot Cake Muffins – Recipe Here

Spinach Quiche Bites – Recipe Here

Apple Oatmeal Bars – Recipe here

Tips: I am not a doctor, nor a professional, just a mom who has gone on two different feeding journeys with her kiddos and is ready to share what I have learned.

• You can start a straw up AND an open up at 6 months. I know that sounds scary, but it is worth it. We focused more on the straw cup, but both of my kids were able to transition off the bottle by 12 months (adjusted for my daughter).
• Choking and gagging are two different things. Look them up on YouTube and learn the difference. If you panic every time you little one gags you will not allow them to lean to eat properly.
• Download the app “Solid Starts”. Use the free version to learn how to cut up different foods appropriately for your child’s age.
• Challenge yourself to expose your little one to 50 new foods before they turn one (We were able to do 101 from the time my son was 7 month to the time he turned 11 months, this is not a brag but proof that even someone as picky as me was able to try new things).
• If you are someone who is picky, try the foods with your little. They will be more willing to try if you are trying too. It is okay if you spit it out or don’t like it, you too are being exposed to new food.
• Don’t be afraid to buy the premade things. Gerber has come a long way and they support BLW. You do not have to do this all from scratch. It is really fun, but that is not a requirement for doing this. For some families that’s not even possible.
• Freezer meals are your FRIEND. I stay home, but I don’t even have time to make three meals a day every day for the kids and myself.
• While they say you can start BLW at 6 months you need to be sure that your little one is showing signs of true readiness. That means that they are sitting up (almost unassisted), holding their head up really well and showing interest in food.
• Don’t be afraid to do a mix of puree’s and table foods. Introducing both is FINE, or you can choose to skip purées altogether (we did a mixture with both kids).
• Some kids are really neat and some kids are messy. Have wipes and bibs ready regardless. It’s better to be ready than to be caught off guard (I have kiddo who eats so neatly, and another who takes a bath in his food).
• I followed the 101 foods before one chart that I bought from Etsy as a guide for feeding and introducing allergens.
• Have fun!!!!! This is not meant to stress you out. Explore new foods and try all the things. This is your baby and your life.

Good luck! This is such an exciting time. A lot of people take this time for granted as just another part of childhood. Take it from a mom who LONGED for a normal feeding journey, this is a blessing to even be an option for you, treat it as such. Make it fun, relax your expectations and be ready for a mess. Thank you for trusting me with this topic and letting me share what I have learned. Feel free to share this post with your mom/grandparent friends!