Baby Led Weaning

Baby food, say what?

My baby doesn't want to eat.  At least not baby food.  Well, not my homemade baby food.  I planned on feeding her homemade organic baby foods well before she was born.  I found a Beaba baby food maker on craigslist (new in box!!) when I was barely half way thru my pregnancy.  Then a month before I planned on feeding her solids I got together with my BFF (who also has a Beaba maker) and we cooked up a whole slue of lovely pureed organic fruits and veggies.

Then at almost 7 months she showed an interest in eating so I pulled out my wholesome foods.  She seemed somewhat interested that first night but then refused (stuck out tongue, gagged and even threw up) when I tried in the days and weeks after that.

The only thing she would "eat" (aka suck on) were the homemade teething biscuits I made out of bananas, pears, rice cereal and rice flour.  That was some consolation but as time went on I couldn't figure out why she wouldn't eat my baby food.  I gave up and just let her eat (aka-chew on) slices of apple, pear, chunks of chicken or pieces of whatever we were eating for that meal.

Then I discovered that we were unintentionally doing Baby Led Weaning, which is basically letting your child feed themselves from the very beginning.  Not introducing pureed food but instead letting the child eat pieces of whatever you are eating.  Hmm.  This baby sure does have a mind of her own!

It sounded fine to me, especially since the first few months of "eating" are really just practice and not for their primary nutrition.  Also since my 8 month old already has 8 teeth it appears that she is capable of chewing just fine thank-you-very-much.  However, I did grieve the loss of those lovely homemade organic baby foods and the maker I bought!

Then one day on a whim I gave her a Happy Baby pouch that we got from our favorite HappyBaby foods lady.  Turns out she has no problems with purees, she just wants to feed herself.  So if I give her a pouch that she can hold she'll suck it down.  Literally.  I can already hear her saying "do it myself" a year from now.  Sigh.  Now I love HappyBaby foods and pouches, especially for on-the-go or travel but what about my homemade foods?

I found a solution.  It's called the Beaba babypote and it's basically a reusable pouch.  Pretty expensive at $15 but at least I have a way to get my baby food in her now.  I do need to supervise her closely b/c it can get quite messy if she puts it upside down and hits it against the high-chair.  You don't want to know. ;)

So for now we're doing a combo about 1/2 baby-led-weaning and 1/2 purees (purchased and homemade).  

Gotta love a baby who knows her own mind. :)