Baby Led Weaning

Eleanor started solids at six and a half months old, and instead of going the traditional route with pureed baby food, we choose to use the baby led weaning (also called baby led feeding) approach.

Mmm... squash!

Basically, the idea is that the baby eats what you eat and you let the baby feed herself from the start, beginning with stick shaped finger foods that they can easily manipulate in their tiny hands. Supposedly, letting the baby decide what and how much to eat will make them grow up to be less picky, healthy eaters. Other benefits include getting to eat your own food while it's still hot, and not having to make or purchase pureed foods.

Eleanor figuring out what to do with her first solid - sweet potato!

I was a little hesitant to try this approach because I've read there can be a good deal of gagging in the beginning, and babies may not eat much food for a while and play with it instead. We have had neither issue with Eleanor! Since the very first meal, she eagerly grabs whatever we set in front of her and starts gumming away. It has been so much fun watching her discover and explore her food, and she has a blast with it. She gets excited and impatient when we put her in her high chair and get her food ready. It's the best and most hilarious part of our day.

Her food repertoire currently includes:

Roasted sweet potato wedges
Roasted butternut squash
Banana
Avocado
Steamed or roasted carrots
Steamed or roasted green beans
Pears
Oats (in the form of oatmeal banana pancakes)
Red bell pepper
Roasted broccoli
Brown rice
Apple

She has yet to turn down any food we've given her, but her favorites seem to be pears, banana and carrots.

Little monkey

The only downside - the mess! We've just accepted that there will be a mess and embraced it. It also helps that we have this easy to clean high chair from Ikea (only $20!). Also, these sleeves bibs are awesome, dry quickly after a hand washing, and have saved Eleanor's clothes from all kinds of stains.

And now for my favorite part, food pics!

Who needs hands to eat rice? A faceplant will work just as well.

Broccoli!

Green bean sword fight!

Assorted roasted veggies for dinner

This giraffe is a little raw