Hi Mama's!My name is Sara and I own Leetle Chicken Shop.
I used to blog back in the day but now my time is consumed by caring for my sweet little girl, Mila, and running my small business. You can follow me on Instagram though, @leetlechickenshop!
I was super thrilled when Kaitlyn asked me to participate in this blog series, particularly on the topic of transitioning to solids. I am no expert, so I will just explain what worked for us:).
My daughter is 12 months old and she will eat almost anything I put in front of her face. She is currently still breastfeeding (mornings, nap time, & evenings), but she eats solid foods for breakfast, lunch, snack time, and dinner. Her favorite foods are mushrooms, zucchini, and any type of pasta dish.
Around 6 months of age, I started giving her organic fruit and vegetable purees. They come in convenient little squeeze packets, and since she already knew how to suck from a straw, these were really handy to carry around in my diaper bag so that she could eat and not make a huge mess if we were out of the house.
She really liked them at first, but after about a month, we were back to exclusively breastfeeding because she would not take them anymore. My pediatrician told me that breastfed babies are more likely to start eating solids later than babies who are formula-fed, so I didn't really worry about it. Plus, I love breastfeeding my baby.A few weeks after I spoke to my pediatrician, I read online about "Baby-Led Weaning". I had heard the term before, but always thought that it referred to weaning your baby from breastfeeding. It actually doesn't mean that at all! Baby-Led weaning, simply put, is letting your child self-feed solid foods, starting at around 6 months. Self-feeding improves motor skills and teaches them about the different textures of foods. Allowing them to eat solid food instead of purees gets their taste-buds used to how foods should actually taste. When foods are pureed, they taste totally different, so it's no wonder that some babies have a hard time transitioning to the tastes of whole foods when they were given purees to start.
I really liked this concept and decided to try it out. I started making things for her like mini-quiches with carrots and zucchini, two-ingredient pancakes (1 egg+ 1 banana - amazing!), and also giving her little bites of things that I was already eating as long as they were not fried or greasy. You can find some of the recipes that I used that I pinned on Pinterest --> here.
At first she was a bit skeptical on the different textures. She wouldn't eat many of the things that I gave her and it got a little bit frustrating. The important thing to remember is that babies can adapt very quickly to new things. As long as you are persistent, they will eventually pick it up and start to love eating solids. Give them a variety of different foods & textures to choose from and they will let you know which ones they love and which ones they hate. Mila loves self-feeding and so do I, even though it can get quite messy sometimes ;) !
There is obviously a big draw-back to baby-led weaning and that is the risk of choking. I learned though, that babies have an excellent gag-reflex. I definitely recommend taking a class to learn about how to help a choking baby but there is a really helpful video that you can watch right now on YouTube.
I recommend always supervising your baby when they are eating. Make sure that you are feeding them soft pieces of food that they are able to chew easily, whether they have teeth or not. Bananas are a great food to try at first, since they are soft and babies usually love the taste. Never, ever, ever put your finger in their mouth/throat if you think that they are choking. Let them gag. If they are making noise, that is a good sign. Once they become silent is when there is need to worry. I don't mean to scare anyone but this is stuff that every parent needs to know. With that being said, their self-feeding skills will only improve with practice! :) Fortunately, we have never had any problems with choking.
I have not totally cut out purees from Mila's diet. I still keep packets of her favorite foods stocked in my pantry for those days that I just really don't feel like cooking anything or if we are in a rush or on-the-go. Baby-led weaning insists on cutting out all purees but as a busy parent, you have to do whatever works for you and your schedule.
I really hope that this helps you gain some information on transitioning your baby to solids. Good luck! :)
Do you have a story or post about transitioning to solids? We would love for you to link up below!
