baby-led weaning, one month in

Mara @ Barfing Rainbows asked a question about baby-led weaning and food allergies, and it occurred to me that others might be curious about that and other aspects of BLW as well.  Clara is 7 months old now (cry!), and we've been doing BLW for a month, following two months of purees.  (See my original post on BLW for how we got started and the book I recommend.)

I guess we're not doing strict BLW because we do spoon-feed Clara yogurt every day (YoBaby plain with a puree mixed in)....but otherwise Clara is feeding herself her solids - everything from sweet potato wedges marinated in maple syrup/olive oil/red pepper flakes(!)/garlic to banana pancakes (Bisquick + organic eggs and milk + wheat germ + cinnamon + banana slices). 

BLW definitely makes a ridiculous mess, and there's lots of wasted food (though our pets wouldn't call it wasted, ha ha). Still, Clara enjoys it immensely and is honing various skills this way - hand/eye coordination, pincer grip, biting off, chewing, etc.  And it's cool to be able to eat with her instead of having to feed her before or after we eat.

To answer Mara's question, the BLW people say that unless there is a history of food allergies in the family, you don't have to follow the "four day wait" rule. We give Clara stuff with numerous new ingredients all the time and haven't had any problems.

You're supposed to give the baby an open cup of water in case they get thirsty. Clara can't hold bottles very well, much less an open cup, so we guide it to her mouth when she reaches for it.  We've tried a couple of kinds of sippys for water, too, but she's able to drink better from the open cup at this point. (It doesn't matter how your baby gets water, just that it's available if she needs it.)

She has never choked using this method.

We have no regrets about going this route and would recommend it if you're interested, and especially if your baby is more interested in YOUR food than her own spoon-fed purees, like Clara was :-)