Baby Led Weaning — Harlee’s First 100 Foods! — Balanced-Life-Leslie
We had a goal of 100 foods before Harlee turned 1. And with months to spare, we have successfully reached that goal. Through Baby Led Weaning (BLW), Harlee has now tasted her first 100 foods!
Harlee started eating solids at 5.5 months. She was showing all the signs to start including sitting up unassisted and showing an interest in food. I knew I wanted to try baby led weaning because I didn’t want to have to spoon feed her and then eat myself. I wanted us to all eat as a family. BLW is new so it was definitely hard to explain this approach to solids to our family, but we assured them that it was safe, that she wouldn’t choke, and it would be a lot of fun!
Baby Led Weaning allows a baby to feed themselves. That means they control what and how much they eat. This is different than forcefully spoon feeding your child. BLW helps kids be less picky eaters and have control over mealtime. Of course I was scared of feeding her real food and not just purees, but eventually she would have to learn so why not start right away! In fact, a babies gag reflex is closer to their cheek the younger they are and it moves to the back of their throat as they…