The Very Hungry Baby

Baby-led weaning has been a complete joy so far!  After reading the BLW book while pregnant, my local Maternal and Child Health Nurse also spoke to us about BLW - she is a big supporter of this approach to introducing solids.  I then discovered that the Australian Breastfeeding Association also advocate BLW.  I then chatted to my father, a psychologist, about the psychological reasoning behind allowing a baby to control their own eating (what they eat, when they eat, how much they eat), and came away feeling even more excited.

Basically, in a nutshell, BLW means:

• The baby begins eating solids when it is truly ready.  In practice, this means that the baby can literally sit up straight, reach out and grab a piece of food (generally off mum's plate!), and pull it into her mouth.  For the first few weeks, or even longer, of BLW, the baby doesn't really swallow much.  Rather, the baby is learning about how to put food in her mouth, move it around her mouth with her tongue and lips, and eventually swallow solid food.
• The baby is completely in control of her intake.  So, no spoon-feeding, no 'why don't you try this?' or 'just one more mouthful!'.  The idea is that babies naturally know how hungry they are, and what they need to eat, and the less we interfere with these innate instincts, the healthier the baby's relationship with food will be, into adulthood (e.g. learning when she is truly hungry, full, not overeating, and seeing food and meals as a joy and never a stress).
• "Food is for fun until they're one" is the BLW mantra.  Basically, as long as the baby has unlimited access to its breastmilk, it will be getting all the nutrients it needs for the first year.  Food is viewed as something to explore, learn with and enjoy, rather than as a main source of nutrition during the first 12 months.

BLW is incredibly well researched and supported, from a medical point of view, and is now recommended by most government Maternal and Child Health Nurses.

It's also LOADS of fun!  Watching Tabitha try to eat bits of food is hilarious, and also a little frustrating - I have to sit on my hands to stop myself 'helping' her get the right end of brocolli into her mouth!  It's very funny - she watches my facial expressions so closely while she eats.  When I am relaxed and smiling, she could NOT look more pleased with herself, and happily attempts to eat.  As soon as I look stressed or concerned (EEEK baby careful with that mushy carrot!) she stops eating and looks worriedly at me.  So I have very quickly learned to relax and enjoy the process!

So far, Tabitha has eaten:

• A sneaky bite of banana, aged 5 months - she lunged at my banana with her whole body, and chomped some off the top.  She looked surprised, thought about the taste for a while, then lunged back for more!
• A strip of rare porterhouse steak at The Palace, Luke Mangan's very nice little pub in South Melbourne.  Also a green bean.  The steak was a big hit!  She chewed and sucked it until it was a grey rag - then threw it onto the floor and looked for more.

Here is Tabitha's first official meal, steak with Mummy and a green bean with Daddy at The Palace:

Tabitha has also eaten:

• Some capsicum.  Not that interested.
• Some wedges of nectarine and peach.  VERY interested!  Made a lot of 'sour faces' and kept looking at me as though I was trying to poison her, but ultimately kept going back for more!
• Some broccolini - hilarious!  She could not work out how to get all the long floppy bits at the top into her mouth, and kept throwing it onto the table in frustration.  I *think* she may have managed to get a few tiny florettes into her mouth, but I can't be sure.
• Roast pumpkin - not so thrilled.  Too soft, fell apart in her mouth, and she gagged it all out in disgust!
• Edamame (soy bean pods) - I have given these to her a couple of times, when out at Japanese restaurants for lunch.  I suck the salt off them first.  It's very interesting, she chews on them, and when she manages to wiggle one of the beans out, she very skillfully moves it to the front of her mouth and spits it out!  Then goes back to chewing the pod...
• Cucumber - MASSIVE hit!  Best thing so far, really, as she is able to hold a stick (because of the skin side, which is not too slippery) but she is also able to use her two bottom teeth (new last week!) to scrape pulp out and eat it.  She actually manages to ingest a fair amount!
• Steamed carrot sticks.  She sort of enjoyed these.  She kept putting them into her mouth and biting down hard, as she would a toy, and then being quite annoyed when a large chunk came off!  She would make a shocked face, spit it out, then go back to try and chew on the stick some more.  Very cute.

I think it's important for her to eat her meals with someone, so I sit at the table with her and share her food.  She likes copying, watching very closely and chewing when I chew, even when there is nothing in her mouth.  She also has a good go at making dinner conversation!  "awaaaa awaaa, bababa, ehhhh dadadada."

The high chair we have is the very popular Norwegian 'Stokke Tripp Trapp' which we have in Walnut, matching our dining table and chairs.  So, her special chair simply pulls up to the table like a regular chair, and we can share a meal without her being 'separate' in a high chair.  When we have more children, we will buy more Tripp Trapps, and each child can sit at the table comfortably, at a height suitable for them.

Of course, sometimes it is convenient to have the baby / child sitting at a high chair to play or snack while you are doing something else, and this is why some people don't like the Tripp Trapp - because it doesn't have a tray, so you can't use it away from the table.  However, I managed to find a tray, the Playtray, made by another company, designed to sit on the Tripp Trapp!  I am thrilled with this, as the chair is now the best of both worlds, so to speak.  Of course, like so many good things, the tray isn't available in Australia, and no one will ship one here, however my best friend Amy was conveniently in London last week, and was able to bring one back for me!

Today we went out for lunch at Picnic in South Yarra with my little sister and my friend Amy, and Tabitha sat on my lap and made a good effort at demolishing a few cucumber sticks.  Amy was very impressed!  Here is myself and Tabitha, who is enjoying her cucumber.