Hello skerika,

We are doing BLW (baby led weaning) which is just what you are talking about. DS is ten months in a few days, so is now a very accomplished eater, we are just starting him on using a spoon himself.

Its a GREAT way to start solids. We are the only ones we know doing it and got a lot of flak when we first started..... the main problem people have is with choking, its really just an education issue I think. Purees were really needed when people were encouraged to start solids at four months. Now that the advise is six months there really is no need for the puree as your baby is more than capable to move food around their own mouth. The main misconception is the difference between choking and gagging. Gagging is a natural reflex when something too large starts to go down the throat. Choking is when something gets lodged in the throat and you cannot breath. DS has NEVER choked. When he was first starting on solids he did gag when trying something with a new texture, it worried everyone else more than it ever worried him. Now that we have been doing this for months everyone comments on what a great eater DS is and all of my puree friends are asking advise on how to introduce lumps and finger foods........ so much easier to just skip the puree all together!

If you search baby led weaning on the internet rather than the American 'feeding' I think you will probably get a few more hits as it is more popular in Britain from what I can gather.

There is a FANTASTIC forum dedicated to the topic... have a look at http://forum.babyledweaning.com/ there are heaps of ideas and recipes on there and lots of people all swapping stories and ideas.... just like here really, just all about food.

I think that you have made a great choice! Its not for everyone, there is a lot of mess involved (make sure you have a camera ready for all of the great photo ops!) and you really have to be brave enough to stand back and let your LO take the lead. Its so rewarding though.

Oh, and don't worry about the fact that your LO hasn't really got the hang of the food yet.... thats the beauty of it, it doesn't matter in the slightest. When she is ready she will take the next step herself. The mantra of the BLWer is 'until they are one, its just for fun' so sit back and relax. Keep up the milk feeds so that she isn't missing out on anything. And other than staying away from the normal allergy culprits like peanuts, go wild..... unless you have allergies in your family, then its worth introducing stuff a bit slower, just in case.

Have fun!

My second is ten months too, and we have enjoyed baby led weaning to solids. Mainly others freak about choking, but if you are watching and know how to do a finger sweep if they are having trouble you will be fine. My Mil goes crazy when he gags and yells in alarm "he's choking!!!!" but he is OK really! He was just getting that piece of peach out of the back of his mouth, its a learned skill!

Thank you for the responses. Baby led weaning, got it. It's much more useful to know the proper label for things when you're trying to research them. We started with bananas and I am thinking of going to broccoli next. What foods worked best for your little ones? What's a mouth sweep? Is that a CPR technique? I've been meaning to take CPR for infants and children but we just haven't had the extra cash. Should I insist on taking it asap now that she's trying to eat? I second guess myself a lot. My intuition is usually right but I still have that new mommy "OMG she's a fragile little baby", irrational fear that something is going to happen to her.
Anyway, thanx again.

Fingersweep-use a hooking action across the tongue going cheek to cheek to retrieve object in mouth. Also useful when your child gets a penny or button!

Even if you can't take a real CPR/Heimlich maneuver class, at least read up on the technique so you are prepared and feel more capable just in case!

I was a lifeguard for years so feel like I have some of the skills "just in case."

We started with banana and then broccoli too! Broccoli is still DS fav food.

Another great one is roast vege. Pumpkin always goes down a treat! We did just vege and fruit for the first month and then all bets were off. Last night was spag bol..... ooooh! So messy.

my daughter loved avocados. Still does!

DS liked sweet potato, pumpkin and butternut squash. I would cut them into baby-fist sized chips and microwave or steam them until they were soft enough. He didn't like them if they were too hard and they were difficult to moosh in his mouth when he had no teeth.

One of the first times he had banana, he stole the banana from me and fed himself half a banana, which I thought was incredibly clever at the time, but he ended up not having a bowel movement for 4 days. Beware of overdoing the banana, because it can bind up some little people. I also tried him on flowerettes of brocolli and cauliflower which he was quite keen on. One of his early faves was boiled green beans.

http://animetribe.xi.co.nz/Kat/Alexander/alex-bean.jpg

Now he's 10 months old and he has just started eating curries O_o... mild of course, but I didn't think he'd be into things like ginger and chilli... shows what I know!

This is a great article if you haven't read it yet. None of my four have ever had pureed or jarred food, we do self-feeding of table foods, and it's so easy. This is great information, though:

http://www.borstvoeding.com/voedseli...lw/engels.html.

Good luck!

Thanx for the great replies.

I read that article, it is what inspired me to take homemade food to the next level and just feed her whole foods.