So lately I have been experimenting with a concept known as Baby Led Weaning. Basically the principles of BLW are that the baby will eat what they want, when they want. And no baby food, babies are to be given regular table food that is easy to hold and easy to mash up in their mouths; crackers, toast, steamed veggies and fruits, etc. I must admit, I was really excited about the concept of no more spoon feeding, after all how hard can it be to hand Hailey something and just let her go to town eating it?? Oh, I found out . . . much harder and messier than even I could have imagined! I seriously feel like she is ingesting about 5% of what she is given, the rest decorates her face, bib, high chair and my floors. I know watching your baby learn to do new things is supposed to be fun and exciting, but thanks to my mothers OCD genetics, it's quite frankly a little stressful!! I am however getting better, and more laid back. I have realized that a perfectly clean and organized environment and a baby just don't go hand in hand . . . it's ok to have a little mess every now and again. I just have to remind myself "Susan, breathe!!"
Anyhow, so far Hailey has gotten to experiement with broccoli, bananas, steamed apples, apples sauce with cinnamon, toast, eggos, homemade fries, and yougart. Tonight we will be having spaghetti, so I'll mix up a little for her in the blender and let her try it (oh, the no spoons concept isn't written in stone, we still do some things off the spoon occasionally =)) I am still holding out hope for this new feeding technique, I just feel in the long run it will be so much easier to let her have a little of whatever it is we are having, especially when we are eating away from home! I'll keep you posted on our progress!! And just incase anyone is wondering, she is still breastfed, so majority of her nutrition is still from that -- food is just a "social" thing at this point in her life, according to her pediatrician =)
For now, here are some pictures of a little biscuit that she was munching on earlier today, I'd say about 40% wasn't eaten, 10% was, and the remainder she is wearing =)!
