How I feed my baby

  Charlotte has been exclusively breastfed since she was born - we have had some small bumps along the way- but overall we have been blessed with a great breastfeeding experience.

   When she was about 5 months old she started to show signs of readiness for solids, she was sitting up with little assistance, watching us eat and grabbing our food (like the day I turned my head and when I looked back she was gumming away at my apple:) ) So we decided to begin solids. I was really drawn to Baby Led Weaning (which needs a different name in my opinion because there is no real "weaning" involved but whatevs), I like anything that gives the child the most independence and opportunity to have their own successes.

   So C's first experience with food was chunks of avocado on her highchair which she happily smashed, wiped and grabbed at and even got some in her mouth - success! She loved it!

We continued on with sweet potatoes and butternut squash......

    Everything was going smoothly until this little girl got a big appetite and the small amount of food that she was able to get in her mouth just wasnt cutting it for her. She would get so frustrated and upset because she wasnt getting enough of the food. So enter our hybrid of traditional baby purees and BLW. One of my favorite saying in terms of parenting is "Something works until it doesnt and doesnt until it does" This was a perfect example. 

   So I made purees for her and she was a MUCH happier little piggy :) Plus this was I was able to fed her things that she couldn't eat yet due to lack of teeth like spinach, kale and blueberries.

 

Spoon thief :)

 We continued to offer finger foods as much as possible - cantaloupe, orange slices, sweet potato wedges and carrots have always been favorites.

  And now (8 months) that she has her pincer grasp we have really been giving her a wide variety of foods to try and she LOVES feeding herself. I love the independence she has and her little proud face and the claps that she gives herself when she gets food in her mouth is priceless. Sure its messy but I hope that I am setting her up for being an adventurous and independent eater.  I also want us all eating the same thing together as a family and so feeding her the appropriate foods from our dinner will hopefully help  that transition. 

The balance is now shifting from mostly purees with a little finger food to a 50/50 mix. Her plate last night was carrot/cilantro quinoa patties, rosemary roasted sweet potato, carrots and cauliflower. She devoured it along with a bowl of pureed peas, pear/blueberry puree and 2 orange slices for dessert!

I have a couple new recipes I am going to try out for us this week, hopefully they are a hit!!

xoxo
Ashlea