Baby does what?

When I was pregnant with the twins, I did some reading/researching. I didn't read as much as I should have most likely but I locked on to some ideas that I wanted to implement with the kids after they were born. One being Baby Led Weaning (BLW). The premise is, you skip the purees and serve the baby whatever you're having off your plate. And then- let them go at it, exploring the textures and allowing them to feed themselves. That way they become more adventurous eaters and develop their self feeding skills as well as regulate how much they want to eat and when. Sounded good in theory, but in reality what was it like?
I asked a couple of friends who'd attempted BLW and got mixed results. One friend who tried it, said she was scared to death of choking every time her daughter put something in her mouth. In fact, she had to do CPR on several occasions. Whoa.
Another friend said she thought about it but knew their daycare wouldn't be on board so she was forced to do purees during the week and out of convenience just continued it on the weekends as well.
A third friend I asked had an AMAZING experience with it. Her little was gnawing on chicken legs at 7 months old! She mentioned she never once had to do CPR at any point. Babies are equipped with a fabulous gag reflex that pretty much forces them to spit out anything thats too big. This gag reflex starts out in the middle of the tongue in babies and then slowly recedes to the back of the tongue as we get older.
There's a big difference between gagging and choking. Don't get me wrong, gagging is super scary and loud. But its perfectly normal and allows the baby to clear his own airway. You only need to intervene if they're silent and can't breathe. This is an awesome infographic thats really helped me know when to panic or not!

I really wanted to do BLW with my kiddos but I had the first time mom jitters so I started out really slow. Giving them a few strips of things like avocado and sweet potato but also smushing them a little first. Looking back I wish I had more confidence in my babes and allowed them to learn it for themselves. I also did some purees with them and sent those with them to daycare.

First bite of Avocado!

Smushed peas

Now they're 9 months old and are champs! I cook all sorts of stuff for them: quinoa, pancakes, frittata, pasta, toast with peanut butter! 9 months is when they start getting their pincer grasp so I can start cutting things up into smaller pieces and not having to worry about if they can pick it up or not. 

Leave a little bit of the banana peel on so they can pick it up easier!

BLW doesn't mean you can't give them pureed foods. We eat pureed foods every day such as oatmeal,  yogurt, applesauce, etc.! I still offer these foods only I pre-fill spoons for them to feed themselves with. It's messy, but that's life at this point. My word of advice is to strip them down to their diapers to make clean up a little easier. That way you can pretty much hose them off at the end! hah!

blueberry yogurt was a huge hit!

So, thats my experience with a modified BLW. I frequent pinterest for ideas as well as the Wholesome Homemade Baby Food blog. Also, if you're on Facebook, join the group FeedingLittles. Its run by a local dietitian and a speech therapist and its AWESOME. It's really helped me get over my first time mom hesitancies. Let me know if you have any questions on my experience. I'd be happy to oblige. Leave me a comment if you've tried BLW! Until next time!

xoxo,

-Melissa :)

Things, they are a changin'

Are you there blogland? It's me, Melissa. Not sure if you remember me, but I'm still here! And man, have things changed! Last time we spoke, it was 3 years ago. That was pre-new house and pre-kids! Yeah, you heard that right- we have KIDS now- plural!

I'm not sure when I'm going to find the time to blog but I have high aspirations. So you'll have to bear with me. You see, blogging is a stress reliever of sorts. Gives me a chance to unload so-to-speak. Not to mention, I feel like every person in my field has a blog these days. Not that I'm going to start a nutrition blog, but I might have a post here and there. To keep you on your toes, you know? This blog started out as a chronicle of my married life and I intend it to be that way. And since I'm a dietitian by trade, nutrition posts are bound to sneak in there!

So, let's jump in! I'll give you a 30 second recap of what you missed over the last 3 years:

Hubby and I love Arizona so we decided to stay a little while! He got a new job which allows him to travel, we bought a house in an amazing area- much safer than our last place, I got pregnant- with TWINS, they were born in February of this year, we lost our sweet dog to old age in April, and now here we are!

Aren't they the sweetest? Fast forward 9 months and these little boogers are cruising around the coffee table as we speak! Its amazing how much your heart grows after you have kids. I can't imagine my life without them. They are such joys! Full of laughter and smiles!

 

Anyway, I'm making this post short and sweet. My goal is to blog once a week. There may be weeks where that doesn't happen and there may be weeks where I blog more than once a week! We're just going to go with the flow! I don't want to be too ambitious, I am a full time mom and a part time dietitian! Leave me a comment to encourage this renewed endeavor and stay tuned till next time!

xoxo,

Melissa :)