As previously reported Alex is now six months old and it's time to start weaning so we celebrated his half birthday with his first real food. No cake though, he got tenderstem broccoli, asparagus and butternut squash. Now this may be a bit controversial but I am not going the standard route with purees and mush, but following Baby Led Weaning instead.
The idea behind BLW is that eating is a natural part of babies' development and we should let them go at their own pace rather than start strapping them down and spooning goo into their mouths too soon. I didn't really have to question that as we were sure Alex was ready to start solids. He has been really interested in food for a little while now, watching with fascination as we eat and trying to grab everything. Of course some of it is teething and wanting to put everything and anything in his mouth anyway but it soon became apparent he was keen to imitate us and try eating (and he sees a lot of eating, believe me!). A friend of ours had done it very successfully with their daughter and I was convinced it was well worth a go from that point.
I wanted to start him off on the right foot with some good foods so I gave him some veggies out of my superfood salad. What better than tenderstem broccoli for a little guy? It's got a built in handle! He was delighted to finally be given some food when he wanted it and seemed to love the experience but eating itself was a bit of a shock!
It was so much fun to watch him feed himself. He did try the asparagus later on, but only licked and gummed it a tiny bit before rejecting it. He was highly unimpressed with the butternut squash which I thought he would like because of the bright colour and the sweetness, but he pretty much just looked at it and then threw it across the room, signaling that lunch is without doubt over!
There will be more weaning adventures posts to follow, as I document this journey. I'm sure some of them will be filled with frustration and all with mess!
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