Adventures in Baby-Led Weaning: First Foods

It's happening. What we parents dread from the very moment we see those two lines on our home pregnancy test. The one thing we wish we never have to face but we know is as inevitable as the rotation of the earth around the sun...

My little boy is growing up.

It feels like he was tiny and squishy and helpless only yesterday. Where did this active, expressive, curious little guy come from? And it feels like only yesterday I was plastered to the couch with a tiny person attached to my breast for hours on end. Now I'm lucky if I can get him to nurse for five minutes...total. And he's begun the journey that will eventually lead to him weaning off the breast entirely (although that will be a slow and gradual process, and doesn't look like it will happen anytime soon).

He's started eating solid foods.

Of course, I use the term "eating" very loosely in this context. It's not "eating" at this point so much as "exploring" (especially when he gets his hands on some rice...then it's a free-for-all). But we're having fun with it, and he seems to enjoy it.

His first "meal" of avocado, brown rice, and a mild chicken curry.

Munchin' on his first piece of chicken.

Lunch with momma: avocado and whole grain toast.

He actually got quite a bit in his mouth.

He likes bread a lot.

Inspecting the fare.

Thus far he's been offered: avocado, banana, broccoli, brown rice, chicken, plain spaghetti, whole grain toast, and sprouted wheat tortilla. In the coming weeks I hope to be able to offer him some fruits and maybe a bit of cheese and meat.

I'm loving this approach so far. Primarily because it's so much less hassle for me - all I have to do is put food on his tray and let him do his thing - but it's also a much more interesting experience for him. It's amazing to me how quickly he figured out that this stuff I've been giving him is ingestible and tastes different than the toys he's been chewing on up until now. He's only gagged a few times, but they were relatively minor incidents and he never panicked (probably because we didn't panic, and he took his cue from us). We never give him anything he could choke on, and make sure whatever we do give him is able to be easily grasped and soft enough for his little gums to munch on.

It's pretty amazing what our children will do if given the chance.