Heres my parenting brag: Ive never bought any baby food.
Ive never had a mush of green mashed peas flung at my wall.
Ive never played airplane zooming a spoon toward my daughters closed mouth.
And Ive never, ever begged her to eat a thing.
She explained that its a way of introducing solid foods without me feeding them to her with a spoon.
Its a way of fostering independence, she explained.
I was skeptical: Would she get enough to eat?
What about choking risks?
So I started investigating.
It turns out the practice is known to have some benefits.
BLW shows the tiny eaters that they have choices.
Want to get rid of the baby mush, too?
Here are some things to consider before getting started.
When to Start BLW
The American Academy of Pediatrics recommendsintroducing solid foods at around six months.
The trick, though, is to look for markers: Can your baby hold his head up?
Is he reaching for food when it comes his way, or watching it obsessively?
If the answers are yes, then it may be time to start.
I started with avocados, bananas and omelets, which are still my daughters favorites to this day.
There are tons of BLWrecipesaround, as well.
(Though it seems like my kid willnevertrust cooked peppers.)
The foods are given to your baby to eat without being pureed and without being spoon-fed, Momtastic advises.
This means you place it in front of them and they can do what they wish with it.
It makes sense, right?
You dont beg and plead with grownups: kindly?
(Unless, of course, youre like my overfeeding Jewish mama.)
This requires a bit of a mental shift.
Youre not getting your baby to eat, youre teaching themhowto eat.
Youre simply putting it out there for them to experiment with.
And youre avoiding the power struggles that can come with mealtime.
Its an important part of the processtheyre simply getting comfortable with food.
As the parent, you might decide at any point that theyre done and take it away.
We used a high chairmy daughter loved itbut also gauged when she was ready to be taken out.
What About Choking Risks?
Which is why baby mush was probably invented.
The good news?Studiesshow that there is no difference in choking risks between BLW and traditional baby feeding.
The older the baby, the less likely the risk.
BLW cookbooksall offer layered recipes where sauces and hot stuff and salt can be added in for the adults.
Salt and sugar of course should be limited, but new spices and flavors can pique their interest.
I offer, she refuses.
On the other hand, she often says of our mealtime staple, More salad, mama!
And though shell still want ice cream later, I consider this a win.
