I love baby led weaning (BLW) O so much. If you haven’t read about how we’re doing solid foods with OBaby before, I introduced it here and then gave an update here. The basic premise is this: babies know when they are hungry and giving them control over solid food intake (as they are in control of breastmilk intake) is a natural way for them to enter into the world of solid food. It works perfectly for O My Family.
BLW has meant that DanO and I can be relaxed about his food and trust that OBaby knows what his stomach is saying more than we do. It means we get to explore food together, often walking off the beaten-path of how babies are fed. Many nights OBaby eats exactly the same meal from exactly the same serving dish as we do. Obviously there are exceptions to this, but it has been incredibly liberating to chart our own baby food path.
(Yes we read ingredients and yes we’re cautious, thankyouverymuch.)
It is really interesting to set aside my preconceived notions and just let things happen. For example, for months now, OBaby has been able to eat avocados and bananas in mere minutes with zero assistance from me. He just picks them up and sucks them down! As far as sharing our meals, stir-fry is a family favorite, and he also has a penchant for pasta with pesto. Whenever we eat out, we order him a plain chicken breast and shred it. He eats the whole thing.
But topping the charts by far (even above avocado which is saying a lot):
Hummus
That’s right, I’m raising a dip snob.
But seriously. A great (if messy) snack is a piece of toast with copious amounts of hummus on it. He usually starts by sucking the hummus off to the best of his ability and then he eats the (now soggy) toast. Yum.
{He wants to share.}
Back in the day when I ate healthy, I made hummus from scratch. The first time I cooked all the chickpeas and let them drain in the colander in the sink. I left the kitchen for a few moments and when I came back my 2-and-4 year olds were standing on a chair eating them out of the sink. Kids are so awesome.
He is so darling! And who doesn’t love hummus?
Can you beleive I’VE never even tried hummus????? And I’ve been dying too.
I keep thinking I want to make some for Miles too. And now that I see how much OBaby likes it, it just might be my push! :)
When Natalie was a toddler, her favorite thing to eat was carrots and hummus.
I know we are born with a sweet tooth, but I’m amazed at what kids will gravitate to if they can’t have junk. So often, it’s healthier than the way we adults eat. Good for OBaby.
Great picture! Look at those eyes!
Oh man! When I have kids: they will most definitely be dip-snobs too!! I love this!! OBaby is such a CUTIE!!!
Looks delicious OBaby, but since it appears you already have dibs on it, I”ll let you have the whole piece! I will admit I was scared of BLW; we’re exploring a lot more now, and she’s proving she’s ready. I look forward to the day when she eats the same dinner as us. I’ll check out your other posts for more details.
He is so cute. We are following the same idea for our 9 month old. In our case, he just isn’t really into solid foods so BLW is a nice way of introducing, but not forcing. So far avocados win by a long shot.
I’m going to call hummus yummus from now on. Thanks. :)
That boy could not be any cuter. Seriously.
We have done the same with ours. Sometimes we will make baby food our of peas, sweet potatoes, and squash, especially if they are really young (just over 6 months) but for the most part they eat what we do and we watch what we eat. It makes life so much easier. Glad to see OBaby is enjoying himself so much!!
So cute! BLW is the best! Is he into sharing his food with mom and dad yet? Elizabeth does that when she’s decided she’s not eating something. We figure it’s better than throwing it on the floor (which is what she started with).
I’m scared to try hummus.. It looks so gross to me :[ I’m such a baby. Only, OBaby is in fact a baby and loves hummus. So that saying doesn’t fly with this scenario, lol! So does he EVER eat baby food? Just wondering :)
Joshua loves hummus toast too! only i cut his up into smaller pieces. he also loves cream cheese toast! and wow, a whole chicken breast?! we should try that with joshua. i usually only give him a few pieces of chicken and he loves it (along with something else). he seems to like carbs a lot – like his mommy – and not so much fruit. he does love broccoli though! and yogurt. i think that’s his favorite.
maybe i should try this with C since he basically hates all the gerber foods. i just get really worried about him choking. how did you all deal with that when Obaby first started? i’m really curious if you had any close calls. btw, he looks adorable covered in hummus!
wow, love this idea! glad it’s working out for you guys. do you make your own hummus?
Wow, I never knew there was a name for the way I’m feeding my LO! It feels great to do things this way, doesn’t it?
My 13 month old, Sienna, absolutely loves hummus! I think she could eat the whole costco sized tub if we let her! She also licks the bread or crackers completely clean first! And I love that you called it yummus!
We were similar for our kid. We just let him eat what felt right. We were cautious at first, but as time went on, we realized that feeding him real people food was much better than the jarred stuff. Pic is cute!
Can I recommend a GREAT book? Super Baby Food, by Ruth Yaron. All about that homemade baby food! When we went to my daughter’s 12-month check up and found that she’s dropped from around the 50-60 ish percentile to the SIXTH, I went and bought this book. I think you’d like it! It has everything I’d wondered about (or never even thought of before) like how much a baby-sized serving is, and vitamins and food groups, and all of that. Lots of little recipes, too. It sounds like you’re doing great, but seriously, I can’t say enough about this book and how much I’ve learned about baby nutrition.
We love BLW, too!
I’ve never even thought of giving our little one hummus. I’m sure she would love it. Though, as far as dips go she hates avocado so there goes guacamole. On to hummus, next stop baba ganoush.
Luke and Tommy both love hummus, too! Luke will spoon it straight from the container if I allow!
So did you just do online research about BLW or are there books you read? My husband and I were talking about this the other day (although we’re still months away!) and we’re sold on the idea. :) Oh, and OBaby is adorable, as usual!
I loved reading your post about BLW. My wee girl is nearly 5 months and we have just been exploring options for solids and really love the sound of BLW. I have been a little worried that it all sounds a little too good to be true but seeing it in action with your wee man shows how awesome it is! I look forward to more updates :-)
Smart baby! My kids live on hummus!
Steph
We are doing some funky combo of BLW and tiny spurts of baby food…but mostly table food. It’s Thursday and we have yet to offer baby food this week. Bubbette loves Avacado…perhaps a first date food? I will be trying hummus tonight – thanks for the tip – I am always trying to find new foods. Does OBaby have teeth? Bubbette does not which worries me with meat – which is why there is still baby food in the pantry – I worry about protein.
That’s great! A very healthy snack. But how’s the baby garlic breath? ;-)
I just love this. We’re introducing food with homemade purees, but he’s almost 7 months with 4 teeth now, and he wants to try our food so we are starting to shift to blw. Hummus with baby looks like such a blast! Yum.
very very cute! his sweet face is the most charming thing ever. what a doll. happy to hear that blw is working so well for you guys! i think it’s great! (-:
The i year-old twins I babysit just started eating hummus and they love it. Isn’t it funny when kids like foods that make some adults go “eww!”? :)
♥
Our little girl is six months old soon so I’m gearing up to start BLW. I am so excited about the idea. I have the Gill Rapley book but I love to hear about real experiences too. I’m delighted to see it working so well for your family.
I’m not a fan of hummus. But soggy-slightly-hummusy toast? MAJOR EW. Glad OBaby likes it though. :)
When did you first start giving him solids? Ellie watches the food from our forks to mouths so I’m thinking it’s time to give her something. But if we don’t got the regular baby cereal/food route, I’m not sure what to give her. Today she did gnaw on a strawberry through one of those mesh baby feeder thingies. She seemed to like that. I realized in hindsight that strawberries may not have been a good first choice since Connor was allergic to them as a toddler.
We started with avocados, bananas, (baked) butternut squash and pears. All of them were soggy enough to gum and bite off pieces. The first few weeks not much was actually consumed, but he figured it out soon enough. Good luck!