Baby Led Weaning Without Breastfeeding
Have you guys been following Melissa’s journey of baby led weaning (BLW)? I have been since I had never heard of BLW and I like to know what I’m getting into, which is part of the reasons blogs are so spectacular in the first place. I’ve been reading about BLW a bit more today on various blogs and forums and I’m now aware of yet another passionate group of parents that passionately participate in something that isn’t widely understood.
But here’s my question for you BLW parents, or possibly the parents who are thinking about BLW.
Would you be less likely to follow baby led weaning if you couldn’t breastfeed?
I wasn’t able to breastfeed. All of the blogs and forums I read today talked about breastmilk being the primary source of nourishment for most BLW babies since many don’t actually get much nourishment from foods offered to them. I’m going to be honest, I would rather spoon feed my baby homemade baby food rather than have her primary source of nourishment be formula.
I wonder if there is a way to half and half spoon feeding with BLW, maybe Vivi is one of those babies that takes off with BLW and eats piles of food on her own. I like making Vivi’s food, I like sitting down to feed her, I enjoy that time spent with her and she enjoys it as well. Obviously nothing with parenting has to be black and white despite people telling you otherwise. I cloth diaper, but I also use disposables on occasion. I tried my hardest to breastfeed but through the whole journey I had to supplement with formula. I make my own baby food but have used a few pouches of pre-made food here and there.
If BLW is more of a convenience thing so I don’t have to make her food or spend the time feeding it to her then I’ll shrug my shoulders and do what I feel is best which is a combo of the two (BLW and spoon feeding.) But if there is some huge benefit to BLW that I am missing, I’m all ears. Are most of you able to breastfeed? Is that even a thing to take into consideration (that I formula feed?)
Speaking of being all ears, I can already hear my grandma and my mom in my head as they see me doing this BLW thing thinking “Seriously, what other new fangled thing is she going to be doing with this kid?” Is that something you’ve run into with BLW?
I’m completely mystified about this BLW process. I made my older daughter’s food, which was normal pureed baby food, and today at almost 5, she is a phenomenal eater. I’m already terrified about choking and with BLW, choking seems par for the course. I’m doing the same mama-made purees for my 8mo son. So far so good.
I’m kinda in the same boat. My babe will be 4 months next month, and he was born BIG, and he’s definitely ready for solids (in the form of rice cereal, since he’s young yet). But I’m very interested in BLW. I’m thinking about doing some sort of combo; starting out with traditional cereals/purees and then trying BLW when he’s 6 months. Obviously I’ll have a conversation with his doctor about it at his 4 month visit, but I’d be super interested to hear anyone else’s experiences.
i’m a little confused about the post… if you aren’t breastfeeding (or pumping and giving her that milk), then aren’t you giving her formula? but you said you would rather give her baby food than have formula be her primary source of nutrition? i don’t get it. formula or breastmilk should be the primary nutrition until age 1. and the only difference between blw and feeding purees is the size of the food. so what would the difference be ? i made all my baby’s food (though, i wish i hadn’t started solids at 4 months, it wasn’t really worth what it did to my milk supply) and when i switched to blw i was feeding him the same foods, just not pureed. so sweet potatoes, or banana or avocado cut into pieces instead of blended. also, i think they do get a lot of nutrients from the food, just not everything they need, hence the formula/bm needed for the year). but i feed my baby beans, fruits and vegetables, and even meats, so he isn’t eating junk… I’m still a little confused about what you are asking, but maybe that shed some light? also, as far as choking, you learn pretty fast the difference between choking and gagging, and usually, babies are gagging. real choking is when they can’t breath or make any noise, and that has never happened to me in the 4 months i’ve been blw.
and yes, i have people ask me (grr! other moms!) with that kind of condescending awe, if my baby is really eating THAT!?!?! instead of the puree or rice wafers or whatever they are feeding their 9 month old. i ignore it, it doesn’t bother me. i know what’s best for my baby and what he can handle, and so do you! good luck!
I stumbled into BLW with my first child without even knowing it was a “thing.” I started with purees and very soon added very soft finger foods. My daughter expressed a clear difference for the latter I phased out the baby food entirely by 8 months. I’m hoping Baby #2 feels the same way. I do think the main advantage is convenience, so do whatever works for you. And no, it doesn’t matter whether you breastfeed or formula feed – solids should not replace formula just as they do not replace breastmilk.
I did not breastfeed my first born (a list of complications too big to fit in one comment box
) and I followed a route which is half BLW. She had her teeth very late (starting 13 months) but my husband and I fed her almost everything starting from the beginning. I always mashed her vegetables with the fork if needed (never pureed in a blender) and she had meat at 7 month old. Apples were her favourite teething remedy as strange as it may seem and she gagged just once if I remember correctly. She is now three. Normally your baby will lead you really in this thing no matter how you choose. They have preferences too. As long as breastmilk or formula are given as primary source of food the rest is just exploration and it will allow the child to enjoy food, to see it as source of pleasure too. Now I feed my son vegetable soups (7 month old) with rice or pasta and it is not pureed. He gagged with a peace of cucumber while his sister never did that (girls seem to be cleverer). I love it actually when I see him trying to chew his food instead of just swallowing down. My best friend was very afraid of her baby choking and she pureed her food up to 5 years old. She did not do the same mistake with her second child.
Bottom line, yes you can BLW with a bottlefed baby, it is exactly the same thing. Yes, the breastfed babies may already know some foods since they sort of tasted them with the breastmilk but it is not just the taste that you are developing, it is the chewing that you are trying to help here.
I kind of do a combo. Both of my kids were in the 90+ percentile for height and weight from about 2 months old and were more than ready for cereal and other pureed baby foods by 4 months old. Both of them had transitioned completely to table food by 7 and 8 months respectively. My oldest was completely off the bottle by 9 months(formula, juice and water from a sippy cup). And my daughter is almost to that point at 11 months. Both kids started refusing baby food. My daughter is starting to refuse formula(we can only get about 12 oz in her a day), but she will drink water if we offer it to her after she refuses more formula. I think as big as she is she is and as much real food as she eats(I swear the girl has a hollow leg LOL), I think she just no longer requires the extra nutrients and calories that are her formula, she just wants something to quench her thirst. I did not breastfeed either for more than a week or two.
technically combining purees & finger foods is just traditional weaning…
my baby is BLWed and has never had puree. She is also forumla fed.
at 6 months she picked up a sweet potato and 1 month later she is fully weaned (3 meals & weaned amount of formula) all by herself- its amazing. Its really sociable to we eatthe same time -sometimes bite for bite!
i’d really urge anyone to do it- its amazing!
Completely BLW might be great for some kids. But my kids would have been starving if I had waited until they were 6 months old to start giving them solid food. Both of them were showing all of the signs(not pushing stuff out of their mouth with their tongues, watching every bite we ate, reaching for our food, sitting up with help) by 3 months old. They were both drinking 9+ oz of formula and screaming from hunger less than 2 hours later at 3.5 months. They both got cereal quickly followed by stage 2 baby food at about 4 months(if not a few days younger).
Casey, you seem to have an aversion to formula – have you tried goat’s milk, or any other kinds of milk (I don’t know if other kinds are good for babies, but it’s worth looking into)?
On the BLW, I’d prefer to do it (it all depends on whether my aunt & uncle will keep out of her eating habits long enough for me to actually *try* this) – I actually don’t think she was quite ready for baby food (stage 1) at 3.5 months, but my aunt started her & I couldn’t just pull her off it after she’d started. My daughter took right to eating food, and at 6 months is on stage 2 baby food. I don’t think my little one’s ready for the chunks just yet, since she’s used to purees, but I feed her off my plate from time to time (mashed potatoes, green beans, mac & cheese – all well mushed) just to see how she likes it. Mine never would eat cereal (but I think that’s a good thing, since rice cereal is almost pure sugar once it’s digested anyway), lol. HATED the stuff, even mixed with breastmilk. She’s still nursing, usually once after each meal & one to three times during the night, as well as our first session in the morning, before breakfast.
It took me 15 solid minutes to realize that it wasn’t a typo and you weren’t trying to wean your baby from lead…