When Hayden first started out on solids he was 6 months old and we did the old rice cereal and breast milk drill. He loved it, and soon we moved on to thicker purees. My girlfriends and I had all sorts of conversations about the best way to puree/cook baby food and we talked about all the different recipes that were out there. One day I was looking up info on the internet about moving Hayden to more finger-type foods and ran across a blog about “baby-led weaning”. The concept is pretty simple: babies don’t need special food made just for them – they can eat what you eat. Sounds great- right?! Well, it is. We moved Hayden from eating all pureed food one week to pretty much eating adult food the next. He took to it wonderfully, loving the opportunity to explore different textures and the independence that came with feeding himself. We are still using up our frozen puree supply, and he actually feeds it to himself now with a spoon. He sucked on pieces of roast at our Christmas meal, eats tortillas and bread, all sorts of fruit and loves different types of proteins. So every night I now make his lunches. I usually grab bits and pieces of this and that out of the fridge. Leftover beef and broccoli from our stir-fry, cut up pieces of various fruits, a torn up corn tortilla, and sliced up veggies.
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| Tomorrow’s Lunch | Torn up pieces of romaine, grape tomatoes, beef (from last night’s stir fry), shredded cheese |
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| Pears and mixed fruit (blueberries, blackberries & grapes) | A torn up corn tortilla |
Feeding Hayden what we eat has been a great experience. It benefits us both – I think more about what Dom and I eat, because I know Hayden will be eating it too, and it’s just plain easier to feed him what we are eating then it is to make special meals just for him. He is also a very adventurous eater – he loves artichoke, spinach and beets. He eats all sorts of fruits – and especially loves tart and sour ones! Next up – veggie sushi!
