Baby Led Weaning Onto Solids - What Your Baby Needs
Have you reached that stage with your baby when it is time for weaning onto solids? No need to worry, it can be so straightforward. Baby led solids/weaning is something you must look into!
Child-led weaning onto solids is not some thing new. For years, mothers and fathers have been permitting their babies to take in food by themselves and take their time to explore and discover solid food. In latest times, however, this strategy of introducing finger food into a child's diet has been receiving some great press, and many more parents are now adopting this wonderful way of supporting their small ones understand how to love solid food, and gradually cut down their intake of milk.
Baby-led weaning onto solids in a nutshell
Put simply, child-led weaning is purely the process of permitting your baby to inform you when he or she is all set to get started trying solid food, and then him or her in household mealtimes, which will supply the chance to decide on what he or she wants to take in, and also the speed at which he or she does that. You don't have to make any purees, and you don't have to commit hours spoon-feeding your little one.
The plus points of weaning onto solids this way
Both you and your child will get some awesome positive aspects from following a baby-led weaning onto solidsapproach. You will:
o Provide your child the possibility to discover a selection of flavours and textures
o Be capable of make the most of household mealtimes
o Let your infant to try food at his very own speed, and stay in control
o Save cash and time
o Be encouraging your child towards independence
o Help your infant discover solid food in a enjoyable and pleasant way
o Avoid hard mealtime battles
o Be capable of relax about the quantity of food your little one is eating
o Provide your boy or girl an early chance to find out how to chew, which can support speech to improve
o Encourage your baby to develop vital skills like hand-eye coordination
o Share meals together as a household which is a wonderful benefit
Certainly, it can get messy!
When it comes down to it, however, there will usually be some mess with what ever approach of weaning you pick. Even if you choose to spoon-feed your kid, he can very simply spit it out, or plunge his hands in the bowl, or basically turn his head away leaving the spoonful of puree spread all over his cheek! And at some stage, your child will want to begin eating by herself, and that's never going to be clean from the beginning. Mess is one of the issues you have to accept when you have children, but you can minimise the damage by becoming prepared.
So when do you commence baby-led weaning onto solids?
At close to 6-months (with some flexibility either side, particularly for premature babies who might only become interested in solid food a little later), your child will give you some obvious indicators that he is prepared to commence exploring solid food. This will almost certainly be the day that your little one is sitting at the table with you and grabs some food off your plate which he promptly pops in his mouth!
At this stage, you can start to give your infant a little variety of food to explore, whenever she's awake and content, and you're having a little something to snack on yourself.
The initial time period of baby-led weaning onto solids
Through the very first handful of weeks, even though it feels counter-intuitive, it's ideal to be sure your infant isn't especially hungry when you attempt this, so that your baby is in the proper mood just to play and discover. Your baby will still be satisfying her hunger by way of milk feeds, and she will be more apt to show an interest in discovering table food when she isn't hungry or tired.
Don't be concerned about the quantity he's actually putting into his small tummy - it is only over a gradual time period of weeks and months that he will begin to consume food correctly, as his system requires it and he improves the required skills to correctly feed himself.
The golden rules when weaning onto solids
Your child should be:
o Sitting upright
o Supervised at all times
o Allowed to stay in charge
o Given sufficient time
o Offered a balanced variety of food
Excellent preliminary food
It's a good thought to start with fruit and veggies; long pieces of cooked carrot, florets of broccoli with an extended piece of stalk to serve as a handle, chunks of just-ripe pear and baby corn are all excellent for this exploration phase. It is crucial that you remove any stones or significant pips from fruit, and also make make sure that you cut things like grapes and cherries in half.
Basically, something your child can grab in his fist and get in his mouth is best. The only foods you truly will need to stay away from are honey and whole nuts till your infant is one, and bear in mind that it is absolutely unnecessary to add any salt or sugar to his meals.