{"id":1719,"date":"2020-01-30T10:52:53","date_gmt":"2020-01-30T16:52:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thenurturingrootsa-com.ibrave.host\/?p=1719"},"modified":"2020-01-30T10:53:11","modified_gmt":"2020-01-30T16:53:11","slug":"baby-led-weaning-the-beginners-guide-for-starting-solids","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thenurturingrootsa.com\/baby-led-weaning-the-beginners-guide-for-starting-solids\/","title":{"rendered":"Baby Led Weaning: The Beginners Guide for Starting Solids"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Your precious baby is 6 months old! That\u2019s the magic age, right? It\u2019s commonly<br \/>\naccepted that this is the time when your baby needs other foods to compliment his\/her<br \/>\nbreastmilk or formula intake. Other new moms are chattering about it and you\u2019re yet again<br \/>\nscouring the interwebs trying to figure out the best way to begin feeding your babe. Maybe you<br \/>\nhave seen other moms feed their babies all organic store-bought purees or seen posts on your<br \/>\nFacebook mom group about making their own?! Once again, you\u2019re stumped. Wishing<br \/>\nsomeone would shout from the rooftops the right answer for feeding your baby.<br \/>\nToday on the blog, we are discussing <a href=\"https:\/\/thenurturingroot.com\/introducing-solids-baby-led-weaning\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Baby Led Weaning<\/a>. But before we do, we need to<br \/>\nfirst clarify that your baby is ready for this next step. Here are a few musts your babe needs to<br \/>\nbe doing before beginning this method.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Baby can sit up well without support.<\/li>\n<li>Babe has lost the tongue-thrust reflex and does not automatically push solids<br \/>\nout of his\/her mouth with tongue<\/li>\n<li>Baby is ready and willing to chew.<\/li>\n<li>\u201cPincer\u201d grasp is being developed. This is when babe is able to pick up food and<br \/>\nother small objects between thumb and forefinger.<\/li>\n<li>Baby is eager and showing interest to participate in eating at mealtimes.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.babyledweaning.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Baby Led Weaning<\/a> (often referred to as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/exec\/obidos\/ASIN\/0091923808\/babyledwean06-20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">BLW<\/a>) is a method of beginning solids in your<br \/>\nbaby\u2019s diet that is complimentary to the first year of breastmilk\/formula. This method upholds<br \/>\nthe nature of eating as a positive, interactive experience and encourages the development of<br \/>\nage appropriate oral motor control. Babies \u201cself-feed\u201d through the exploration of different<br \/>\ntextures and also are able to control their solid food consumption. The term \u201cweaning\u201d does<br \/>\nnot imply that baby is replacing breastmilk or formula but mainly just complimenting it with<br \/>\nother solids.<\/p>\n<h2>Benefits of Baby Led Weaning<\/h2>\n<p>Though very little longitudinal research has been done on this subject, experts see potential for<br \/>\nBLW to have a lasting effect on a child\u2019s food preferences, eating habits and palates. It also<br \/>\nteaches babies the fundamental life step of self-regulation. Babies cannot be made to eat more<br \/>\nthan they need since they are not being fed by another person. They are doing the feeding and<br \/>\nthe ones in charge of their intake. Also, another benefit of the BLW method is you can forgo the<br \/>\nbuying, making, blending, freezing, and defrosting process of making or purchasing the little jars<br \/>\nof food.<\/p>\n<h2>Tips to get started on the Baby Led Weaning journey<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Wait until your babe is showing signs of readiness (see above for developmental<br \/>\nmarkers).<\/li>\n<li>Continue to give breastmilk and formula. This is still considered your baby\u2019s biggest<br \/>\nsource of nutrients until approximately 10-12 months. Remember, food before 1 is just for fun.<\/li>\n<li>Model eating for and with your babe. Mealtimes are social events. Model proper<br \/>\nchewing and eating behaviors while your baby joins in in his\/her own chair.<\/li>\n<li>Prep foods for easy grasping. Food should be cut long and skinny for baby to manage<br \/>\nindependently.<\/li>\n<li>Prepare for the mess. The goal of this method is exploration. Smearing, dropping,<br \/>\nthrowing (oh my!) is part of the learning process. Again, modeling appropriate table<br \/>\nmanners is key here.<\/li>\n<li>Consider nutrient intake. High calorie foods and also vitamins such as zinc, protein, and<br \/>\nhealthy fats are all good options for your babe to ingest.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Remember to do what feels best and right for your baby\/family. Maybe you want a hybrid<br \/>\nmodel where baby has softer foods to start and smoothies that are nutrient dense with some<br \/>\nfinger sized pieces to gnaw on. You are the wonderful caretaker and your babe is following your<br \/>\nperfect lead. Enjoy the journey!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Your precious baby is 6 months old! That\u2019s the magic age, right? It\u2019s commonly accepted that this is the time when your baby needs other foods to compliment his\/her breastmilk or formula intake. Other new moms are chattering about it and you\u2019re yet again scouring the interwebs trying to figure out the best way to&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":1724,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_titles_title":"Baby Led Weaning | The Nurturing Root San Antonio","_seopress_titles_desc":"Baby Led Weaning is a great way to begin introducing your baby to solid foods. Learn the signs that it&#039;s time to get started and a few tips.","_seopress_robots_index":"","_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[80,114],"taxonomy_info":{"category":[{"value":6,"label":"Nutrition"}],"post_tag":[{"value":80,"label":"baby led weaning"},{"value":114,"label":"BLW"}]},"featured_image_src_large":["https:\/\/thenurturingrootsa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/baby-led-weaning-1024x683.jpg",1024,683,true],"author_info":{"display_name":"Kristie Graybill","author_link":"https:\/\/thenurturingrootsa.com\/author\/kgraybill\/"},"comment_info":"","category_info":[{"term_id":6,"name":"Nutrition","slug":"nutrition","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":6,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":13,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":6,"category_count":13,"category_description":"","cat_name":"Nutrition","category_nicename":"nutrition","category_parent":0}],"tag_info":[{"term_id":80,"name":"baby led weaning","slug":"baby-led-weaning","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":80,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":2,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":114,"name":"BLW","slug":"blw","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":114,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":1,"filter":"raw"}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thenurturingrootsa.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1719"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thenurturingrootsa.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thenurturingrootsa.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thenurturingrootsa.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thenurturingrootsa.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1719"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thenurturingrootsa.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1719\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thenurturingrootsa.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1724"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thenurturingrootsa.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1719"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thenurturingrootsa.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1719"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thenurturingrootsa.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1719"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}