26.10.12

Baby led weaning. Family meals.


I've started Charlie on three meals a day. Today I'll be sharing typical foods she eats as well as the highchair and bowls that work best for us.

At 8 months old Charlie went from having one, sometimes two meals a day, to three. After we got a Highchair and stopped using the bumbo seat things got easier. 
I read online the Antilop Ikea highchair was great for BLW and it is, its perfect. This is the third highchair we've owned, and by far the best. The only downside is that it doesn't have a 5 point harness. 

Some of my favourite things:
-It's so light I can, (and have) lifted it into the shower if we have a crazy mess.
-No matter how dirty it gets after I wipe it down, it looks brand new. Which gives me loads of satisfaction. (I may have problems) 
-My suction bowls always stick. 
-The legs come off making it super portable.
-Little Charlie is sitting up well on a good angle and can reach her foods. 
-It was $30, with the tray. Seriously buy it.

Before 8 months Charlie was having a lot of finger foods, but since eating 3 meals a day she has been eating what we eat, with her hands out of a suction bowl, I use these ones.

Since Charlie choked I have been holding back more than before, cutting things up smaller than before. She seems to gag more than she was, or maybe I just notice it more now because I'm not as relaxed. I'll give you a run down of what Charlie is eating now.

Breakfast:
- Toast with mashed banana or dairy free butter.
- Cereal, organic pure puffed corn, or  puffed rice with rice milk or soy milk. I microwave it so it goes soft before giving it to her.
- Fruit, banana whole or mashed with avocado.

Lunch:
Soy yogurt, sometimes mixed with fruit puree.
Tuna in oil, in chunks on the tray.
toast.
Left over tea, most days.

Tea:
Beef casserole with couscous, she loved it and couscous works really well in a casserole to bind it together making it great for little hands.
chicken casserole, in the slow cooker, it works well because the meat and veggies are the perfect texture for BLW
Mince with mashed potato and peas, because she shoves handfuls of food in at once the potato seemed a bit claggy and she gagged a lot, I just need to keep giving her water to wash it down. Next time I'll be adding more mice milk to make the mash runny.
Chicken kebabs with salad, chicken breast cooked on the BBQ in olive oil and oregano, I grated carrot and cucumber for the salad. I also broke up the chicken before putting it into her bowl.
Roast chicken, with pumpkin, sweet potato and steamed carrot and zucchini. Roasts are the best BLW meal the veggies are the perfect size. I always give charlie leg meat that's moist rather than breast which can become hard to swallow or I give her breast meat but break it up.
Spaghetti Bolognese, I cut up the spaghetti, she loved sucking the little bits of pasta up, very cute.

So there you have it at 8 months old Charlie is eating what we eat at each meal, I don't add salt to anything if I know she's going to be eating it. Sometimes this means taking out her portion first. Overall it means we are eating far less salt which is great, salt seems to sneak its way into your life and it's not until you really look at your diet you realise, and your taste does adjust rather quickly.

It is pretty amazing watching Charlie eat, considering it's only been two weeks since she has been using a bowl, she is learning so quickly. She pins the food and her mouth against the side of the bowl and scoops it in, then she picks it out of the bib if it drops in there, Ha! I plan on doing a video soon so you can watch how she eats.
The mess is almost unbearable, luckily Nutella (my dog) helps with some of that. She is getting fat, no joke soon I'll have to stop her eating all the scraps.

Are you doing baby led weaning? I'd love to follow your journey.





4 comments:

  1. She's so beautiful!! Those eyes are just amazing!

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  2. I am totally going to get that high chair for my next little one! We did do BLW a little, but I was working full time at the time and I wasn't able to supervise everything he ate (my in-laws pretty much fed him what they wanted to and not what I sent in his bag every day). Sounds like your little one has an awesome menu!

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  3. That's pretty much what we've been doing for our little man's belly:-) Super messy and super adorable! xoxo

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  4. Wow, good job on starting Charlie on solids! oh man, seriously, nobody told me how MESSY it is feeding baby :)

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