As Harper approaches her first birthday, I am enjoying reflecting over the past year. This blog has been a great way for me to document Harper’s growth and development and to share our experiences with others. After reading through some of my past posts, I wanted to give you an update on how things are going. Especially since a lot of the parenting methods we practice are considered to be more alternative. My goal is to offer insight as well as provide support to other families who are on a similar journey.
Back in November, I shared our experience with starting solids. In that post I explained that we had chosen to follow the Baby Led Weaning (BLW) approach. If you are unfamiliar with this idea or would like to read more, feel free to familiarize yourself with the respective links.
As a breastfed baby, the primary source of Harper’s nutrition should come from breast milk for the first year. Solids are merely a compliment to nursing, meant more for exploration of tastes, and textures. So when Harper decided she wasn’t that interested in solid foods at first, I wasn’t worried because I knew her nutritional needs were being met through my milk. Over time, as she has developed more teeth, she is slowly becoming more intrigued by food.
So what does BLW look like for us? Well, we try to eat all our meals together as a family. I will always offer Harper a small portion of whatever we are eating by putting it on her high chair. This way she can decide what she is ready to explore. It works best for us to feed Harper part of our family meal, and she seems to like that too. She would always want to grab whatever was on our plates anyways, so it made sense to all eat the same thing instead of preparing something different for her.
With BLW, there are no real rules as long as the baby is the one initiating the feeding. As her parent, I am responsible for providing her with healthy choices, but from there she can discover what things she likes and what things she doesn’t like. And to be honest, when it comes to “adult food” there is not much she won’t eat. Some of Harper’s favorites include bacon, apple slices, green beans and asparagus spears. Oh, and carbs. She loves carbs. Bread, crackers, pretzels, you name it. But then again, she is my daughter :) She has also recently been into all of the soups I have been making. And for breakfast, although it tends to get very messy, she often enjoys feeding herself yogurt.
What’s next for Harper in her BLW journey? Who knows? That is all up to her. In the meantime, we will continue to offer her different foods and let her be the guide. The important thing is that she is a healthy girl who is enjoying the discovery of new tastes and textures.
If you would like to read more on starting solids, here are a few sights that I have found helpful.
Also, if you are interested in BLW but need some help with what to feed your little one, check out these tasty recipes.
In Her Chucks 
Harper looks like she loves yougurt. Yum
She sure does :)