The Baby-Led Weaning Basics

Hello readers, your blogger Monika is back with another informative article. So how many of you heard about BLW is Baby-Led Weaning. I was not aware of it when Kashvi was born.

Baby-led weaning (BLW) is an alternative method to initiate your baby to their early foods. It counts on offering baby-sized pieces of normal foods rather than giving them in form of purées, starting around 6 months of age.

I met my cousin Garima and Jill recently and I observed a vast formation of differences between their child and my child Kashvi. They all are of similar age. Yet their eating habits and activities surprised me. They both are following the BLW method for their child.

My curiosity didn't end there so I remembered my cousin Garima told me about the same. So I called her up and asked her about BLW in detail. I know some mothers know about it but I am sure there will be some who are like me.

She told me that the doctor introduced Baby Led Weaning  (BLW). Even her baby was not eating properly which cause cleanliness, poor eating habits, and lack of sleep. BLW works great if you start as early as a child turns 6months old.

General guidelines you can use for your child in the BLW method

• Home food: Home food is the best for children. Even if you are introducing porridge to the child, it should be homemade. 
• No packed/tinned food: Completely avoid packed food. They claim to give nutrition but give more harm due to high contain sugar or sodium.
• Avoid giving only liquid: Many starts with only water of dal, rice water, soups, and juices. One must try giving pulp or soft versions. Even you can give solid food. Just prepare it very softly so that child can eat it. You can give poha,upma, dhokla, child, etc.
• Avoid giving cooked fruits: Freshly cut fruits can be given in grated form or mashed using a spoon rather than cooked fruits.

• Avoid Refined Flour: It can be biscuits, cakes, pastries, noodles, chocolates, bread, refined flour (maida) products, tea, coffee, or aerated drinks.
• No distraction: Say no to any kind of distraction while meal times (No toys/no books/no singing/no dancing/ no mobile/no entertainment during meal times).
• No force-feed: You should not force-feed your child. The Baby's appetite may vary or they might not like the meal.
• Family mealtimes: Family mealtime encourages the child to eat more than eating alone. So make sure you give that environment. This way child explores different meals on the table.
• Make a proper structure for mealtimes: Assign a designated place, table, and cues. You can tell that it's mealtime and let’s wash our hands, make the babysit in her booster chair in 90-90-90 position, then wear her bib, serve meals, then say a prayer before the meal and then start.
• Discuss the food being served: Eg: Describe how the food looks, feels, smells,s and sounds as you chew. For example, Mango, is yellow, tastes sweet, and smells fruity. It is soft.
• Fix the meal time: Don't sit for hours for a meal. Limit meals to max 30 minutes and snacks max 15-20 minutes.

I know it looks like many things but when I asked Garima how did she manage to do it? She said it was tough for me but when I see the difference now I feel every effort I put in was worth this. Yes, it requires time and patience, but in the end, when you see your child grow happily, it wins the heart of every mother.