BLW Situation

BLW = Baby Led Weaning.

This is how I am introducing solids to Tesla even though her pediatrician has told me to to start with rice cereal. I mentioned I wanted to do BLW instead and he told me to stick to our plan. I can't understand why.

Tradition dictates that I must buy iron-fortified baby rice cereal, prepare it at home, add enough formula to make it runny, and spoon feed it into her little mouth. That is just too unnatural and breaks the laws of nature in my opinion.

Baby Led Weaning is the opposite approach. Instead of boiling fruits and vegetables and pureeing the shit out of them, (or worse, giving her jar food from the store) I'm currently giving her raw produce to suck and gnaw on. She has no teeth, she's not supposed to eat it. She's supposed to explore the food, the texture and the taste of it. She's supposed to hold it in her hand and bring to her mouth herself.

She's just 5 months old right now, so there's no reason for her even eat solids yet. When she turns 6 months, I'll start giving her foods she can safely ingest and digest by herself. Things like steamed vegetables, soft fruits or lightly baked fruits, and also chicken and beef. Depending on what it is, she'll be given a chunk or a strip to hold on to and play with and eat.

But won't she choke? you ask. No, she won't. BLW babies learn to chew first and swallow second, like how you should ingest food. When a baby is ready, she'll move the food to the back of her throat to be swallowed. A sign she's not ready, is gagging. Gagging is not choking. Gagging is when the food has moved too far back and the baby's not ready to swallow, so she gags to move it back up to the front. It's a very smart defense mechanism so that the baby does not choke for real.

In the rare event your baby starts to choke and stops breathing, which can actually happen more easily to a spoon fed baby since they're learning to swallow first and chew second, you start the baby Heimlich maneuver.

But won't she be nutrient deficient since she's not ingesting much food on her own? you ask. No, she consumes all the calories and nutrients she needs in her daily bottles. The real food is a bonus until she's a year old. I don't understand why she would need iron-fortified rice cereal when her formula is already iron fortified and rice is void of any nutritional value, plus it's constipating.

It makes better sense to give her foods that are high in vitamins and minerals instead, like avocado or sweet potato. If my baby didn't get enough to eat, I'd hear about it from her anyway. Babies know when they're hungry and they know when they're full. By allowing my baby to feed herself, I'm not interfering with that ecosystem. She'll naturally stop when she's had enough. Spoon fed babies aren't always granted that same privilege. Parents like to top up their babies, or get their baby to eat just one more bite. If that mentality continues, there's a higher likelihood of childhood obesity.

 I have been researching this since I was pregnant. It's the safest, most logical approach to introducing Tesla to the foods she'll be eating for the rest of her life. BLW babies have a wider taste palate, thus consume more healthy foods later on in life, are more self-aware, thus won't be as likely to overeat later on in life, and are generally more independent.

I just don't understand why Tesla's pediatrician would try to steer me away from this. So many parents have had success. I have scoured the internet for naysayers, problems, backlash, anything, and I couldn't find it. He never provided any medical reason to not do it. So, I'm just going to do it anyway.