Baby Food / Baby Self Feeding

The next frontier is fast approaching, baby food! But the days of little jars of mushy peas are now gone, the current baby eating concept is called "baby-led weaning", aka BLW; but many mothers like to refer to this as baby self feeding. Breastfeeding continues through this period, but starting at six months you can start introducing solid foods to baby.

Search American parenting sites for “baby-led weaning” and most of what you’ll find is advice on ending breastfeeding when the child chooses. But [here] in Britain, the term commonly means letting babies feed themselves from their very first mouthful of solid food at six months. No runny rice cereal, no applesauce, no airplane spoon games. Instead they start exclusively on easy-to-grab finger foods like steamed carrot sticks, hunks of banana, and even skinless chicken drumsticks, then progress at their own pace to more complex dishes. They share in family mealtimes and in the process, the theory goes, become more adventurous eaters comfortable with a variety of tastes and textures while acquiring a natural feel for portion control. It’s a method some American mothers use as well, but here, it’s a trend considered worthy of fierce debate.

Parents used to be told to introduce solids at four months, when babies weren’t physically capable of sitting up, grabbing objects and directing things to their mouths — all prerequisites for self-feeding. But since 2001, when the World Health Organization changed its recommendations, parents have been advised to hold off on solids until six months. At that age, advocates say, babies are developmentally ready to skip the mush. 

(From: http://parenting.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/01/27/trusting-a-baby-to-know-how-to-eat/)

I'm not anxious to start this at all and I don't need to be. I've seen firsthand in my breastfeeding support group when a mother of a just-turned six month old reached and grabbed voraciously for his mom's apple. Babies will tell you when they are ready! 

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