Baby Led Weaning

See www.babyledweaning.com for details, if new to this concept.

With The Little Girl, we did not apply this 100% as we were spending half the week at The House. It would have caused The Grandparents too much distress and mess, and I had too little time to wipe down everything at every meal. 

So I cheated improvised.

On days when we were at The House, I fed her purée. Life was not easy as my MIL didn't enjoy her kitchen being shared, and we have two kitchens! I ended up doing double the work by steaming, making purée and freezing them in portions to bring to The House from the then apartment. At meal times, I had the frozen cubes thawed and reheated (same amount of work and time as cooking them fresh on my Beabacook). No wonder I was so slim.

Oh, the suffering I used to bear with just because of not having my own space and freedom...but Allah s.w.t.is Kind and has removed that obstacle for me, for which I am eternally grateful!

So let me share with you how I "cheated" "improvised". 

On days when we were at our own place, I'd let The Little Girl feed herself with steamed, bite-size, "not likely to choke or gag size" food. Mostly pumpkin, carrot, broccoli, apple, pear, banana and occasionally treat of Heinz organic biscotti.

She loved it!

Messy? Well, we had the IKEA Antilop high chair. Removing the tray to be washed was relatively easy. The pelican bib was also comparatively easier to wash compared to purée mushy wet stains. Usually whatever crumbs that fell into the pelican bib was just be put through the insinkerator then the pelican bib itself wiped down and washed.

Now, I'd share with you how I further "cheated" "improvised" when out and about.

Organic jar food. Try travelling on long haul flights with nothing suitable to eat and hungry baby! Not much fun, I can confess. We brought along fresh bananas/apples with skin on. Except Australia. Nothing gets pass the immigration/quarantine. England is "more understanding" of baby needs.

In conclusion, we did not employ just one strict method. After all, eating is a mix of different cuisines requiring different skills, no? Don't be too hung up on quantity, just be sure to serve up the best quality food. No salt. No colouring. No sugar. No flavouring. No preservatives. That is a lot of NO!

My key consideration back then for The Little Girl (and will apply to Bean):

- She sure nursed through it all so I wasn't too worried about her calorie count etc. Breastmilk would have covered whatever shortfall in her diet.

- She ate breakfast, lunch, tea, dinner and sometimes even supper with us.

- She pooped and peed well.

This time with Bean, I guess we will employ the same mix. Some traditional and some baby led. Depends on what we will be eating and where we will be, I guess.

Recent research point toward early weaning at 4 months but Bean is not sitting upright as yet so I am not feeding him. Simple rule - avoid choking. After all, Prophet Muhammad s.a.w. said not to eat lying down...

Bean has his whole lifetime ahead of him to enjoy food and drink, so why rush him when he is not ready? Chillax!

Have fun feeding your little one. May Allah s.w.t. bestow berkat to all those nutritious and delicious meals!