Baby led weaning has been a long road for us.
We started back in October of last year when Hen was just over seven months old.
For the most part “eating” was still just a matter of picking things up, maybe (maybe!) putting it in his mouth and then spitting it out.
And slowly but surely we moved onto bigger and better things.
Flash forward nine months and I worried that Henry was getting bored with what we were feeding him. He had done great and was now eating 3 meals a day, but he had started getting tired of the tiny, cut up pieces of pork and vegetables we’d give to him; I’d make things into small, bite size pieces and he’d casually wipe them to the side, pushing them off his high chair and demanding something else.
And then the other day I had an idea, and I gave him a whole apple. Not the sliced and de-peeled pieces I’d been giving him and that he’d slowly grown bored with, but a whole apple. And he loved it. Granted, he didn’t eat the whole thing (it looked more like a hamster had taken a few chunks out of it at best), but he loved holding the whole apple and taking bites out of wherever he wanted.
A few days later, when he was pushing aside the corn pieces I was giving him I decided to try the “whole food” idea again.
And waddayaknow, suddenly he loved it.
Beyond that I’ve done the same thing with chicken, giving him a big piece for him to hold with two hands and take bites out of, and it’s renewed his love for poultry.
So it turns out he wasn’t getting fussy after all, he just wanted to be a little more in control of handling his food and taking better advantage of his teeth. And just like that Henry reminded me that as soon as I get used to one thing with him, he goes out and grows and evolves and I’m going to need to do that right along with him. Go figure.
Thanks for the heads up! My daughter is around six weeks younger than Henry, and it seems like she starts doing what he’s doing a few weeks after you blog about things he’s into. And she does seem to be getting a bit bored with our usual BLW style.
We have dealt with complaining from him at dinner time too. He now has to have the exact same thing we are having or he gets upset. He still sometimes has to have if off of our plate even if it is the same. But finding out their quirks are fun sometimes. It is also still so much easier than making something different for them.
Oh my goodness! That picture of him and the corn is adorable. I love that you are so conscious of Henry’s wants and needs. You are a great mom!
This is one of Josh’s posts, but he is a great dad, you have that right for sure!