Baby-led weaning puts emphasis on exploring taste, texture, color and smell as the baby sets his or her own pace for the meal and choosing which food will he or she concentrate on. Instead of the traditional method of spooning puréed food into the baby’s mouth, the baby is presented with a plate of various finger foods from which to choose. Babies learn to eat solid foods effectively by watching and imitating others. Family members can contribute much to a positive weaning experience.

At six months old, babies learn to grab and chew their food so this is the ideal time to begin introducing finger food to them.  The introduction of solid foods to the baby’s diet generally begins during six months of age as his or her digestive system is not fully mature yet before that.

Self-feeding supports the baby’s motor development on many vital areas such as his or her hand-and-eye coordination and mastication or chewing. It encourages the child towards independence and often provides a stress-free alternative for meal times – for both the child and the parents. Some babies refuse to eat solids when offered with a spoon but happily feed themselves when allowed to take food by hands.

It is very important that baby-led weaning is started when the child shows developmental signs indicating that he or she is ready to cope with solid foods. The signs include when a baby is able to sit upright either on your lap, in a high chair or in an unsupported manner, or eager to participate in mealtime and always trying to grab food and putting it inside his or her mouth.

Many parents are afraid of giving their babies such finger food as they feel it may be dangerous for them. This is normal for parents to feel that way; it’s in their nature to feel protective. But babies who are weaned using the baby-led method are actually less likely to choke on their food as they don’t know how to chew. In turn, they do not learn to chew until they have learned to grasp objects and place them in their mouth. The baby’s general development keeps pace with his or her ability to manage food.

The basic principles of baby-led weaning include allowing the baby to reject food at the start of the process and may be offering it again at a later time as well as encouraging him or her to decide how much food he or she will eat. No ‘fill-ups’ using a spoon will be offered and the meals must not be hurried. Sips of water, soft fruits or vegetables may be given. Harder foods are lightly cooked to make them soft enough to chew. Foods with clear danger – such as peanuts – are not offered and non-finger-foods – such as oatmeal and yoghurt – may be given using a spoon so that the baby can learn to self-feed with the use of a spoon.

Babies are so special to each and every family. They bring us joy and happiness and we will do everything to look after our baby. Some Moms may even wish to make homemade food for their babies as they get older and move on to solids.

Here are some tips to follow in making your own baby food, as easy as A, B, C!

1.       Always consult your pediatrician before making homemade food for your baby.  What are the fruits and vegetables available which are nutritious and which can be tolerated by your baby. Give one new food at a time and try to follow the 4 day diet rule which is giving your baby the same food for four days to test for allergies.

2.      What should you give to your baby? This is a question moms like you should will always want to know! For your baby’s first food you might try avocado, squash, sweet potatoes, peas. They are available in the market or supermarket and loaded with vitamins. Wash the fruit or vegetable of your choice thoroughly to avoid food contamination.

3.      How to prepare?  In choosing what fruit or vegetable to prepare for our baby, we must make sure that it can easily be digested by them. Pureed food is highly recommended for babies.

4.      Is it clean? In preparing your homemade baby food, you must always consider how clean it is. Always wash your hands thoroughly.  The utensils you are going to use and the ingredients for your baby food must be washed thoroughly. Remember you are feeding your baby.

5.      Always bear in mind that your baby has special needs. Note down the fruits and vegetables you have prepared for your baby, which ones they liked and do not give them allergies.

With these tips, your baby will surely be healthy, and happy to have a mom like you!

On the outset, feeding babies is pretty much set in stone. You will either feeding them formula, or you will breastfeed (preferable). Formula is fine for feeding babies, but breast is so much better for them as it helps them along the way in building antibodies which of course help them to fight off illness.

Still, certain foods should be avoided when breastfeeding because what you eat can ultimately be passed along to the baby. Soft drinks that are loaded with caffeine are a definite no-no as the caffeine can be passed to the baby. Likewise there are a number of foods that can create problems for baby by making them “gassy” for lack of a better term. These foods include among others thing:

• Broccoli
• Onions
• Beans
• Even hot dogs or frankfurters

Once we get beyond the stage of just milk for feeding babies, we have to start considering solid foods, working our way up of course. This is an area where the baby’s doctor can guide those of you who are new moms but many people believe that at around 3 months or so you can begin mixing cereal with formula or breast milk for feeding babies. It is said that this will help babies to sleep longer at night and reduce the number of feedings necessary. Others contend that feeding babies anything of that nature should be withheld until about 6 months.

If the baby is crying a lot for feeding, then simply put, the breast milk or formula is not enough to keep them satistfied and adding cereal to the milk will help.

IMPORTANT NOTE – Feeding babies whole milk or any milk other than formula or breast milk before they are 1 year old. This can be dangerous to baby because his or her little body cannot properly break down the proteins produced in cow’s milk. In addition, whole milk contains too much potassium and sodium and makes the baby’s kidneys work harder than they should. This can be a major problem. Among other things that can happen, giving baby cow’s milk before it is time can result in the baby having low iron, and it can in fact cause allergic reactions and internal bleeding. This is not meant to scare, but to inform you of the consequences that may happen.

When you actually do begin introducing solid foods when feeding babies it should be things like the aforementioned cereals, pureed fruits and vegetables, etc. As you introduce each new food to baby, do so one at a time. You want to monitor the baby for any possible allergic reactions, and of course you will want to know what caused the reaction as well.

First introduction of any food should always be mashed well, or pureed. We want no chunks of anything that could potentially cause a choking hazard.

A great many people are beginning to see that producing baby food at home not only saves money, but it’s much healthier. Especially when you consider the fact that organic is better as there have been no pesticides used on them. Another reason being that there are no additives to prolong the life of the food and there are no fillers or artificial colors added either.

Making your own food for feeding babies is easy. The process is so simple in fact a child could do it! (one old enough to operate a stove, that is!) Simply cook the food as you normally would. It’s a good idea to leave out the added salt and other spices that you may use. When it is completely cooked (in the case of vegetables that is) then allow them to cool before moving on to the next process which is basically put them in the blender and setting it to puree. Mixing the puree can be done with water or breast milk if necessary, but in many cases you won’t need this unless you are pureeing meat or something along those lines.

It may seem to be additional work feeding babies with homemade baby food, but really there is only an additional step or two involved, and it’s so much healthier for the baby. Foods can be done in advance as well, and then frozen to use at a later time if you so desire. Be careful of heating however so as to not get it too hot for baby.

The first years of feeding babies are the most important. The baby is growing very fast and they are developing all over, including the brain. Take extra steps to ensure healthy development can set the tone for a healthy life overall. This healthy lifestyle starts at home and will follow baby into adulthood, so the patterns we set for baby now is likely the pattern they will follow as they grow.