When to Start Finger Foods for Babies

Baby-Led Weaning, or BLW, is a perfectly simple and natural method of extending a baby’s diet. It is based on the baby’s decisions on what and how much to eat, controlled by parents. It helps the baby gradually become independent in the nutritional sphere, from breast milk or Organics Best baby formula to solid foods consumed at the table. The method involves bypassing the mash and spoon feeding stage and offering the child a choice of what to eat. Let’s figure out how exactly it works.

When to Start Using BLW?

The use of BLW can be started in the sixth month of the baby’s life. More precisely, when the baby can sit steadily, grasp products with the fingers, and lead its hand to its mouth. Your baby’s body is ready to accept foods other than breast milk or Organics Best baby formula. Of course, some kids are ready to expand their diet with regular products a little earlier, while others are a little later.

How to Start Finger Foods?

Buy a high chair, move it to the common table, and slowly include the child in family meals. Place a clean mat under the chair for the products falling from the table. You can also use a regular cloth, but a clean mat allows you to give what has fallen while eating to your baby again. Let the baby eat with its fingers from the beginning and gradually help it to get used to using cutlery. Instead of mixed vegetable soup or fruit, give your kid a plate of vegetables that it would eat in this soup but cut into easy-to-grasp sticks or small pieces.

Initially, be it mush or normal food, the baby only learns the tastes, so the first meals do not lead to overeating. Don’t worry that your baby eats little and spreads most of the food. So it has to be. Your baby’s main food is milk for at least a year. “Food is just for fun until they are one,” don’t forget this.

Reasons to Use Baby-Led Weaning

Now, let’s look at some benefits of using Baby Led Weaning.

The Baby’s Senses Development

It is worth using the infant’s natural motivation to explore the world and collect information about it. By introducing mush, we deprive the baby of the joy of eating. Nothing is juicy, crunchy, or sticky. Everything has the same texture but a different flavor. Food appears immediately in the throat and prevents the baby from learning to chew. Children fed with finger foods first experiment with the products, check what they feel like, and what sound they make, and then taste them. Besides, the baby controls what is in its mouth and is more quickly aware of the “movement” of food.

The Baby’s Motor Skills Development

Children allowed to experiment with food have better hand-eye coordination. Early learning to chew and swallow food is of great importance, according to speech therapists.

Family Diet Revision

Shaping a child’s diet using the BLW method is a good reason to think about your own diet and possibly change it to a healthier one. Following the basic principles of healthy eating, you do not cook the baby separately but share what you have on your plate.

Decreased Probability of Baby to Become a Fussy Eater

Using BLW, you will likely not grow the so-called fussy eater. There is no bustle around the meals. The parent’s task is to provide food and create conditions for eating it, and the baby independently decides whether and how much to eat. We assume that a healthy body will not starve itself. Children who eat according to BLW do not eat capriciously and usually choose the healthier option, provided that their parents propose it to them.

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