BABY LED SOLIDS (BLS): SWEET POTATO

Did you know that you don't have to puree food when introducing solids to your 6-month-old?

I recall reading a bit about baby led solids (AKA baby led weaning) when I was pregnant with James, but as a first time mom I was too scared to break from the "norm" and try it. Steaming and pureeing all James' foods worked really well for us, for a really long time. He had a great appetite from the start and was willing to eat all sorts of things. And it was cool to know exactly how much he was eating at each meal (since when I nursed him, I had no way of knowing how many ounces of milk he was drinking). The problem arose when he was older and was "suppose" to be eating foods with more texture. He didn't LIKE texture. So we kept on pureeing his fruits and veggies. Forever. OK, not really, but for a LONG time. Then he went through a phase where he wouldn't let us feed him, yet wouldn't eat any fruits or veggies that weren't pureed and couldn't use a spoon successfully by himself, so then he wasn't really eating much of anything (nutritious) at all. Not fun. In fact, he STILL won't eat veggies unless they're cooked to mush and hidden in sauces or other foods...

So, now that we're "experienced" parents (ha!), Jay and I have decided to go the baby led solids route with Cora. There is more information (and examples, and recipes) available about the practice these days (for example, the Adventures in Solid Food blog, KellyMom.com and BabyCenter.com, WholesomeBabyFood.com, and even Wiki). It works for all babies, but is especially well received by breastfed infants, as they are already experienced at controlling the pace and portion of their meal, and have already been exposed to many different flavors through the breastmilk. I admit, I was shocked when I watched the video of tiny little Buttercup (of the Adventures in Solid Food blog) eating slices of pear with no teeth, but I was also intrigued. Could Cora do this to? Would she be better about eating textures if we skip the purees? Will she learn to use a spoon earlier if we let her start feeding herself sooner?

Well, we figure it's worth a shot. If she (or we) don't respond well to the method, we can always do purees at that point. For now, Cora is starting solids at her own pace. And her first taste tonight, at 5 months and 28 days old, was sweet potato:

Getting excited about all this sweetness!

Double-fisting those slippery bites:

Learning to eat solid food is hard work!

We have absolutely no idea how much she ate, but it probably wasn't much. I suppose we'll find out in her diaper tomorrow! We baked a whole, huge sweet potato, let it cool, then cut off the end for tonight (saving the rest for another meal, or three...). We peeled and quartered it (cutting it into the recommended "strip" form so she could grip them better). We ended up giving Cora 3 of the "slices". As you saw, she busted them to pieces immediately. I was pretty surprised to see her use her finger and thumb together a few times (we didn't know she could do that). And she didn't gag once, which was certainly a relief to me, even though I know it's likely to occur at some point as she learns to chew and swallow food. We knew she was done when she started hanging over the edge of her highchair and fussing. Easy enough cue, eh? Then she came right over to me to nurse (again, since I had just fed her before dinner). The next few months are going to be very interesting as we go through this adventure with her!