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In this post, I will discuss my favorite BLW products and I wanted to start this series off with a disclaimer that I am not a dietitian, a child development specialist, or any other type of child professional. I am just sharing what worked for me and my baby.
If you don’t know what BLW is, it is an acronym for Baby Led Weaning. This is a way to feed your baby, after they show signs of readiness, by skipping the purees and going straight to finger food.
Table of Contents
The signs of readiness for baby led weaning is
- Sitting up with little or no support
- Able to hold their head steady
- Be able to reach out and grab things
- Bring objects to mouth
- Be making gnawing and chewing movements
6 months is about the age that babies are ready for solid food. I started my daughter with solids using purees through the advice of her doctor. She really struggled. Cora Belle kept grabbing the spoon and wanted to do it herself. She also kept pushing away the spoon when I would actually put it to her mouth.
I was struggling trying to introduce foods to her so I did some research. I came across baby led weaning and it taught me so much. From my research, I learned that she was not ready at 6 months. She wasn’t even ready when she hit 6 months with her adjusted age. My daughter was ready for food when she was 8 months.
It wasn’t until she was 8 months that she started making the chewing motions and could sit up on her own. It is so important to follow your baby’s lead and there is no rush for food. Although it is really exciting for you, as a parent, to share your favorite foods with your baby, it is so important that you follow your baby’s lead. If you try to start solids before they are ready they will have a very hard time with it.
This is the first post in this series and in this one, I will share my favorite BLW products. If you would like to follow the rest of this series be sure to subscribe here. (UPDATE: click here to read my second post). Once you do you will be able to stay up to date on this series and also any of my new posts.
High Chair
I love this high chair from IKEA for baby led weaning. It is so budget-friendly and easily portable. It is super easy to clean. My only complaint is there is no footrest. You can buy a footrest on Etsy but I just use an exercise booty band as my redneck fix to the footrest problem. Eventually, I’ll get a footrest but that is the least of my worries right now.
Suction Silicone Plates
I love these plates for baby led weaning. They stick to the tray of the highchair and it prevents your baby from pulling it off and throwing it on the floor. The best way to keep it sticking is the make sure the tray is completely clean from crumbs and spills and the bottom of the plate is clean as well. They have sections for you to place each food. They can even go in the dishwasher!
Silicone Bib
I LOVE these bibs for baby led weaning. I will never ever go back to fabric bibs again. They catch all the food your baby drops from their mouth. They are dishwasher safe. I have nothing bad to say about these bibs.
Straw Cup
I originally used a different sippy cup but my daughter got so frustrated with it. She was sucking really hard but she could never get anything out of it. I then found this one. My daughter loves it. The handles make it so easy for her to hold herself and be able to take a drink while eating all by herself. The straw is weighted so whatever way they tip the cup they are still able to get water out.
Mat Under High Chair
This is a LIFESAVER for me. Whoever built our apartment decided it was a good idea to install carpet where the dining table should go. Drives me crazy! I can’t tell you how many times this mat has saved me from hours of scrubbing stains out of the carpet. You are able to use this on hardware floors as well. This mat makes clean up so easy. I can also throw the mat into the washer and dryer.
Spoons & Forks
I love these. For the first little bit, I just gave her a fork and spoon and placed them on her tray. I just let her play with it and play with her food with it. Recently, I started to put food on the fork and spoon for her once a meal starts to try and encourage her to use the utensils.
I hope these BLW products will help you out on your baby led weaning journey as much as they helped me out. Do you have any that you would add to the list? Tell me below. I also hope to see you in my next post where I share what I feed my baby.
