Gearing Up for Pizza

When it comes to raising babies, seems there's no end to the number of different theories - good or bad - out there. I've found that starting a baby on solids is no exception. While surfing the web on all things baby one day, I came across this approach called "Baby-Led Weaning".

The idea with baby-led weaning is that you let your baby lead the weaning process (I know what your thinking - "well, duh"). Instead of subjecting your little one to an endless barrage of U.P.Os (Unidentified Pureed Objects), baby is given an assortment of different finger foods which s/he feeds to him/herself. Common sense, of course, is used to choose what foods to offer. Baby is probably not quite ready for raw veggies and tough, chewy steaks. But choices like a bagel with hummus (one of Laykha's favorites) and steamed broccoli spears are all fair game. Apparently, a study done on this method found that babies following baby-led weaning were already enjoying pizza and sandwiches by 8 months.

I was taken to the approach because it seems very respectful to baby and teaches independence. Laykha would be a partner in the feeding process. It also gives baby exposure to a lot of different, yummy foods. With a few exceptions here and there, she can pretty much eat whatever we are eating.

I decided to give it a go and have been having a lot of fun with it! We've been blessed with a little one who seems to love to eat anything (heh - a blessing now, but will it be a curse later?) This morning, Laykha sampled banana, steamed sweet potato, steamed carrots and cinnamon-oatmeal pancakes. She has also dined on broccoli spears, peaches, poha (flattened rice), acorn squash, corn bread, bagels and hummus, dumplings, olives and many other delicacies.

In the beginning, I was a bit paranoid when it came to letting Laykha feed herself. She alway seemed to end up with an enormous mouthful of food - I had a really hard time trusting that she could mush it all up on her own. Here we are, though, 6 weeks later, and she's doing just fine. We've had a few gags here and there, but no choking episodes just yet. Bring on the pizza!