BLW OR GUIDED COMPLEMENTARY FEEDING: TIPS FOR PRACTICE

What is the best method for the baby to learn to eat? More and more parents are signing up to the Baby-led Weaning (BLW) method or complementary feeding guided by the baby. Do you know all the recommendations we should follow when putting it into practice? Both to ensure your safety, and to give you a healthy and balanced diet. We'll tell you next.

Guidelines for starting the baby-led weaning method

If your baby is already 6 months old, it's time to integrate it into family food. Babies learn by imitation and being with us, sitting at the table, will offer you the best example of how you should do things. You will be curious about textures and flavors: let him be interested in what you eat.

Let him take the food with his own hands, that he can investigate textures and savor

Put within your reach healthy food. Let him take it with his own hands or offer it yourself in his hand. At first, it is best to offer soft food. The pieces must be somewhat larger than your fist so that he sucks without fear of being attractive. Little by little we will vary the size and consistency of food. Stay tuned for your progress, the rhythm is marked by the child.

They can also be offered small size food, such as peas or rice. If the baby has enough skill to take it by himself and bring it to his mouth, it is likely that he has also matured enough to swallow it without problems.

Cook the same for everyone and separate the baby part before seasoning and add ingredients that you still do not take

It is important Offer water during meals. If your baby feeds on breast milk, he may reject it. Do not worry. Many infants prefer to regulate themselves with the breast by taking short and frequent shots to ingest the part of the most watery maternal intake, that of the beginning.

Milk is still the main food of the child up to 12 months, so you should not reduce his shots and continues to offer the breast on demand. Do not be overwhelmed, he alone will gradually reduce the amount as the intake of solids increases.

Most babies want to eat the same as their parents. It is natural, the little one looks at everything you do and you are his best example. Cook the same for everyone and separate the baby part before seasoning and add ingredients that you still do not take. Depending on what has been cooked, it can be offered directly or it must be adapted by chamfering, splitting or cutting it into pieces of the appropriate size.

Try Establish a schedule and routine. Sit down to eat when you are not too hungry or tired. If you have to make a lot of effort, you will be frustrated with almost total security. It is important that children associate positive feelings with food.

The BWL does not confer any importance on Food introduction order. After 6 months, the only nutrient that a baby can miss is iron. Therefore, the ideal is to start your solid diet by offering foods rich in this mineral such as cereals, peas, broccoli or chicken.

Security measures

One of the biggest concerns parents have when carrying out the BWL is The fear of choking. In reality, most babies have enough capacity to manage food in their mouths by themselves after 6 months.

Normally when they choke they are able to throw the food out again through coughs or arcades, but there are certain guidelines that we can follow to avoid having a "bad drink":

Feel the baby upright. With your back straight and facing the table, checking that your posture is stable and that you can use your hands and arms without restrictions. To ensure that your position is correct, it is best to use a highchair suitable for your age and size such as the Polly Magic highchair, from 0 to 3 years old, which allows you to have a high and safe position to see everything. You can use its wide tray to put food within reach.
Not covered, thanks. Neither will know how to use or are safe for the baby at this stage. Dispense with them completely. Let the little one take the food with their own hands. In this first stage, it is essential to establish the pillars of a healthy and pleasant relationship with food. The sensations you get in your first contacts with her will lay the foundations for all your subsequent feeding. And eating with your fingers is much more fun!

Food with adequate texture and size. The most suitable are whole foods of small size (such as peas or chickpeas) or larger and softer pieces that exceed the size of your own fist (a cooked potato, a piece of broccoli, a piece of roasted pumpkin or sweet potato, etc.)
Do not force him to eat. You should not put food in his mouth or force him to eat ever. You could put a piece of inappropriate size or too deep for you to manage. In the best case, he will get angry and refuse round to continue eating. Since your main food at this stage of its development is still milk, do not worry if at first you do not eat too many solids. Be patient, at first you may just want to experiment and play with food.
Out distractions. When they get distracted, the risk of choking increases. Do not distract him when he is eating, let him concentrate. Do not play at the table or turn on the television.
Never leave him alone eating. Accidents happen, even if they are rare. Being with the baby you can solve it quickly.

And what do I do if I choke?

The first thing we should do in this case is keep calm. We will wait a few seconds to see if the baby can solve it alone. Normally, he ejects the piece of food by his own means.

If it costs you, we can always encourage you by showing you how to do it so you can imitate us. We will cough and purse to set an example, but we will never hit him on the back since we could make the situation worse.

It is important to feel and be safe while the baby eats alone, to convey tranquility

If after a few seconds, the child does not get expelled or worsens the situation, we will act quickly making a Heimlich maneuver (video).

It is a very simple maneuver that we should know how to do, whether the Baby Led Weaning is used or not, since babies are put in their mouths and can choke playing with any object.

It is important to be aware to feel and show us safe and calm while the baby manipulates the food and eats alone. The children immediately capture the sensations of their immediate surroundings and we will not benefit anything if we transmit our nervousness.

10 healthy foods to start with the BLW

The first few days it is normal to be a little lost about what we can give the baby. Here is a list of suggestions with healthy and suitable foods to start with the BLW, preparation recommendations and advice on how to offer them:

Potato, sweet potato, zucchini or squash cooked or roasted in fried potato strips. You can also offer them in large pieces, somewhat superior to his little hand.
Green beans or cooked peas.
Broccoli. Give it the branch, but do not cook it too much so that it does not melt in your hand as soon as you touch it.
Carrot cooked or roasted in strips.
Avocado in half moons. It will be difficult for him to eat it if he is very mature, but he will have a great time crushing him and sucking his fingers!
Salt-free bread In pieces somewhat larger than his fist.
Saltless rice
Cooked macaroni.
Melon or watermelon in strips.
Banana. Offer pieces large enough so you can't put them in your mouth.

Actually, the first days you will need Very little food. Do not overwhelm or despair. Put a little on the plate: two or three potato sticks, two sprigs of broccoli, three macaroni ... At first, babies play with food, experiment with its texture, and put everything lost! Be patient, sensory stimuli are a rich source of information for them. Over time, you'll know how much he needs.

Practical advice not to stain everything

When you start with the BLW, your little one will be 6 months or more and he will be improving his fine motor skills and the coordination of his little hands every day. But he still grabs with his hand everything he catches ahead, sometimes he doesn't hit and throws things on the ground, he releases what he has taken and does not control his strength or where he directs what he takes.

So that the clothes are not stained you can use long sleeve plastic bibs which you can then wash under the tap, with a cloth or a damp cloth.

The high chair is useful to delimit the space where you must manipulate your food. Chicco's Polly Magic is evolutionary. It is approved from birth, and can be used as a hammock from the first day, and includes a bar with hanging toys to stimulate the baby. At 6 months it will serve as a high chair, and from 12 months it will become a chair appropriate to its size, so you can share the time of the meal with the rest of the family. In addition, its seat adjustable in 6 positions, adapts to any table and accompanies the child in their growth.

It is also advisable cover your little legs and the high chair with old and disused clothes. Do not use towels, napkins, gauze or tablecloths that you appreciate because fruit stains are very persistent. Another option is to undress the child and leave him alone with the diaper if the weather and the season allows it. After eating clean it with a sponge and go.

Another good idea that will facilitate the inevitable cleaning after the meal, consists of place a rubber under your high chair, to prevent the child from dirtying the floor with food scraps.

The BLW is much easier than it seems and with these practical tips you will see how once you start, your little one will enjoy the meal time every day.