baby-led weaning update

I posted a couple months ago about our first weeks with baby-led weaning (BLW). At that time Nate was not accepting spoon feeds, so we were going down the BLW route and he was just getting used to the idea of food, but not swallowing much of it. 

Since then a lot has changed. Nate now eats 3 meals a day with snacks in between. And since we realised a while ago that he enjoyed being spoon fed his breakfast of porridge or wheatabix, we have been introducing some purees along with the finger foods. The BLW purists would say that we are not baby-led weaning since we are occasionally spoon feeding Nate, but I have come to the conclusion that I don't care. I enjoy spoon feeding him every once in a while, especially when we are eating out because it's less messy and I know that he is filling his tummy. He is great at feeding himself, but he can also take a spoon feed, and in my opinion that is the best of both worlds.

Generally for breakfast Nate will have porridge or wheatabix with milk and some fruit. Lunch is usually toast, fruit, vegetables, and rice cakes or bread sticks. And dinner we tend to just give him a little of whatever we are having either as finger food or mashed up a little. His favourite things to eat are bread sticks, oranges,  salmon, pineapple, yogurt, spaghetti bolognese, and broccoli. For snacks we give him fruit or little rice puffs treats. 

It has been so enjoyable watching Nate improve his eating skills each week. He is getting good at picking up little cheerios with his finger and thumb, putting them in his mouth, and eating them.  It's incredible the progress he has made in the past few weeks with moving food around his mouth, chewing it and swallowing it.

In the last week he has been increasing the amount of solids he eats to the point that his nursing in the day has drastically reduced. Yesterday he even went the entire day without a breastfeed because we were travelling and I didn't get a chance to sit down and feed him. I expected him to get fussy and require a breastfeed, but he never asked for it. 

He still breastfeeds just as much at night and in the morning, but I can't tell you how relieved I am that he has reduced his day time feeds gradually and naturally. It comforts me to know that next week when I go back to work for a couple days, he will be fine with just solid food and snacks until I get home.

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nathan - 8 months old

Today Nathan turns another month older and boy has it gone quick. A lot has happened this month. 

We have been struck down by illnesses. First it was a high fever for 3 days when Nate went completely off his food, then he got a bad cough which seemed to linger for ages and just as he started to get over that he caught another cold. It has been a constant germ attack and the poor boy really has been suffering. He still manages to crack a smile and laugh in between snotty noses and chesty coughs though.

Nate's waving has improved. He likes to wave at the dogs from across the room. His pincer grasp is getting better too. He can take out pieces from a wooden puzzle, which he loves! He is also quite good at picking up cheerios and putting them in his mouth; he doesn't chew them though, he puts them in and immediately spits them out.  Just the other day he also started clapping! It's the cutest thing - he puts his hands together so delicately that there is no sound and the look on his face is of pure excitement - adorable. 

Tummy time is becoming more enjoyable for Nate as he learns to lift up his whole chest and pivot around using his legs. He can bend his knees and stick his bum in the air, but hasn't figures out how to lift his bum and chest at the same time. He occasionally pushes up into a mini push-up then scoots backwards. He also lunges forward onto his stomach from a sitting position in order to get something out of his reach, so I don't think it will be long until he starts crawling, but it's hard to say. 

Nate likes to copy people now. He will wiggle his body from side to side when he sees someone dancing. He will copy sounds too but not words yet. He has learned how to turn pages in book, not very accurately, mostly he ends up closing the book in his attempt, but he is getting there.

After he got over his illnesses, Nate's appetite improved and he is getting a lot better at eating different foods. He loves toast, salmon, sausages, bananas, yogurt, cheese and oatmeal. He really likes it when I give him the whole banana including the peel so that he can grab it better and get down to business. He isn't the biggest eater though and doesn't finish what I put in front of him. It can get frustrating at times because I am wasting so much food, but I know it's better to not force him to finish something if he doesn't feel like it. 

Sleeping is pretty much the same, however Nate did sleep through once for the entire night (7pm - 7am) without waking up. This was when he had a very high fever though and he wasn't eating much at the time, so I think he just didn't have the energy to get up. I ended up waking up at 5am in a panic and went to check on him; he was fine, but I couldn't get back to sleep. He hasn't slept that long since.  I don't mind though because I know that he is feeling better. 

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