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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