Baby Led Weaning

When my daughter was getting ready to do solids (4 months), we had got a whole bunch of commercialized baby food so I used it. However, the more I researched the less I liked what was in them so I decided to make my own baby food. I had made so much and had to throw much of it away since after a month of eating puree, she was ready to start eating "regular" food. With my son, I did start him on some purees (I took what we were having for veggies and mash it) but he was very determined to feed himself so I decided to give him larger pieces of soft food for him to pick up and feed himself (around 6 months). He did awesome with it and we did away with purees.

At Pettengill Academy, we do baby lead weaning as long as the parents are ok with and so far the babies have loved having the independence to feed themselves and the exposure to new foods and textures. As with all beginning feeding, we try to stick with the same food for a couple of days just to make sure we do not get reactions.

Some foods that we use quite frequently at Pettengill Academy:
yogurt
apple sauce
bananas
toast/English muffins
variety of fresh fruit
hard boiled eggs/egg whites
cottage cheese
raisins
pancakes/waffles
cheese
cracker type foods
Steamed Veggies
Raw veggies
pastas
Dried fruit

As the children getting better with feeding, they usually eat what we are eating just cuts up in to smaller pieces to help them not stuff to much food in their mouths and to help them chew easier. There are foods NOT to give your child:
Honey
Salt
Runny Eggs
Raw meat
Also try to stay away from sugary processed foods.

The biggest thing is allow your child to explore with their food. It is ok for them to mush it up and play with it, they are learning while they are doing this!

I found this resource from http://www.letyourbabiesfeedthemselves.com/ that you can print and bring with you to your child's childcare of this is something you want to try or do at home already!
http://www.letyourbabiesfeedthemselves.com/daycare.pdf.