I know I love watching a good haul video don’t you?
I have 2 haul videos for you today! The 1st one I recorded over a month ago but never got around to posting it. The second one was recorded this week!
I found the shirt that I was talking about during haul. It fell on the floor! It’s cute though huh? Love all the bright colors and of course the stripes!
We’re only a month into our Baby Led Weaning journey but I already have a few favorite items that I wanted to share with you! This is more of an early stage list as I’m sure things will change up a bit as Weston gets more and more experience with solids. Although a few on the list will be sticking around for the long haul!
1. Big Mouth Bibs: HELLO! I love these things! By far my favorite item on the must have list! I’ve tried a few other bibs but these actually do what they promise! The “Big Mouth” part stays open unlike other bibs of this nature and catches all the food bits that fall. The bib itself is wide enough that I can leave his clothes on while he eats (yes baby led weaning is messy) and he stays relatively clean. I also love the materiel it’s made of; super easy to clean and it’s bendable so it doesn’t get in the way of his highchair or block his little hands while he eats. All of which were problems I came across with other pocket style bibs. Annnd yet another great thing about this bib, the pocket unsnaps. Yes I know, genius! This makes it tons easier to clean. Once we’ve gotten a couple uses out of it I just throw it in with Weston’s other laundry and it washes up great! I do wish the prints on the bibs weren’t so kidish but oh well! It is a babies. I bought our Big Mouth Bibs at Buy Buy Baby but you can also order them from Walmart and Amazon.
2. Innobbay Straw Cup: I was on the fence about this cup at first. I did some research before making the baby cup jump and decided to follow the new trend and say no to sippy cups as our transition cup. I know, I know, it’s something new every week but this made sense to me so I went for it. It took 5 days and a little trial and error but I can officially say that Weston can now drink from a straw which is kind of awesome! His ability to be able to drink from a straw is all because of this guy! I tried a couple other straw cups and yes even a sippy cup along the way but this one is by far my favorite! Love that it’s clear including the straw so I can see what’s going on in there! You know how gunk tends to collect in plastic straws. It even comes with a little cleaning kit. You can also purchase replacement parts which I thought was pretty neat. Its spill proof. Leak proof. It’s easy for him to drink out thanks to the weighted straw that keeps the flexible straw in the liquid. Seriously Weston has flipped this cup every which way and is still able to get water out of it. The other straw cup I tried was super hard to suck water out of. Especially for my impatient child. The negative about this little guy is that it’s not cheap. I bought ours at Buy Buy Baby and paid close to $14. Should have used a gosh darn 20% off coupon! Even though it isn't not cheap I will be buying a couple others. That says a lot coming from this cheap gal. I recommend removing the orange flip lid until your little one really gets the hang of holding it. It easily snaps back on when you’re ready to use it.
3. Annabel Karmel Mash and Serve Bowl: We used this quite often the fist couple of weeks. It makes it SUPER easy to mash things up a little for baby. As they get a little more experienced with solids this is something I don’t see us using as much. For now I use it to soften pears, avocados, even apricot chunks that aren’t quite ripe enough. I mush them just enough to soften them up a little but make sure to keep their texture. In the beginning I used this for everything we fed Weston. It’s a handy tool even for parents that are not doing baby led weaning. You can pretty much mash up anything in here. It’s easy to use and quick to clean. You can find it at Buy Buy Baby as well as Amazon.
4. Boon PULP Silicone Teething Feeder: Oh Boon you and all your awesome products! You’ve hit another one out of the park! This feeder is easy to use and very easy clean unlike its mesh counterpart! Are you noticing a theme here? I’m all about simplicity when it comes to this whole BLW thing. Everything on this list makes BLW just that more simple. Okay now onto the product. Weston loves this thing! He has no problem holding onto it and maneuvering it around his mouth. I’ll put cold apple chunks in here when he’s having teething pains. I’ve also used it for avocado which can sometimes be mushy and tricky for little ones to pick up. If we’re if I’m having a snack I’ll put something in the feeder for him to munch on as well so we can sit and have a snack together. I puffy heart this thing! We received our Boon Feeder in our Citrus Lane box but you can find this at you guessed it…..Buy Buy Baby and Amazon.
5. Dish Towels: I’m finally getting some good use out of the massive amount of dish towels we have. I have no idea how we’ve accumulated so many as I’ve never bought them but we have tons! I’m not talking about wash cloths or fluffy hand towels. Nope thin textured dish towels all the way! I feel that they are the easiest to use when cleaning up baby, highchair, and floors post meal time! You can really get in all the knock and crannies and scrub well with them!
Annnnnn just for fun a bonus item!
Bonus: If you don’t already have one get a dog! They’re always eager to assist with clean up! Brady can lick a highchair so clean you wouldn’t even know it was used.
Hope you found this helpful! If you’re a baby led weaning parent and have a favorite baby led weaning product that you love leave it in a comment below. I would love to hear what you enjoy using!
Dex Bibs Big Mouth Bibs
Innobaby Straw Cup
Annabel Karmel Mash and Serve Bowl
Boon PULP Silicone Teething Feeder
Weston is 6.5 months now which means
BRING ON THE SOLIDS!
We went with sweet potatoes for his fist big boy meal!
So far he’s had……..
Baked Sweet Potato, lightly mashed
Avocado Sliced or mashed in the Boon Feeder
Pear, lightly mashed
Apple chunks in a Boon Feeder, Or a whole apple to teeth on (monitoring a must)
Baked Acorn Squash chunks with coconut oil
Banana slices or popsicle style
Teethed on a cold celery and carrot stick
We’ve also mixed combinations of the above foods after he tried them solo a few times.
At this point he hasn’t met a food he doesn’t like!
I think he’s going to follow in his dad’s foodie footsteps.
I just hope he doesn’t have my massive sweet tooth!
Not only does Kent LOVE food but he gets a huge kick out of watching Weston enjoy food.
Seeing his son love food like he does makes his foodie heart go pitter-patter!
We’re only 2 weeks in so we’ve been playing things on the safe side.
This weekend we’re going to load up on some organic greens and veggies and get a little more adventures with is meals.
Our Food Philosophy for Weston:
For the most part we let him feed himself (with his hands, supervised of course). He does great!
He actually prefers to feed himself. Unless we’re running late on meal time. Then he needs a little help to get started. Yes it gets messy but that’s part of the journey. Weston has no problem scooping up his food with his sweet chubby hands. It’s so cute to watch him in action! Kent’s little foodie in the making!
Our Goals:
We want Weston to have fun experimenting with food, flavor, and textures.
We’ve chosen not to do purees at this point and try not to over mash things that need to be mashed so they keep some of their texture. Nothing wrong with purees and I’m sure we’ll try some in the future. We just don’t want purees to be the main part of his diet. We want him to work on manipulating his own food, chewing, and getting used to different textures! We hope that he will to grow into an adventurous little eater!
We’ve also decided to say no to baby cereal/grains for the 1st year. After doing some research and per the the recommendation of our pediatrician we’ve decided it was just something want to style clear of at this point. Down the road sure, but not for a while.
There are many opinions about giving babies grains. If you’re interested in more info on why not to include grains in your infant’s early diet do a little online search. You’ll find tons helpful articles on how their bodies do not yet create amylase which is needed to break down grains. It’s not something I want to get into on the blog but if you’re interested in more info it’s out there for ya!
Our take On Baby Led Weaning Our Formula Fed Baby
Unfortunately Weston is not exclusively breastfed so the way we’re going about lead weaning differently than others who are exclusively breastfeeding and wanting to keep breast milk the main part of their babies diet. Wish it was different for us but we’re working with what we’ve got! To watch my vlog on our breastfeeding journey click HERE. I loved some of the ideas behind baby led weaning so I pulled a few of the key components that I liked and made them work for us.
What We’re Doing:
-Mashing some foods but making sure to keep their texture.
-Preparing fruits and veggies that are 6 month friendly cut into shapes he can feed to himself.
-Serving his food on the tray of his highchair usually no bowl or spoon for him (at this point).
-We’ve replaced 2 bottle feeds (this is what we’re doing but talk to your pediatrician 1st. Weston was getting too many bottles for a baby his age so our pediatrician recommended we remove 2 and put more focus on solids. This many not be the same for everyone.) with 2 solid food meals a day severed with a little water in a straw sippy cup, this will change to 3 meals at 9 months.
-Allowing him to explore food and letting him figure it out. He’s actually pretty good at it and is able to eat most of his meal on his own.
I only help if he’s A: Getting frustrated or B:Needing a little coaxing. At this point he prefers to feed himself. Sometimes he gets upset if I try to help.
As he becomes a little more experienced we’ll change things up!
Yes of course we want him to learn how to eat from dishes and use utensils but at this point since it’s all very new we’re not incorporating that just yet.
What’s Different About BLW A Formula Fed Baby: We’re basically doing Baby Led Weaning but since he’s formula fed we agree with our pediatrician that we need to make sure he’s getting some extra nutrition through healthy foods. When he sits down to eat it is about exploring but also I make sure that he’s consuming enough of what we give him to give him to fill his belly with some goodness. For those who do BLW while exclusively breastfeeding they don’t have to be too concerned about the amount they baby eats as they are getting all they need from breast milk. They can play and experiment and if they only take a bite or 2 it’s no big deal. They also let the baby kind of lead the way making sure to keep breastfeeding the main part of the babies diet. Since he’s formula fed we’re not too worried about him loosing interest in formula. I’m not saying that we’re taking that away by any means but we are not concerned about him loosing interest.
So Many Things to Love About Baby Led Weaning!
It’s awesome when we all get to share a meal together…..at the same time!
Yes it is possible! You don’t have to take turns feeding the baby then eat your own cold meal alone after everyone else is finished . I also love that it empowers them to be adventurous eaters. If you think back many, many years ago they didn’t have pre made baby food pureed ready to go. That takes a lot of the fun and learning out of the “learning to eat” stage. I also think over simplifying what baby eats plays a part in why we have so many picky eaters today; but that’s just my opinion. Again I’m not against purees! We’ll try them at some point I just don’t want his diet to only be purees. To each their own!
I love that down the road we’ll be able to feed Weston pretty much what we eat (with in reason of course). We have a few different stages to go through to get to that point but the idea of us all sitting down to share meal together sounds wonderful even if that includes a massive mess!
We’ve still learning and trying things out but I will keep you updated with our progress!
And I will leave you with one of my favorite Weston faces……..
He soooo didn’t get that from me 
Next week I’ll be back with a post full of the things we’ve found useful thus far in our
Baby Led Weaning journey!
I posted 2 post today! To see our “What We’ve Been Up To” post click HERE
