Baby led Weaning: a follow-up

Button is now 15 months old (well in a week) so she is probably beyond the Baby Led Weaning program but I thought I follow up on it. I was reflecting on it last night. I could not imagine trying to feed her and then us separately especially since the majority of the time it is just me and the kids at dinnertime and there is already a lot going on a night, particularly when Bub is in school and we have to deal with homework on top of everything else. But I digress. It's just so much easier and more pleasant for us to eat a meal together.

Button has been feeding herself since she was 6 months old and it has worked so wonderfully. Yes, a lot of the food ended up with the dogs or in her bib or on her face but food before one is just for fun anyway so it didn't matter much. I would give her finger-like sticks of whatever we were eating and just let her have at it. So not much has changed in that direction except I know more of what she likes to eat and her food size has become more bite-sized with her ability to grasp objects better. She's tried quite a few things. She, like me, does not like tomatoes. We gave her some (cooked) sushi the other night and she ate a bit of it, having trouble with the seaweed paper. But she loved the edamame much like her brother does. Lately I've been giving her food to her on a plate with a spoon or a fork trying to get her to use utensils. She's been trying them out for a little while but she often abandons them for her hands. She's developed a bit of a sweet tooth which is not great but we don't give her a lot anyway. I'll have to keep an eye on that.

I am really grateful to my cousin's wife who turned me on to Baby Led Weaning. I honestly wish we had done it with Bub. I wonder if he would be a better eater now. I'll never know but I'm hoping that she does not become a picky eater too. Baby Led Weaning was such a great choice for our family and I'd really recommend it to any parent who is willing to try something different. But you have to read the book honestly because feeding babies real food can also be nerve wracking and it also requires that you wait until they are 6 months. Babies' guts are not ready for food until then anyway so it works out. Button was definitely ready by the time she started eating table food. And yes it is messy and it still is but, as my old babysitter use to say, messes were made to be cleaned up and stuff like doesn't bother me. But it's been great for Button and great for me so it's A+ in my book.