Two months ago we began Hunter on solids following the baby led weaning approach (check out part 1!). Now that he’s a few day short of 8 months, it’s a good time for an update.
Things have really taken off the past week. Something just clicked, and now he eats like crazy. Those first couple months were definitely about exploring. He didn’t quite understand that food made his belly feel full. Now, he most definitely does.
He’s gone from gagging down really soft pieces of fruits/veggies, to now gumming a lot more variety. The food still needs to be soft, but not super mushy. Before I would get a little nervous when he’d put a huge piece of banana in his mouth. Now, he still puts the whole thing in but can break off and ‘chew’ pieces. Even though he has no teeth in yet, that doesn’t stop him from eating and breaking food down.
A new development are his pincher skills – using his thumb and index finger to pick foods up. He still mostly grabs with his entire hand, but for those little peas he’s starting to pick them up one by one.
For a little while I was having him eat oatmeal with me in the morning. I would cook mine up with either sweet potato or banana, and pour some into a bowl for him. Spoon feeding for us is still more work most of the time than I want it to be, so I tried something new earlier this week. I cooked up extra oatmeal with sweet potato, poured it into a bowl and let it cool in the fridge. It looked like this.
A bit more congealed. Since it wasn’t as runny as warm oatmeal, he could pick up the pieces!
I did a similar thing with quinoa. I combined cooked quinoa with some mashed yam, which created a paste that he could easily pick up! Now when I make a grain like quinoa that would be really difficult to pick up, I can just mash some veggies into it and he’ll eat what we’re eating. That’s what I love about baby led weaning. It makes meals so simple!
Here’s a list of foods in categories that he’s tried and eaten. Honestly, over the next month I think it’s going to grow a ton as we add more actual meals in.
Vegetables
- Yams/sweet potatoes – steamed sticks or mashed with a grain
- Broccoli – steamed
- Carrot sticks – steamed
- Peas – defrosted
Fruits
- Banana – ripe pieces or mashed with grain
- Avocado – pieces
- Pear – pieces with the skin removed
- Kiwi – ripe pieces with skin removed
Proteins
- Egg – cooked into oatmeal or this pancake
- Tofu -firm pieces
- Black beans
- Beef – fully cooked pieces
- Ricotta
- Plain yogurt
Grains
- Oatmeal – regular, not baby
- Quinoa – cooked inwater with garlic granulates and Italian seasoning (no salt)
I’m sure there are more foods he’s eaten, but these are the more regular ones he eats so they come to mind. He’s had a few different fruits/veggies from jarred baby food but they are far and few between. When I make something that we’re going to share, I always omit the salt since he doesn’t need it. I don’t really miss it either.
How much food does he eat?
I couldn’t give an exact amount that he eats at each meal. I just keep offering him more food if he finished what he started with. Some food always ends up on his lap, but less is getting dropped onto the ground. I know he’s done eating when he begins hitting and pushing the food around on his tray. That’s when it gets really messy!
After each meal I offer him water from his sippy cup. We’ve tried drinking out of a cup a couple times and water ends up everywhere. Practice makes perfect though!
I always nurse first, then offer solids, with the exception of dinner. Since be eats dinner about 2 hours after his last nursing session, I give him solids first, then offer another nursing session after that if he’s still hungry.
Here is Hunter’s meal from last night. It was his first time trying beef, which I sauteed in a pan. We were having burgers so as I was preparing our burgers his meat cooked away, giving it time to cool before we ate. Along with that he had some yam/quinoa patties (mashed yams and cooked quinoa sauteed together).
He ate about half of that, but I did nurse him before his dinner since he was a bit fussy.
That’s where we’re at for right now. Feel free to ask any questions. I am no expert in baby feeding, just a mom trying to see what works!
Heather
13 comments
You’re doing an amazing job with him!! The fact that he has that emerging pincer grasp at 8 months is great! Good sign for his fine motor development 🙂 I love reading your updates on him. I can’t believe he is 8 months already!
I love seeing what other babies eat–thanks for sharing!
Yayyy! So awesome- great job little man! Kay prefers the straw cups. Maybe Hunter would too? They keep the water much more in the cup or the mouth 😉
I’m so interested in what you’ve been trying. I’m going to try making more little patties and things as my baby seems to be going off purees at the moment.
[…] reasons I wanted to make my own sauce was to keep the salt down. Since Hunter is eating more and more with us I have to adapt a little bit. He doesn’t need any salt, which means we’ll just be […]
[…] And he ate all of it! Plus some extra avocado from my plate. He pretty much just uses his pincher grip now to pick foods off. Thank you baby led weaning. […]
[…] Fit Mama Real Food #socialbuttonnav li{list-style:none;overflow:hidden;margin:0 auto;background:none;overflow:hidden;width:62px; height:70px; line-height:10px; margin-right:1px; float:left; text-align:center;} […]
Glad I re-read this! G has also developed that pincer grasp but his interest in the food is up and down. Have you done another update since this post?
Not another specific blw post since this, but in his monthly updates I touch on food. I need to do another – his eating has def changed!
Hi Heather, I don’t comment much but do read most of your blog posts. I find all of your baby posts to be very informative and hope you continue with the updates! My daughter is about 7 1/2 months and we are attempting to do BLW. I say attempting because a lot of the time I’m not really too sure what to give her for food. What we’re eating either seems like a choking hazard or has at least some added sodium. My husband and I are both so nervous about her choking and she also seems to have a really strong gag reflex. The only food I feel like she’s really eating is mango. I give her slices with the skin on and she sticks the whole piece on her mouth and sucks the flesh off the skin. How does Hunter do with beans?? I would love to start giving her some beans since I eat them almost everyday, but again, I’m afraid she’ll choke! Any BLW advice you have would be appreciated. I love the concept but feel a little lost with what to feed her. Thanks! Hunter is such a cutie by the way.
I worried about beans like you, but they were surprisingly one of the easiest foods! If you think they’re too big since you’re just starting out with blw, try cutting them in half. In the beginning I made sure everything was very soft (like really really ripe bananas or soft avocado), and peas work really well too as they get their pincher grasp. Hmmm trying to remember what else. Babies learn quickly, but I do remember that first month or two was definitely more exploratory as opposed to now how he gets down to business eating! Thanks for commenting Leslie 🙂 let me know if you have any other questions!
Thanks Heather! We’ll keep trying different foods. I did end up giving her a few cannellini beans that I cut length wise but she had no interest in them!! I’ll keep offering them to her and maybe she’ll try them eventually.
[…] oatmeal, but it gets a little messy when I let Hunter grab it by the fistful. That’s BLW for you… […]