Baby Led Weaning: Avocado

We've started giving Delia some food in the last week or so. She's had carrot, broccoli, celery, and now avocado. That sounds like a lot of food, but in reality, I'm not sure if she actually swallowed any! We're doing "baby led weaning", in which you give your baby the food that your family is already eating, in manageable size pieces, and let them feed themselves. Instead of spoon feeding rice cereal and purees, you can cut the food into strips that they can hold and chew on, or cut it into bite size pieces that they can pick up and eat. This seems strange, because you would think that a baby can't handle such solid food, but babies have a more sensitive gag reflex the younger they are, which makes it unlikely that they would choke on anything. With this method the baby learns to chew before they actually swallow anything, instead of swallowing what is fed to them on a spoon before learning to chew. 

The main appeal to me was that baby led weaning takes less time! The baby just eats what is served for meals, so there is no buying/preparing separate food for baby. There is no pureeing/mashing food for baby, which means no blender or little bowls to wash. And there is no spoon feeding baby while I'm trying to eat my meals. I guess you could argue that spoon feeding is a bonding experience, but I spend all day bonding with Delia and like to relax at meals!

Anyways, we tried avocado the other night. At first I cut it into strips for her, but they were a little overripe so they broke in half easily when she'd hold them in her fist. So I cut them into little pieces and that worked much better..

One thing with baby led weaning is that it is messier! 

 We couldn't stop laughing at her eyebrows!!

I don't think baby led weaning is the "right" way to feed your baby, but it is definitely a little more low-maintenance and a little more fun (in my opinion)!