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Baby Led Weaning, what exactly is it? Why should you consider it and is it just another trend in this whole parenting world?
I guess to some degree offering children larger solid pieces of food or different textures of puree or mash has been around for a long time but the "trend" or "term", “baby-led” weaning was first described by a Gill Rapley in 2005. From what we understand Rapley is a registered nurse and midwife who who has studied infant feeding and child development. BLW (Baby Led Weaning)is an different method of feeding babies and promotes the child feeding themselves verses the traditional methods of adult led. Rapley defines BLW as an approach that focuses on a child's capabilities and how we view them.
Baby Led Weaning is about empowering the child to know their limits, knowing how to eat, how much, how fast and to share in family mealtimes. BLW supports children in holding their own spoon and feeding themselves with food that they can grasp.
So with that in mind, this is going to cause a lot of mess right? So are there any real benefits? This is a summary of what we believe are the key benefits?
-Developing greater Independence skills
-Allows the baby to be in control (happier meal times)
-limits picky eating
-fine motor development (have you seen the determination it takes to pick up a kidney bean!)
-hand-eye coordination
-jaw strength and swallowing development
-Research indicated less likely to choke (always supervise and have the skills needed to provide first aid if required)
-Being part of the family meals (cheaper)
-Fun, who doesn't wanna get messy!!
-We think our favourite benefit is not having a child that is scared to get messy and more importantly comfortable exploring their senses. Look out cake smash photoshoot time!!!
Some families choose a combination method, some spoon feeding to ensure your child is getting the calories they need. Ultimately we think that its about making the right choice for your family.
With all of that being said have fun with it and get a little messy.
There are some amazing websites out there now that can support this process so you don't have to go it alone. Who would of thought google would be so handy in this parenting journey right?
One of our favourite sites to learn more are solids is solidstarts.com they even have an app that you can download and type in any food and it tells you the best and most safe way to prepare for the age of your child. Gagging might be a little more confronting to deal with so we would always suggest that you ensure that you are well and truly as prepared as can be so consider signing up to a first aid course specifically catered to young children. We have heard wonderful things about tinyhearts.com.au.
Our little disclaimer would be to always consult your child's doctor, maternal child health nurse or other feeding specialists for any questions you have getting started. This article was intended to simply provide some information and share our views with our community.
So in summary we believe that a child that feels in control of their environment will have a calmer presence and ultimately make better choices so BLW is probably worth exploring right?
So now that you have found yourself on our website, please be sure to contact us for any of your baby photography needs. Love Alana X
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