Baby Led Weaning First Foods

February 18, 2014 by
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30 Baby Led Weaning First foods

“Now that your baby is 6 months old you can start introducing baby food.”

Ugh! Even before I got pregnant with Baby Z I was so not looking forward to the baby food stage.  Spending an arm and a leg on store bought baby food is not how I wanted to spend our hard-earned income.  And while I’d done it before, I couldn’t face the hours I was going to have to spend in the kitchen steaming pureeing and mixing to make homemade baby food.

When I happened on a blog article about “baby led weaning” I immediately knew that this was how we’d do foods with our next baby.  I breathed a sigh of relief knowing I wouldn’t be throwing money away at the grocery store (our grocery bill is already exorbitant for goodness sake) or slaving away in the kitchen making the homemade stuff.

With Baby Led Weaning we’ve fed Baby Z whole table foods.  For the most part he just eats what we eat.  But even baby led weaned babies need to start out on relatively soft foods.

baby z eating a banana

Part of the point of baby led weaning is to introduce your baby to a variety of tastes and textures.  But whether doing pureed food or table foods it can be easy to get into a creative rut, feeding your child the same 5 foods day after day.

To help us all out of the rut I enlisted my friends in the Baby Led Weaning Facebook group I belong to.

Compiled below is a list of their baby’s favorite, whole baby led weaning first foods.

Baby Led Weaning First Foods

  1. Sweet Potatoes – cut into strips, or gripable chunks or as sweet potato fries
  2. Avocado
  3. Banana
  4. Zucchini – raw cut into strips, grilled, or sauteed
  5. Apples – raw or steamed cut into thin slices, leave the skin on
  6. Strawberries – if your baby has any food sensitivities it is best to hold off on the berries until about 9 months
  7. Blueberries
  8. Broccoli – steamed
  9. Pears – thinly sliced
  10. Artichoke hearts – look for cans with low sodium content
  11. Chicken – cut into thin strips or small chewable pieces
  12. Salmon
  13. Steak – make sure it isn’t tough
  14. Ribs – Baby Z devours baby back ribs!
  15. Cucumber – cut into long thin strips
  16. Banana – halved or quartered
  17. Peas – steamed or boiled
  18. Carrots – Steamed
  19. Parsnips – I’ve never had one and couldn’t tell you how to prep it, but multiple moms said their little ones love it.
  20. Mango
  21. Asparagus
  22. Green Beans
  23. Cauliflower
  24. Corn
  25. Peaches
  26. Cheese
  27. Baked Potatoes
  28. Spaghetti
  29. Curry
  30. Stir Fry

The baby led weaning first foods list can go on and on, but I’m going to leave off there.  Just make sure that (as with any method of feeding) your child is supervised at all times.

If you need more ideas about great meals for Baby Led Weaning that the whole family can enjoy, many baby led weaning parents love The Baby Led Weaning Cookbook by baby led weaning expert Gill Rapley. The book to the right is the Baby Led Weaning Essential Guide by Gill Rapley.

Baby close up eating bananas

Here are some other Baby Led Weaning posts you might be interested in:

What’s the deal with Baby Led Weaning?

Baby Led Weaning Essentials

What were your baby’s favorite first foods?

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Filed Under: babies, Featured, food, Parenting, toddler
About Amy @ Oh So Savvy Mom

Amy is mom to three, wife to one, and a sister and aunt to many. Her family is a former military family now settled in Lehi, Utah. Oh So Savvy Mom began as a way for Amy to share parenting and product advice with others. Just as she has evolved, Oh So Savvy Mom has evolved into a resource for Healthy Living for Families, Food, Parenting, and Family Travel.

Comments

  1. Bree says
    February 18, 2014 at 11:46 pm
    So because I don't have kids yet, I'm not familiar with a lot of these new nifty trends. What are the thoughts/philosophy behind baby led weaning? Is it supposed to minimize pickiness later on? I've loved seeing all of your pictures of the little guy covered in his favorite foods (particularly avo). My kids are going to be so much better off for me following your blog!
    • Amy @ Oh So Savvy Mom says
      February 19, 2014 at 12:21 am
      Yes, minimize pickiness, but also it cuts down on childhood obesity. Though parents will often try to get their babies to finish their food (I know we did with our first and second babies), babies intuitively know when they are full and will stop eating. Lastly, it allows babies to ingest a heck of a lot more nutritious foods than you’re going to find in baby food jars on a store shelf. “Excuse me, do you have any pureed salmon?” :)
      • Bree says
        February 19, 2014 at 2:42 pm
        I could see that going down well (in the grocery store). Plus I've smelt baby food meats and it's putrid. Thanks for sharing the benefits! I didn't even think about the childhood obesity aspect, but it makes sense. I eat way too fast, which I think comes from short work breaks and family dinners (the first ones done were the ones to get seconds).
  2. Emily B says
    August 27, 2014 at 2:34 am
    I have come across researching BLW this evening & it's been a complete God send. My baby is 5 months old currently and he has been doing excellent eating his homemade purees since about 4 months. So to come across this right before his 6 month mark helps out tremendously, this will cut my time slaving in the kitchen preparing his food! I think the food choices are excellent and as long as keeping good common sense this can go very very WELL. Thank you for all your informative information, passing it along.
    • Amy @ Oh So Savvy Mom says
      August 30, 2014 at 1:07 am
      You're very welcome! One thing you'll want to keep in mind as you switch to whole table foods. Baby is used to purees so he will have to learn to chew first instead of swallowing first. I found this facebook group very helpful: https://www.facebook.com/groups/2855840155/. As far as your other question about what foods to avoid. I'd avoid the obvious: honey, any processed food. Yogurt and cheese are generally okay before a year (9 months?), but regular cow's milk is not til a year.
  3. Emily B says
    August 27, 2014 at 2:37 am
    Also, I want to ask what type of foods should be avoided? Do you still abide by no dairy till one year?
  4. Tav N. says
    September 8, 2014 at 9:14 am
    Hi Amy...I have started N on BLW at about 5 1/2 month old without any prior food experience. We have tried feeding him mushy baby food at 4 months per doctor's suggestion but N wasn't going for it, so we waited to start BLW like we originally planned. It's amazing how fast he caught on with the chewing! It's so cute (and impressive) to see a little baby with no teeth mash away "real" food. We started him off with a wedge of avocado first and half a banana second . He did not know what to do at first, then he figured out how to chase them slippery things around the tray and ended up sucking the goodness out of his hands. It is messy at first (and still is half a month later, maybe he's just a messy eater) but it's so worth it. He's now 6 months old and is still working on picking up and putting food in his mouth, he's getting much better though. Now he has eaten many other veggies and fruits but not sure when it is appropriate to introduce protein to him. Any suggestions? Also, we give him those baby teething rice crackers as snack and he loves them!
    • Amy @ Oh So Savvy Mom says
      September 8, 2014 at 2:34 pm
      First of all, way to follow your baby's cues! Next, it is totally safe to feed him certain proteins now. Baby's digestive system is actually quite adept at digesting proteins--that's mostly what breastmilk is. :) I'd start with soft, easy to gum proteins like low mercury, wild caught fish. (You can do a quick google search to find the best kinds.) You can also do moist chicken. At about 7 months my son also really liked the soft meat from a slow cooked pot roast. You mentioned avocado. Avocado actually has a fair amount of protein. Broccoli is a veggie that a lot of BLW babies like that is fairly high in protein. I would wait to introduce any dairy proteins (cheese and yogurt) until at least nine months. Let me know if you need any more suggestions.