A few months ago, I decided that we wouldn’t be using baby food in a jar. Honestly, it was never really a consideration for us because 1) the stuff is damn expensive and 2) it doesn’t seem healthy to me with the preservatives and such and 3) I don’t like the idea of throwing all those jars into the trash. Instead, I was going to puree and freeze (using the ice-tray method) lots of healthy foods for Harper to eat – stuff like carrots, broccoli, yams, squash, etc. We had kind of gotten started doing this, and it was going okay…
UNTIL…
I discovered Baby-Led Weaning (and our freezer couldn’t hold anymore Ziplocs full of mush). I stumbled upon this concept while reading a BabyCenter blog post by John & Sherry Petersik of Young House Love. It makes a lot of sense – basically you just give your six-or-so-month-old baby manageable bites of healthy food, and if they want it, they eat it. If they don’t, they don’t. They gradually eat more and more, and in the process, demand the boob less and less. You don’t have to prepare anything special for them; instead, they get whatever the rest of the family’s eating.
It’s that simple. I guess it’s really not so novel since people haven’t always had food processors and nice freezers in their kitchens. It’s a little lot messy since you don’t use spoons and bowls and such – you just put the food on their high-chair tray and let them go to town. (But really, who said feeding a baby was supposed to be all spick-and-span anyway?!) Supposedly, it’s what most Europeans do anyway. DAMNED SOCIALISTS!
So anyway, Harper has taken quite well to this concept.
See? I told you she was excited.
She’s been grabbing at our food for a few weeks now, so we thought Thanksgiving would be the perfect time to let her loose.
STILL. SO. EXCITED.
My finger has never tasted soooo good!
Food: not just for eating! Also good for spitting!
OMG GREEN BEAN CASSEROLE!!
Thumb or spoon…thumb or spoon…thumb or spoon…
Lucky for us, dinner time is right before bath time. And as for the mess on the floor, that’s why we keep Wonton and Chopstick around.
To learn more about Baby-Led Weaning, check out Nourished Kitchen, BabyLedWeaning.com and Wholesome Baby Food on Momtastic. In the meantime, eat up! We’ll keep you posted on how it’s working for us.
I'm Lauren - mommy to Harper and wife to Scott. I traded in my unsatisfying 9-5 for life as a stay-at-home mom, and I love it! We're a semi-cruncy cloth-diapering, extended breastfeeding family. 
