Rob's Blog

Baby Led Weaning Diary – Eating out and Eating what we eat

November 4, 2009 | 8:21 pm

Last weekend we went to a wedding (at which we had a very good time). We had Izzy with us, for the day, and of course had to feed her.

Abby was all for buying some pouches of mush, but we decided there is no reason we couldn’t continue with our baby led weaning. We chopped up some fruit, put it into small pots, and took it with us. We were provided with a high chair, which is where our first realisation comes. One problem with baby led weaning (at least with Izzy) is we can’t really use plates – she just picks them up and tips them over – we have to put the food onto the highchair tray. This is fine at home, but when out and about you don’t know how clean it is. We wiped it down with a baby wipe, but are going to get some anti-bacterial wipes to keep in the changing bag for future.

Anyway, she ate her food very well (as messy as usual), and we packed her off to her grandparents for the evening.

The next day we went to pick her up, and went out for lunch at a carvery. The idea here was she could just have some of the veg (which was cooked nice and soft). Again we had the same issue with the high-chair tray, but settled for baby wipes again.

Unfortunately Izzy had been a bit sick that morning (I don’t think she was used to so much formula), and wasn’t interested in much food, but she did chomp a bit on a parsnip. The theory was good, but didn’t work in practice this time.

Generally though Izzy is getting really good at feeding herself. We can happily put a selection of food on her tray and leave her to it, and a lot less is ending up on the floor! I can happily get on with something else in the kitchen (or even elsewhere in the house) while she is feeding herself – hard to believe she’s only 6.5 months old, and only just over a month into solids!

We’ve also started to concentrate on giving Izzy the same food as we’re eating. The first attempt was a butternut squash risotto. Good in theory, but we spent too much time making it so it was a bit late. By that time she was too upset, and didn’t eat very much. I also made the mistake of getting her ready to eat before it was cool enough, so she hurt her hand (not badly, but it upset her).

The second attempt was a bit more successful. Abby made a lovely mild curry with parsnip, chicken and coconut cream. I’m not sure how much rice she managed to eat, but the large chunks of parsnip went down very well. She tried a bit of chicken, but found it a bit much (we confiscated it after she choked (gently) on it 3 times!).

We’re really starting to get the benefit of baby led weaning now, and are getting more adventurous with food choices!

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