What is BLW and what does it involve? About independence at the table

November 16, 2023

What is BLW? It's a method of expanding the diet with solid foods that respects the child's choice and quickly leads to independent eating. Snacks and finger foods are provided right away for grabbing with fingers, with no pap stage. BLW is short for Baby-Led Weaning, which in Polish functions as Bobas Likes Choices (this name is taken from the title of the book Alaantkowe bebe in the Mamania publishing house) or Bobas Likes to throw away... :). And you eat with sticks and special first cutlery.

Parents decide when the baby eats, but the toddler eats what and how much. We listen as adults to the voice and intuition of the child, who regulates the amount of food himself. In this way, we do not interfere with the sensation of hunger, recognition of satiety and promote the development of the child's motor skills, learning about different tastes and textures, thus introducing healthy eating habits. At the same time, the child chews more and exercises the mouth, which facilitates the proper development of speech and articulation.

Minus? It can be messy at first ;) But there will be a cure for that too, such as a guinea pig that eats everything with appetite ;) Also pay attention to whether the child is consuming enough iron.

Safety rules for BLW

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According to the WHO, there are four pillars of dietary expansion:

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. appropriate time, i.e. around 6 months of age,.
. Adequately,that is, with adequate nutritional value,.
. safe, i.e. hygienic and well stored and .
. appropriately, i.e. in response to the child's signals of hunger and satiety, at the right frequency in relation to energy needs and according to age.

Safety of BLW:

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The baby should be able to sit stably.
Never leave a child alone and unsupervised. Do not leave the room where the child is eating. Watch and keep them in your line of sight.
Eat together - the beginning of your baby's eating of solid foods should be the moment when your toddler joins the rest of the family and meals together.
First feed your baby milk, and then after about 30-60 minutes, offer a solid meal so that he or she is neither hungry nor too full.
Cut the food into bars or very small pieces. It is important that the toddler can easily grasp them with his hand, so cut, for example, carrots into posts, slices of banana also into pieces (it is important that they are oblong, because then they will not block the airways), small florets of broccoli.
. Eating should be soft. The toddler crushes the food by pressing it against the palate. Sometimes it can even be a bit of mush or oatmeal, but in a form that is convenient for the child to eat on its own, i.e. in sticky lumps..
Avoid foods that crumble. Small pieces can break off and cause a choking hazard.
Give one ingredient at a time to be able to catch any allergies right away, e.g. introduce two hunks of potato first, and after a few days, two carrot sticks, or two teaspoons of carrot pulp on a spoon that the baby will grab, and so on. If you are feeding a baby as young as 4 months, the Baby spoon.
Watch your baby and don't feed him the BLW method when he is very hungry or tired. He must have the strength for new sensations.
Start with green vegetables, because the process of their acceptance by the child is longer than the acceptance of sweet taste. Start with broccoli or spinach.
Introduce fruit slowly only after two weeks (at least) of giving vegetables and continue to give vegetables as well.
Make sure to give different vegetables repeatedly (even 10-15 times). By proceeding in this way, you will accelerate the stage at which the child will want to eat vegetables on its own.
Don't add salt or sugar to meals - it's not allowed! Salt and sugar harm children, even in small amounts. Until the age of one, children should not consume salt and sugar at all, and it is best to maintain this until the age of three.
A child should not be forced to eat, this greatly reduces their ability to self-regulate, and therefore recognize hunger and satiety.
Give your baby clean water to drink after 6 months of age, or earlier if you feed him modified milk.
Look at the floor so you don't slip on food residue ;) It may come in handy to have a dog or other pet to eat the fallen leftovers on the fly :)

POTENTIALLY ALERGIZING FOODS:

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cow's milk
hen's egg
wheat and soy
peanuts and other nuts
fish and so-called seafood.
Give them individually in tiny amounts at home and observe your child. However, do not delay their introduction into the diet, so start slowly along with other first solid foods in the second six months of your baby's life. As for gluten, give very small amounts of bread or pasta made from wheat (e.g., two swirls each to start).

We also recommend this practical medicine portal guide.

When to start expanding the diet and when to start using BLW?

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Start as soon as the toddler can sit up stably on his own around six months of age.
According to the WHO, for the first six months a toddler should only drink milk. However, Polish guidelines show that the time to introduce solid foods is between the 17th and 24th weeks of a baby's life. When to start will be suggested by the pediatrician. At the latest, you should start introducing solid foods at 27 weeks of age. Otherwise, deficiencies will occur and the infant will not develop properly.
In the sixth month of life, the need for other foods increases, because breast milk no longer covers all the needs (for iron, vitamin A, calories, among others). From the sixth month of life the nutritional gap grows and solid foods should be introduced.
You can start right away with BLW, but if there is a need to expand the diet as early as the fifth month of life, then we give paps and oatmeal. The order of foods is the same.
Remember that in the beginning the baby is playing with food, practicing hand-eye coordination, tweezer grasp, chewing and may not eat enough. That's why you can give some food on a hard spoon to make sure he eats enough. You don't have to be orthodox, one or two BLW-style meals along with milk and feeding a good mush is enough to start.

What equipment is needed to expand the diet using the BLW method?

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Number one isthe high chair for children, which we buy and deliver to the adult table. This way we include the child in shared meals. Check out great feeding chairs Oribel: Cocoon feeding chair and Skip Hop: Sit-To-Step High Chair.
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Bib bib for toddler or even a bib with sleeves, such as this one by Done by Deer. Eating on your own causes a lot of mess at first, but this stage the toddler quickly leaves behind. The Silicone bib with pocket will also come in handy.

Silicone table mat. You can put food directly on such a coaster, or you can put it under a special plate for the baby to clean up more easily. We recommend, for example Lassig: silicone mouse pad mat Little Chums. A good patent is also a pad that is also a platter for nibbling:EzPz: silicone pad/plate Mini Mat..

Plate with suction cup, it can be tripartite to make nibbling easier and more attractive for the toddler. We recommend Eco Rascals: three-part bamboo plate with suction cup or slightly smaller ones like Eco Rascals: bamboo plate with suction cup elephant or Eco Rascals: bamboo bowl with suction cup and spoon. Later, for take-out, you can stock up on We Might Be Tiny: silicone bowl with suction cup and teddy bear lid Sticky Bowl..

Cup with straw or spout. For the first six months until the age of one, they will be a good teaching of independence. See Liewood: silicone cup with straw Ellis Sippy Cup and open cup Done by Deer: silicone Mini Mug.

First cutlery to help practice a good grip and eat oatmeal on its own, for example. For the first stage, a stiff spoon. A hard and rigid spoon is recommended first by speech therapists and pediatricians because it generates the right stimulus for development. It should not bend under the tongue. Take a peek here: Nana's Manners: the first Weaning Spoons Stage 1. Here you can find cutlery for the second stage Nana's Manners: first Fork and Spoon Proper Grip Forming Cutlery Stage 2, Nana's Manners: Knife and Fork Proper Grip Forming Cutlery Stage 3. See also b.box: silicone bowl with suction cup and spoon Silicone First Feeding Set.

All useful accessories for eating and drinking can be found in our store. And that's it! Simple, right?

b.box: first cutlery for learning to eat Toddler Cutlery Set Gelato

The sequence of feeding solid foods to infants

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We definitely start with vegetables. They are easily digestible and less sweet than fruits, so the baby should first get used to the taste of vegetables. Iron supply is also very important, and vegetables contain more of it than fruits. From as early as 17 weeks, the child can eat paps, such as apple puree, but it is better to get the child used to pumpkin and potato first. There is no set order beyond certain rules about what can and cannot be given before a certain month of age.

stage (6-8 months): non-sweet vegetables, that is, for example, potato, pumpkin, parsley root, peas, thick porridge, oatmeal, and after the initial stage, carrots, sweet potato (yellow, contains a lot of vitamin A), spinach. Add half a teaspoon of butter or a little olive oil or canola oil. A little later, shredded foods from the family table. Sticky cooked cereals and pasta. Followed by a boiled chicken egg once or twice a week.
step: soft small pieces of fruit served in the hand or on a BLW plate so the child can catch them, such as banana slices. Tomato slices (without the skin) will also be important, although the baby accepts sour taste later than sweet. At this stage you can also give zucchini, squash, broccoli.
Meat also from the age of 6 months (poultry, beef, rabbit), but better after the introduction of vegetables already. If you give meat then sea fish, free-living, that is, not farmed, is very important. Meat in the amount of 10 grams, cooked alone or cooked with vegetables. You can also steam meat and vegetables. Do not give fish whose meat has a high concentration of mercury and other poisonous substances, such as never tuna, swordfish, etc.
Gluten can be safely introduced into your baby's diet between the ages of five and 12 months. Start with tiny portions, or one-tenth of a slice of bread.
. For the seventh. and eighth month of life: apple puree with berries, mashed fruits and vegetables, chopped or grated raw fruits and vegetables, eggs, cereals and breads, natural yogurt, kefir, cooked semolina, couscous, rice noodles, onions, barley groats, leek and egg (already whole). Slowly beet, kohlrabi, peach, green beans, for example, in soup with potato. You can slowly introduce spices and herbs. Start with ¼ teaspoon at a time. Preferred herbs to start with are: dill, parsley parsley, basil. You can also serve unroasted buckwheat groats, garlic, radishes, bell peppers, patison, parsnips, sesame seeds, amaranth, mango, tofu, goat cheese (not much) and asparagus. Of fruits, also blueberries, cherries, blueberries and currants. Grind or crush berries, as they are not safe to eat whole. Cut grapes lengthwise. Also, spicy flavor can be introduced slowly, that is, add ginger or garlic to the diet. In addition, celery, pumpkin seeds, lentils, apricots, almonds (flakes well crushed).
. From 11 months of age: pear, plum, so fruits with more fructose..
Fats - only butter, ghee (specially clarified butter), olive oil and canola oil. It's best to stick to these good fats until the child is three years old. You can feed avocados earlier.
. After the age of one year - honey (may contain harmful bacteria), cow's milk as the main milk (unless you are still breastfeeding). Don't give goat's or sheep's milk at all, as it limits iron absorption. Also, serve only boiled eggs. Do not serve anything fried for a long time..