young babies to a wide range of textures and tastes,
enabling good eating habits to develop early on.
“
When babies begin weaning, some get stuck on
foods that are too simple and too runny for too long.
This develops poor food habits. The taste of the food is
limited,” says Hulda. By six or seven months, even experts
in the traditional methods of purée-based weaning suggest
offering hand food, so that babies experience textures,
recognise ingredients and learn to chew. With that in mind,
Hulda says that anyone can incorporate levels of baby-led
weaning, at whatever pace suits them.
Trend versus blend
It will take more than what Miranda Wong sees as a trend
to make her ditch the blender. A few years back she also
watched a friend’s baby pick up and eat portions of food in
a restaurant and then tried the same tactic with her son.
He threw food everywhere, and after a few more attempts,
Miranda decided to go traditional. She doesn’t find
puréeing hard work. By cooking something for the family
and then puréeing only the baby’s portion, there is very
little extra effort on her part, she says, and less mess from
baby. “To me, baby-led weaning was more of a tax than a
benefit,” she says.
But she has incorporated some BLW philosophy. The
push towards breastfeeding made her strive to nurse her
second baby daughter for longer, and, she says, because
breast milk changes in flavour, she’s found her daughter
more open to trying new tastes. She did introduce more
fruits and vegetables as finger foods. At 18 months, “she
picks and chooses what she wants,” says Miranda.
What? When? How?
So, is it as easy as slinging baby a portion of whatever you
are eating? Yes and no. Emphasis is on including baby
by offering the same food, but some foods are naturally
more appealing to them. Stalk-shaped veggies steamed
soft are great for chewing on, and many find broccoli
ideal. Meat cut into strips works well. Larger, soft-cooked
pasta is popular. Pieces of bread and toast can be dipped
into splotchy foods like yogurt. Even so, in the early days
especially, much will end up everywhere but the mouth.
When mum-of-two Mawgan Batt decided to BLW her
youngest, she was ready for the mess. “Strip them down to
their nappy, put a mat down under the high chair, and just
relax and enjoy it,” she advises, although she recognises
that not everyone will be comfortable watching baby
temporarily decorate the living room with flung food.
Many parents also fear choking. Experts say that a
baby’s gag reflex is further forward in the mouth than in
adults and any rejected food will find its way out of a baby’s
mouth without help from its caregivers. Mawgan felt more
confident having taken a baby first aid course – which
BLW advocates advise – and by choosing foods appropriate
to her baby’s developmental levels. She never left her son
eating unattended and didn’t feel overly stressed. “They do
56
Playtimes