My week and baby led weaning!

So this week has been all over the place. Both Damon and I have been ill with the cold (and me being more tired from him waking up more during the night) but I thought I would share some highlights from this week. 

Firstly on Tuesday I went to my first post birth class. Since Damon is over 6 months old and is ready for solids,  I adapted to be prepared incase he chokes on his food. So we attended a baby first aid class. I will say I would highly recommend anyone to take this class as it gives you the knowledge on what to do if anyone under the age of 16 is choking or not breathing, as they teach you how to hopefully dislodge the blockage and how to do cpr. 
Since taking the class, I feel more confident on what to do for when I start Damon on solids, as we are doing baby led weaning. Baby led weaning is just another way to start baby on solids but instead of blending the food like with traditional weaning, you can give them the same foods you are eating providing its low in salt and sugar contents and easy to grab (cut up to adult finger sizes), plus instead of yourself spoon-feeding them, just let them crack on and feed themselves.

 One of the best things about BLW is that the baby decides when they are full instead of us making them eat a full jar of mush thus causing their tiny stomachs to over stretch. Also it teaches them how to chew first then swallow,  whilst with the TW their food is liquidised so they just swallow the food and when it comes to them having chances of food, they would swallow first which causes a higher risk of choking. In BLW it is normal for babies to gag when trying to figure out solids for the first time and it’s scary as hell hence why I took the class, but there is a difference in gagging and choking. Gagging they go red in face and splutter (don’t interfere with a gagging baby as this can cause them to inhale food and start choking) and with choking they go blue and silent. 

Not sure where this is sourced as I saved this from a Facebook group I am in. 

The signs that baby HAS to have before starting solids is that they;

 MUST be 6 MONTHS OLD (yes jars and pouches have 4 months+ on them but these are being changed to meet the current guildlines) 

http://www.babymilkaction.org/archives/8274 article from Baby milk action about the change in baby food labels. 

They must have lost their tongue thrust (pushing food out)  

 Can sit unaided for a few minutes 

Can use the pincer grip to bring food to their mouths with good hand to mouth coordination

Sorry I have rambled on a bit, but another highlight from this week is that Damon has started solids! He has had loads of fun trying new flavours of watermelon, natural yoghurt, baby sweetcorn, broccoli and carrots. Yes it is messy and he didn’t eat much but this is what blw is all about as their main source of nutrients till they are 1 is from their milk (either breast or formula). 

I hope you have enjoyed my ramblings on this blog as this is the start of a “baby series” that I will be doing over the next few weeks including what I found to be important during pregnancy, in the hospital, labour story and after birth items for both parents and baby. If there is something you would like to see in the baby series, please add into the comments 🙂