Favorite First Foods of Baby-Led Weaning

BLW is supposed to pretty straightforward in terms of what to feed your kid (they eat what you eat), so I scoffed when I first heard of the Baby-Led Weaning Cookbook (“That completely defeats the purpose!”).  After almost five months however, I have to admit that it can be advantageous to have some baby-friendly finger foods at the ready.  Some nights we’re just not eating something I deem healthy enough for G (I live for our monthly Chinese takeout), and other meals just don’t seem to lend themselves very well to baby fingers and mouths.  I found this post from Hellobee and got some good ideas, and the following is written in that same spirit….hopefully with some useful additions.

**A quick note on allergies:  After the first couple of weeks I pretty much threw out any rules with regards to offering new foods on a schedule.  The exceptions, obviously, are nuts and honey.  Allergies don’t run in our family, so I offered foods like eggs and strawberries more or less from the start.  We have had no problems, but of course, consult with your pediatrician before you start listening to some random lady on the internet!

Breakfast Favorites 

• Pancakes.  I have made various versions of the Fitnessista’s berry chia pancakes,  topped with a pure nut butter, coconut oil, or butter.  These freeze very well and you can pull them out individually to reheat in the toaster or microwave.  In the early days I served them cut in half.  Now I cut them into tiny bites.
• Wholegrain toast.  Lightly toasted and topped with mashed avocado, hummus, melted cheese, butter, pure nut butter, mashed banana or other fruit puree, and cut into strips or small bites.  (I read somewhere not to give 100% whole grains but I can’t bring myself to buy white bread so he gets Dave’s Killer 21 Whole Grain and poops like a champ.)
• Scrambled eggs.  Plain or topped with cheese.  It was suggested to me to try hard boiled egg yolks first, but they were so crumbly that G could hardly pick them up.
• Oatmeal.  Cooked to be very thick in texture.  Add ground flaxseed, wheat germ and/or fruit.
• Cottage cheese.  Dressed up with the same things I would put in oatmeal.
• Smoothies.  I make mine with almond milk so that’s what G gets, blended with a bunch of frozen fruit, baby spinach, ground flaxseed and wheat germ.  He likes to drink it from his Zoli cup.
• Cheerios.  I try not to rely on these but they’re pretty great for buying me a little time in the kitchen.
• Fruit.  See below.

Fruit Favorites

• Berries.  Far and away, G’s favorite fruits.  Cut blueberries and raspberries in half and strawberries into quarters.
• Banana.  His first food and still a favorite.  I like the way Mrs. Stroller made a “handle” for the banana in this post, but G mainly likes it cut into cubes now.
• Cherries.  Pitted and cut into quarters.  I had to offer these two or three times before he took to them.
• Peaches, plums, pears, and nectarines.  Must be very ripe, peeled, and cut into chunks.
• Mango and papaya.  The only place I could find these ripe enough was in Hawaii.
• Kiwi.  Again must be very ripe.  Big hit.
• Grapes.  Cut lengthwise and quartered.
• Watermelon.  A messy love affair.

Veggie Favorites

• Sweet potatoes, carrots, potatoes, parsnips, butternut squash, fennel, zucchini, and mushrooms.  Roasted with olive oil and black pepper and cut into spears or cubes.  Most of these can also be grated raw and cooked into pancakes, sauces, and ground meats.
• Broccoli and cauliflower.  I have no doubt this will be short-lived, but steamed broccoli was a fast favorite (I think because he could hold it easily by the stem).  Frozen varieties have been rejected.  It must be fresh.
• Avocado.  I refuse to categorize this as a fruit.  Serve this overly ripe and you have quite a mess, but if you can get that perfect state of ripeness, avocado is such a great finger food.
• Green beans.  This was a recent discovery.  Frozen green beans microwaved with a little butter and cut into pieces went down like CANDY.
• Brussel sprouts.  Roasted or boiled until soft, then shredded.
• Peas.  Frozen mostly.  It took some practice but ever since G has been able to pick them up and get them in his mouth, these have gone down well.
• Corn.  Frozen or cut from the cob.  Expect to see those kernels come out in the diaper for a while.
• Onions and garlic.  Mostly hidden in with other foods, but I occasionally offer them roasted and cut into pieces.

All Other Favorites

• Bites and Bars.  There are some great recipes out there that I’ve tried for incorporating more veggies and whole grains into an easy-to-eat form.  Favorites so far are:  zucchini and parmesan quinoa bites (Little Grazers has some great ideas for this kind of stuff), feta, red pepper, and spinach quinoa balls, and carrot, zucchini, and parsnip frittata fingers.
• Hummus.  Sabra or occasionally homemade.  Serve on toast, as a dip to steamed veggies, or in a pile by itself.
• Fresh mozzarella cheese.  Cut into little squares.  Big hit.
• Cheese.  Any other cheese I have on hand, grated, crumbled, or melted onto something else.
• Pasta.  I don’t think this is at all unusual for kids, but G goes gaga for pasta.  I usually buy Barilla Plus and he will eat it in any form that we do (spaghetti and meatballs, lasagna bites, homemade macaroni and cheese).  In the freezer, however, I keep tiny portions of it cooked with tomato sauce and ricotta cheese.
• Olives.  Pitted, if necessary, and cut lengthwise into quarters.
• Meat.  It scares me a little how much my 10.5-month old loves meat.  Beef, turkey, chicken, pork…ground or shredded is how I am most comfortable serving it.
• Salmon.  I haven’t tried other fish yet.  Salmon is so easy because it flakes off so nicely.  Plus, I figure it is best to start him on the most flavorful and nutritionally dense fish anyway.
• Shrimp.  Oops, I lied.  I guess shrimp is a fish.  Cut into teeny tiny pieces!
• Beans and lentils.  I’m lazy and have mainly done canned beans (all varieties) rinsed very well.  I did do one huge batch of homemade lentils and froze it in small quantities.  They are messy for self feeding but it can be done.

It’s worth noting that some of these foods had to be offered a few times before he took to them!

…and lastly:

• Pouches.  I hate to admit it but we’ve done some pouches (ten, maybe?)  here and there because they are so freaking convenient.  G can hold them and feed himself, but I still need to try a little harder to remember to throw a banana in my diaper bag instead of continuing to purchase these.  It doesn’t help that he instantly fell in love with them, so when a friend has one he starts reaching/smiling/whining for it like a starving orphan child.  I never thought I’d buy anything that resembles commercially-manufactured baby food, but I can now add this to my steadily growing list of ways I have been humbled as a parent.

Foods That Haven’t Worked as Well:

• Raw veggies.  I do offer them, but not with the expectation that they will really be eaten in a quantity that would qualify as a source of nourishment.  I’ve heard of other babies eating cucumber, bell peppers, and lettuce, but that hasn’t worked out well for us yet.
• Apple.  I have only ever offered it grated because I have heard chunks lend themselves to choking.  It gets all watery when grated and G isn’t into it.
• Rice.  I haven’t pushed this too hard after hearing some buzz about arsenic, but we do eat rice a lot so I have offered it.  It seems to slip right out of his hands and he will quickly turn to something else.
• Asparagus.  I think it’s the stringy texture.

Foods We Haven’t Tried Yet:

• Tofu.  I am definitely not an anti-soy person, but something about putting it into his little body does make me a hesitate a little.  However, Grandma is a big fan and I’m sure she will feed it to him when we next visit.
• Yogurt.  Hard to self-feed, but we will probably give it a go this summer.

Though I anticipated keeping G on two solid meals a day until he was 12 months old, at the ten-month mark he made it clear he wanted breakfast, so he is officially on three now.  Some meals I swear he eats as much as I do (which is REALLY saying something), and others he just throws food around and we rely on breastfeeding to fill in the nutrition and calorie gaps.  I absolutely refuse to pass on any eating complexes to this child if I can avoid it, so I work hard to let him self regulate and be OK with whatever he eats.

So that’s our list of beginner’s favorites!  We’re not hugely exotic eaters so G probably won’t be, either.  I just don’t want him to be a chicken-nuggets-and-grilled-cheese-only kind of  kid.  And I want him to have a healthy sense of self-regulation.  Both of those things are really important to me, so I hope we are on the right track.  Time will tell.

What are some of your baby/toddler’s favorite foods?