Rory is now seven months old and one month into baby-led weaning. A couple of Mums, who are just starting baby-led weaning, have asked me to give examples of foods they could give their babies. I have therfore compiled a list of everything that Rory ate this month. I have also included links to some of the recipes.
This is by no means a list of foods that you should feed your baby during their first month of baby-led weaning. This is simply a record of the food Rory ate in his first month of solids. I started slowly in the first week by giving him softer foods such as avocado, banana, butternut squash and sweet potato. By week two he was pretty much eating whatever we were eating as a family. (I made sure the dishes I was making didn’t contain honey, added salt, whole nuts or added sugar) I also used a range of spices and herbs to vary the flavour profile.
Rory’s first month of baby-led weaning.
Fruit & Vegetables
- Apples – Grated, steamed, baked and lightly fried.
- Avocado – Wedges (skin on), mashed.
- Banana – Whole (see picture), mashed on toast/ rice cakes, banana pancakes.
- Berries -(raspberries, strawberries, blueberry) – smaller berries slightly squashed, strawberries halved.
- Citrus fruits – (orange, lemon) – Wedges with skin on. He tried a slice of lemon in a restaurant and seemed to love it!
- Grapes – Cut into quarters.
- Kiwi – slices.
- Melon – Slices (skin on)
- Pears – Slices.
- Peppers – Raw (strips), roasted (strips)
- Pineapple – slices (with and without skin on.)
- Stone fruits (mango, peach, nectarine, plum) stone removed & cut into wedges.
- Tomatoes – Sliced (cherry tomatoes – halved)
- Asparagus – Roasted, steamed.
- Broccoli – Steamed, fritters.
- Butternut Squash – roasted.
- Carrots – Cut into finger sized pieces and steamed, roasted.
- Cauliflower – Steamed, mashed, fritters.
- Courgette – Sliced and roasted, fritters.
- Cucumber – Cut into finger sized pieces, sliced and topped with spreads.
- Parsnip – Roasted.
- Turnip – Roasted, mashed.
Proteins
- Beans and chick peas – cannellini bean spread, hummus.
- Beef – strips of steak, chilli, bolognese.
- Chicken – roasted thighs, drumsticks.
- Egg – hard boiled, hard poached, omelette strips, scrambled, fruity egg muffins.
- Fish (salmon, tuna, cod) roasted, mashed, tuna spread, tuna and vegetable patties.
Starchy Foods
- Bread – fingers of toast, eggy bread.
- Oats – porridge fingers.
- Pasta – cooked and served plain, served with pureed vegetables.
- Potatoes – boiled, mashed, potato & veg croquettes.
- Rice – boiled.
- Sweet potatoes – sweet potato wedges, mashed, fritters.
Dairy
- Greek Yogurt – loaded spoons.
- Cheese – grated.
- Soft cheese – spread on toast.
It has been a fun first month of baby-led weaning. Rory has tried, and seemed to have liked, everything I have offered. Long may this continue! I’m looking forward to introducing a further range of foods and will compile another list next month. Rory’s second month of baby-led weaning.
What foods did your baby eat in their first month? Please leave a comment with some other suggestions.
I am on baby #2 (3 months old) and I was thinking the other day that I can’t even remember how I introduced food or what I introduced to my first! (now 2.5 years) I think I started with rice or oats blended raw and then cooked. But I think I may start with bananas or avocados like you suggest rather than the more starchy items. Great ideas!
Thanks, my weaning experience has been totally different with Rory than it was with Finn. I spent hours making different purées for Finn but Rory just eats what we eat. I guess it is like every other aspect of bringing up a baby – totally different with number two! Good luck x
Amy, did Rory already have teeth when you began to give him the food your family ate?
Wow what a lot of foods, that’s great that he has taken to it well and is enjoying it. I’m going to check out some of your recipes. Thanks so much for linking up to #weaningwednesdays I hope to see you again this week x
Thanks, i will def link up this week. Thanks for hosting x
awww hes taken so well to food, Emily is the same, she will eat pretty much anything you put infront of her. xx
Steph | http://www.raisingemily.net
Hopefully it lasts Stephanie! x
#BabyPink is about to hit four months and eyes every bit of food the rest of the family eats within sight distance of her.
Its been 61/2 years since her closest sibling was weaned so I can barely remember it.
Hopefully she is as keen an eater as Rory is, I’ll be watching #weaningwednesday for tips and recipes.
Baby Pink sounds a lot like what both my boys were like at 4 months. I”m sure she will take to weaning really well!
When you say ‘skin on’ for avocado, pineapple, melon, citrus fruits etc. how does this work? Do you watch for pieces breaking off then remove them or with no teeth is it only possible for them to remove the flesh? It seems avocado would be gripped better with skin on but I’d worry the skin would also get eaten!
Hi Lynsey, thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment. Rory has never eaten the skin, he just removes and eats the flesh. It is quite amazing to watch! He has no teeth and I don’t think he would manage to eat the skin even if he tried! To be honest he still finds avocado difficult, even with the skin on, as it gets so slippery. I usually mash it on toast / rice cakes etc. Often he eats all the avocado and leaves the rice cake! I never leave him when eating and always have an eye on him.
Thanks Amy. Tried avocado with skin on today & it was great, he just sooked it off the skin. We are on day 2 of BLW and so far tried strawberry, dried apricot, banana, avocado, green pepper and courgette. I’ve also made the energy balls and banana ones and chocolate mousse and tested on my toddler. Great recipes thank you!
That is great Lynsey and I’m glad you are enjoying the recipes. Thanks for the feedback!
Hi. I’d like to try blw too as my LO (7mo; started purées at 6) doesn’t seem to like being fed / not ready? She shuts her mouth, shakes her head, gags and even vomitted her milk on me a few times!
Did you just start off with putting the food on the tray in front of Rory – and he just knew to pick it up and put it in his mouth? I tried once with pieces of avo and she just mashed it up on the tray and played with it! Not one bit landed in her mouth >.<
Hi Edwina, Sorry that the purees haven’t been successful with your LO. My friend had exactly the same problem with her girl and so switched to blw. She took to it great and hopefully your lo will too. I was pretty lucky with Rory, he did pick everything up and try it. Have you only tried pieces of avocado? Does she ever try to grab anything from your plate? (Rory did this all the time and still does!) Hopefully she gets the hang of it soon. ?
Thanks Amy. I’ve now tried banana also. She squishes it plays with it but it never ends up in her mouth. Its strange cos she puts all non-food objects in her mouth!! Its like she knows ?
At meal time she moves her mouth like she wants some but never has any when I offer. She doesn’t grab things off my plate either. Really lost but I’ll keep trying.
This is my boy to a tee. He’s just now at 8 months putting things in his mouth. No worries, some kids just don’t take too food as early as others I think.
Hi, Thank you for the great ideas, my baby started weaning on purees 3 weeks ago at 5 months due to having reflux, I am uncertain on how to progress to the next level and nervous about offering finger foods however after reading this it has inspired me though can I check that the above foods were during your babies 6th month or 7th month? My plan is yo start introducing meat in another couple of weeks when he is 6.5 months I hope im right. THANK YOU
Hi Lynsey, yes this was food that I offered my son when he was between 6 and 7 months. I didn’t give him any purees before hand. If you are uncomfortable offering finger foods/ foods that you eat yourself at this stage you can start by giving more textured purees then roughly mashing food and finally giving him/her what you eat. Enjoy, whatever method you choose and no method is right for all, it is what is best for you and your baby. I also did a post on my experience of traditional weaning vs blw if you wish to read it.
http://www.feedingfinn.com/traditional-weaning-or-baby-led/
I discovered that if you slightly overcook couscous and then pack it into a small rectangle it makes a great finger food that instantly brakes down in their mouth. My daughter loves it. I have a rectangular tablespoon measure i use and can give it to her while its still a little warm.
This is a great idea, Siobhan! A lot less messy and so much easier for little hands. Thanks for sharing ?
Hi I’m starting on blw. I would like to know how often should baby eat?
Hi Lin, How old is your baby? I started BLW at 6 months and just tried him with food at meal times but kept breastfeeding him as normal. Every child is different though.
Aloha, I see this is an older post but just starting my BLW journey with my son now. Hope you get this comment… He will be 6 months on the Wednesday and excited to begin but a little nervous! Is there an order I should start? I saw the recipe for fritters has egg is that ok right away? Did you do the above in about that order? thank you! Love this post!!
Hi Katie, thanks for your message. I didn’t do this is order. I think I started with avocado and then some roasted veggies but I can’t remember now. I was quickly giving him everything that we were eating. I gave egg very early on (6 months) but you might want to check with a health professional if you have any concerns. Good luck with everything and I hope you mange to find some recipes on this site that your baby enjoys. If you have any other questions then just let me know.
Hi Amy. This is a fantastic post. I am considering BLW (my daughter just turned six months). Our doctor is a little old-school and suggested starting her on rice cereal, but I’m finding that, though she likes it, it’s too heavy and she doesn’t want to eat anything else after a serving of rice cereal. I am also uncomfortable with how processed it it. My question is, how many foods did you introduce at a time and how many times a day did you feed? Did you just start BLW on day one with bits of whatever you were eating at meal times? If so, have you been trying to keep track of allergies? The common practice here is to introduce one new food every three or four days. That seems arduous to me. Thanks for your insight?
Hi Ruth, thank you so much for your kind comment. With my first I did purees and introduced one new food every three to four days like you mentioned. With my second I did BLW and didn’t wait 3-4 days like I did with my first. I started with veggies and fruit but quickly he was eating what we were eating as a family. I recommend reading this book https://www.amazon.com/Baby-led-Weaning-Helping-Your-Baby/dp/0091923808 as it explains BLW really well.
What do you keep the skin and peel on? How do you keep them from trying to eat it?
Hi Katie, I kept the skin / peel on so my baby could grip it easier. I never had an issue with him trying to eat the peel.
Hi. My baby is 6 1/2 months old. We started solids at 6 months with puréed foods, introducing a new food every 3-4 days. I wasn’t thinking I’d be interested in baby led weaning but as I read more I find myself becoming more curious about trying it. I have read though that once you start puréed food you can’t switch to BLW. Now, I’m sure that’s just what some people say that think serving puréed food is bad but idk. This is a great post and I am wondering since you said you just give baby what your eating, do you not use spices or anything? Also, you have a lot of things on here. How did you introduce sauce(lots of ingredients ) or meat if baby has no teeth? And things like rice cakes? I’m a little nervous about choking and also very curious about how and when you introduced all these different foods. We don’t have any known allergies in our family so I’m wondering if I can also try things not on the 3-4 day schedule.
Hi Taylor, sorry for the later response. If you have started your baby on purees then be very careful switching to BLW as your baby will now be used to swallowing food. Make sure you are fully supervising (as I’m sure you would do anyway).
I used a range of spices and I didn’t wait 3-4 days before introducing new foods, as per the advice in the book I read. Rory chewed on meat without teeth – just gummed it. He would suck on rice cakes / crackers until they got softer.
Hi …how many times do you searve food in the first month? in the puree style they say one meal the first mont.two meals the second month and 8mo to have 3 times. but with blw is the same ? and how do you combine the food..fruit veggie and protein at each meal, or per day. so like i can do veggie and meat and than the next meal I can give only fruits? thank you
Hi Mara, When my son was six months I just included him whenever we ate – breakfast, lunch, dinner or when we had a snack. (I made sure the food we were eating was healthy and suitable to be serving him) I also offered milk feeds on demand. At the start he just explored and over time he ate more.
If you are looking to find out more about BLW I would recommend reading “Baby-led Weaning – Helping your Baby to Love Good Food” by Gill Rapley & Tracey Murkett. It explains what Babyled weaning is, how it works and how to get started. I found it really useful. Good Luck!
I was wondering, when you started Baby Led Weaning with your baby, did you do it three times a day? Did you start by introducing one thing at a time like example a banana in the morning, Lunch carrots, and dinner beef Something like that, or did you put two or three things at one meal time. I am so confused at this BABY LED WEANING. My son is 7 months old. He started eating baby cereal at 4 months old and apparently eats a half of cup of cereal. What do you recommend I should do upon him getting into baby led weaning. I just don’t want him to be a picky eater later on in the future.
Hi Julie, thanks for reaching out. I have done both methods of weaning. With my eldest I did purees and with my youngest I did baby-led. You can read about my experience with both here https://www.healthylittlefoodies.com/traditional-weaning-or-baby-led/ . In summary, I don’t rate one method better than the other. Both my boys are good eaters and my eldest is far from fussy. I think the best method depends on baby, parents and life situation. As your son has already been eating purees he will already be used to swallowing so you have to be more careful when introducing solid foods. BLW is for babies that are completely new to food, they are not used to purees and so don’t automatically swallow new foods when given to them. They feed themselves from the beginning. Has your son had anything other than cereal? Have you tried pureed vegetables? At seven months you can add more texture – mash rather than puree smooth. I used to add different herbs and spices so my son could get used to a lot of flavour. You can also start to introduce softer finger foods with close supervision. My boys loved roasted vegetables cut into fingers.
We’re three weeks into our blw journey and found your blog while looking for less messy healthy food inspiration. My Rory is a girl and started solids at 6 months. Sweet potato fries, cucumber discs and mango are some of her favorites. Today we added carrot fries to the list thanks to you. Can’t wait to try some of the recipes you’ve developed.
Thanks Maddy, so happy you have stumbled across my site! I know too well how messy baby-led weaning can be, even though my youngest is three there is still a lot of mess created! I hope you find many recipes that Rory will enjoy x