Baby Led Weaning Lunch Ideas | Baby Led Weaning Lunch Recipes (2024)

FAQs

What is BLW lunch? ›

Baby-led weaning (BLW) is a method of introducing solids by focusing on infant self-feeding and serving family's table foods. BLW may begin around 6 months, when the baby shows signs of readiness such as sitting up independently, loss of tongue thrust reflex, mouthing toys, and showing interest in table foods.

First Finger Foods for Your Baby

fruit (soft, or cooked without adding sugar), such as apple, pear, peach, melon, banana. grabbable bits of avocado. cooked starchy foods, such as potato, sweet potato, cassava, pasta, noodles, chapatti, rice. pulses, such as beans and lentils.

Beef, pork, chicken, turkey, and lamb all offer exceptional nutrition for babies including protein, fat, iron, zinc, and other essential nutrients. If your baby is on a diet of only breastmilk (or formula), fruits, grains, and veggies, she might miss out on brain-boosting nutrients.

Start with menu items like pieces of soft cheese; small pieces of pasta or bread; finely chopped soft vegetables; and fruits like bananas, avocado, and ripe peaches or nectarines. These foods should require minimal chewing, as your baby may not yet have teeth.

✘ Avoid foods that could cause choking: crisp fruits, hard candy, raw veggies, large pieces of meat, hot dogs, nuts, seeds, chips, whole grapes, popcorn, or dried fruit.

Babies can eat Cheerios when they're between 6 and 9 months old, or when they're sitting up on their own. Unlike other solid foods, Cheerios are not a choking hazard, so they're a good choice to feed your baby. Cheerios help your baby develop the pincer grasp, or picking items up with their thumb and forefinger.

Banana and avocado

With their soft and velvety textures, avocados and bananas are popular finger foods for babies with no teeth. They're also easy to prepare; simply cut into small pieces. Your baby will get potassium and omega-3 fatty acids.

What food should I give my baby first in BLW? ›

The best foods for baby-led weaning are large pieces of soft foods that are easy to grab and chew, such as banana spears, thin slices of toast, and soft-cooked meat. Here are other foods that are good to use with BLW: Well-cooked vegetable sticks, including steamed carrots, zucchini, sweet potatoes, and beets.

First foods: mashed or soft cooked sticks of fruit and vegetables like parsnip, potato, yam, sweet potato, carrot, apple or pear, all cooled before eating. Or try soft peach or melon, or grabbable bits of soft ripe banana or avocado. Or baby rice mixed with your baby's usual milk.

Some examples include small pieces of banana, wafer-type cookies or crackers; scrambled eggs; well-cooked pasta; well-cooked, finely chopped chicken; and well-cooked, cut-up potatoes or peas. At each of your baby's daily meals, they should be eating about 4 ounces, or the amount in one small jar of strained baby food.