Baby Led Weaning // First Food Ideas

We followed baby led weaning with both of our children, and I'm always asked questions about how to start, or what to start with. Deciding what foods to give to your baby can be scary, especially in those first few weeks where everything is new. But it doesn't have to be! 

Baby led weaning allows your child to eat exactly what you eat (to an extent) - so in theory you don't really need to think much about what to give them. Obviously there are exceptions - no whole nuts or honey, watch the salt levels and be careful with runny eggs. But apart from that let them explore new and exciting foods. I've found both of mine preferred spice and flavour over bland foods. 

Examples of first foods to try include:

Steamed vegetable sticks - carrots, sweet potato, broccoli, etc. Make sure you cut them up into sticks (and aren't too overcooked) so that baby can grab onto it easily.

Fruit - banana, pear, melon, blueberries. I'd stick to the softer variety to begin with as they're easier to manage. A good idea is to keep skin on so they have something to hold. A trick with banana as well is to cut in half then push your finger down the middle - this splits it into perfect segments for baby to hold!

Toast fingers - keep it plain to start with a little butter, but then there are so many possibilities with toppings. Jam, nut butters, cheese spread - or if you have any purees hanging around, this can be a great way to use them up.

Pasta - I've found tubes or fusilli is easiest for little hands to hold onto. Try plain or Parker's favourite is cream cheese and sweetcorn!

Dipping! - Babies absolutely LOVE to dip, so this is a great way to get them to explore new foods. Give them a 'dipper' - this could be any of the above, and then something to dip it in - hummus, cream cheese, sauces or even those leftover purees again!

We have loved using our Nutribaby to steam vegetables to perfection for the whole family. The different levels make it easy to separate foods, and can even be used for meat as well as vegetables. We used to boil our vegetables, but steaming actually keeps in the nutrients that are so vital for babies and children.

Baby led weaning is so much fun, and doesn't have to be scary or confusing. Especially with help from products such as the Nutribaby!

Disclosure - We are part of the Babymoov #stesslessweaning team and received the Nutribaby as part of this project.