This was originally posted on May 18, 2014. Thankfully, we are long past the baby-led weaning days!
I’m writing this from the comfort of our couch on Saturday night after a long and busy, but mostly good day. Avery is as mobile as she can be without being able to crawl, and she surprises us by sitting right up immediately after we set her down.
Crazy kid, we love her so much, but she can really wear us out! It helps that I’m celebrating World Whiskey Day with my Breckenridge Distillery Bourbon to wind things down though.
So, um, yeah, baby-led weaning (BLW), is not off to a great start for us. I get that this was our first day and first try and blah, blah, but I still got my hopes up ready to watch Avery grasp a green bean and eat it like she does her red plastic bird.
But the exact opposite happened; she refused to even touch the food I set in front of her! Mommy’s water cup? Sure, she’ll grab at and try to put it in her mouth all day! Food you are actually supposed to put in your mouth? Nope, not having it.
What did we do wrong that made her so repulsed by our food offering? I’m not certain, but maybe trying right at her bedtime had something to do with it. What do you think?
Not to mention her usual 2 – 3 hour morning nap only lasted 1 hour; in which she cried some during that hour. A tired baby is a cranky baby as all parents know, and that’s what we had for parts of the day.
Okay, she wasn’t fussy all day, but she had several of her “moments” just to let us know she was tired and not happy. Since she obviously didn’t want to be in her jumper (see picture above), we moved her to her play yard to give her freedom to move around and practice her sitting up skills.
She got right to sitting up, but still cried while doing so. I had several things cooking in the kitchen and Going Mom was hard at work cleaning the living room, so we had to let her cry for a few minutes. Then Kelley turned on the vacuum which always gets Avery to quiet down and look around.
Ahhh, the loud whir of a vacuum never sounded so good. Apparently Avery thought so too; we looked over and she was sound asleep!
We haven’t had to use the consoling power of the vacuum for a while now, and it surprised us to see how passed out she was! Obviously, I had to give it my thumbs up of approval.
Kelley didn’t want to turn off the vacuum while she slept, so now we have a really clean living room! The nap helped, but it wasn’t even 30 minutes, so we weren’t too hopeful for a happy Avery.
We finished our to-do’s and went for a walk with Avery in the Onya Outback where she had a 15 minute power nap. Upon our return, it was just past 7pm and Kelley went to clean up as I put the highchair together. Avery commenced with crying…
30 minutes later (about the time we usually get her to bed), we strapped her in the highchair for the first time and excitedly prepared for our first BLW experience! I don’t think she was too excited though….
I had steamed a bunch of organic baby carrots, green beans, and broccoli earlier, so I pulled a few pieces of each to serve her.
Avery was already in fuss-mode as I brought the veggies to her, and it only increased with each passing second. I at least expected to see her grab at one of the specimen in front of her, but to no avail. She wouldn’t even look at them!
Pretty sure I knew the reason, I told Going Mom it was just her bib making her upset. Simple solution, just remove the bib, right?
Wrong. I gave this the thumbs down of disapproval. Not being one to accept no for an answer, or “no” as expressed by a baby, I tried dangling a green bean in front of her to get her attention.
If a baby can look repulsed, this is the look. Her hands remained idle making sure she didn’t give even the slightest reach to raise our hopes. On the last straw, I attempted to show her how the food is meant for her mouth, but she wasn’t too receptive.
Might as well of been a cigar because she wasn’t having it. At this point, we called our first attempt a failure and gave up. Luckily, our pet box turtle, Tash, was looking for some good food and she happily accepted Avery’s outcast veggies.
I spent a little time playing with Avery before her bath, and then she seemed to cheer up for a while! And she made sure to put everything around her in her mouth; figures. But our time was limited and only our dog, Abby, could keep Avery from letting out another whine.
Dog kisses just make everything better, huh? Unless you’re me, I don’t care for the kisses too much.
So if you’re about to introduce your baby to solids for the first time, don’t do like us and try when it’s their bedtime. Even more so if their naps have been short or even non-existent! At that point, it’s just smart to put it off for one more day and save everyone the stress.
And that’s what we’re doing. As you read this, we will be making our second, and hopefully successful, attempt at introducing Avery to solids. Avery is usually the happiest in the morning, so at least we should see some smiles! As always, I’ll let you know how it goes.
Any tips on how to get your baby interested in grabbing food?
Do you have any first time baby successes or failures to share?
It probably did not help that your lovely girl was cranky to start with and was tired.
We started BLW with just lunch for a month, then added breakfast for a month. At 8 months, we started supper. It’s not unusual for the little ones to not react to the food at all the first time. For my son, we started with quinoa and steamed veggies. He just stared at us while we ate and eventually touched the quinoa by accident (after a quarter hour). He played with it and then put his hands to his mouth without thinking and was surprised to find that there was something on them.
Don’t worry, Avery will get the hang of eating soon. In no time, she’ll be surprising you with what she can do!
Thanks again for making me feel better about this. I know I have one perfect scenario in my head and go crazy if it doesn’t pan out that way!
We love quinoa here, so she’ll be getting plenty of that eventually too. For now, I just want to see her grasp a green bean or carrot!
Thanks for the reply and the laugh. I just imagined a baby’s surprise when they put their food covered hand in their mouth.
Man my son was so much easier (he’s 3 now). But I have to say I’m dying laughing because my daughter (who I think is just a tiny bit older than yours) is so similar, in that she will put almost anything in her mouth, but her actual food..nope. She’s about six and a half months and only just recently started grabbing food in front of her (although she still discards it pretty fast). I’ve just kept putting it in front of her semi frequently, and she’s getting more curious about it.
I agree with the above comment..just give it time! She’ll get there. Also one suggestion I have is possibly trying fruit (I know, I know, everyone says start with veggies so that they don’t get too addicted to the sugary fruits). But breast milk (I think you’ve said she takes just breast milk) tends to be sweeter, so fruit would be a little more along those lines. We started our son with mostly fruits (after a very failed attempt with veggies), and he LOVES his veggies now. 🙂 Of course do what feels best to you! She’ll get there either way! 😀
Maybe it’s a girl thing? Ahhh, who knows for sure, but thanks for the encouraging words! We’ll keep at it and if after a while she still won’t take veggies, maybe then we will consider fruit. You make a good point, but I am trying hard to make veggies her first! 🙂
Best not to start with a cranky baby. Maybe start with lunch or a snack? We usually try to time our meals to be about an hour after he’s had a bottle.
Don’t bet too concerned if she doesn’t “get it” right away. It’s really more about exploring food and figuring out what to do with it.
Our baby’s first “adult food” was a tortellini he swiped from my bowl a bit before he was 6 months old, I hate to admit that his 2nd food was chicken curry. Curry is one of his favorites.
Agreed, cranky baby equals no good anything! We tried mid-morning today, and she started out fine, but just did not like us staring at her as she sat in the highchair. I think it’s too much pressure so I’m going to try just setting the food next to her as I carry on with my business.
I understand now that it’s not an immediate thing, so we’ll just keep trying and let her figure things out.
Thanks for the comment and sharing your advice, it’s always much appreciated!!
We’ve done baby-led weaning as well and it’s definitely something that takes patience at the start. Our son was initially slightly curious about the vegetables that we’d put in front of him and slowly and gradually started playing with them. It took a while before he started putting them in his mouth and actually eating them. Now, he eats lots of different foods (especially fruit and vegetables).
Hey, glad to read this, Jonathan, thanks! What did you start with and how many days did it take before he ate something? Right now, Avery won’t even touch the things!
I was talking to my wife about this yesterday and the first things that we tried to give our son were carrots, avocados and bananas. It took a few weeks before he first started actually biting away at them and another few weeks before he started properly eating them. Good luck with it!
I’m glad I found this site while searching for weaning challenges, and it gave me a laugh looking at those cute pictures! Hopefully Avery’s loving food now that she’s almost 3 years old and getting ready to throw tantrums…
Ha ha, oh yes, she’s quite the foodie now and enjoys sharing anything from sardines to fermented beets with daddy lately. Glad you found this and hope it helps you on your weaning journey. Feel free to reach out for any specific questions. I may or may not have an answer, but I’ll try!