More of our BLW Story

I know I have been mentioning how much we love our baby-led weaning (BLW) story with our Ava but I just realized that I haven't completely shared some of the things we did that made our  journey successful. So I thought of making this post with high hopes of inspiring other families to at least consider the baby-led approach in feeding their babies.

Let me first give you a quick introduction about BLW, just in case the term is pretty new to you. Baby-led weaning is an alternative approach in introducing solids to babies at six months, we also call it baby-led feeding here in our country. Compared to the traditional way of solid feeding, BLW does not recommend spoon-feeding, mashing or puréeing food. Instead, it allows babies to pick up their food and eat independently. It also encourages a healthier eating habit, so no boxed or jarred baby food, just wholesome and all natural foods cut into chunks big enough for babies to grasp and gnaw.

Here are the things that will happen in BLW:

• The baby sits with the rest of the family at mealtimes, and joins when she is ready.

• She is encouraged to explore food as soon as she is interested, by picking it up with her hands - it doesn't matter whether or not she manages to eat any at first.

• Food is offered in pieces that are the size and shape that the baby can handle easily, rather than as purées or mashed food.

• She feeds herself from the start, rather than being spoon-fed by someone else.

• It's up to the baby how much she eats, and how quickly she widens the range of food she enjoys.

• The baby continues to have milk feedings (breast milk or formula) whenever she wants then and she decides when she is ready to begin reducing them.

- Excerpt from the BLW book by Gill Rapley.

If you are interested in reading more, the best way to start is read the Baby-Led Weaning: The Essential Guide to Introducing Solid Foods - and Helping Your Baby to Grow Up a Happy and Confident Eater by Gill Rapley and Tracey Murkett. Everything you need to know about BLW is in that book.

I thought of sharing our story based on the commonly asked questions I've read in the BLW group or from the questions that I've received from other mamas. I will also share some ideas and principles that we have practiced that made BLW easier and more fun for our family. :)

How did we learn about BLW?

I learned about BLW in one of the breastfeeding meet-ups we attended when Ava was just three months old. Solid food introduction was asked and I distinctly remember one mama sharing how her son eats fruits and vegetables, cut into chunks, independently. Hearing her story amazed me so much that I decided to do some further researches and discussed the things I've learned with Mr. T. He also liked the whole idea and the principles of BLW so we agreed on trying it with Ava. I also learned about a Facebook local support group for those practicing the baby-led approach in feeding their babies - Baby-Led Weaning Philippines. At that time, it was a group of just less than 500 members, and I was amazed at all the stories, photos and videos of babies eating on their own. Now the group has reached more than 8,000 members and it's so nice to see that a lot of mamas (and papas too!) are practicing the same approach and a whole lot more are interested in trying it with their babies.

Tips: It is very important that you understand the whole concept and principles of BLW. That way you will gain confidence in letting and trusting your baby to eat independently. You can also attend some first-aid classes about Infant and Child Safety seminar in case you are worried about choking. There are also a lot of materials online that you can watch and read as well. If you are worried about the thought of a higher choking risk in BLW compared to the traditional feeding, then you should know that it's quite the contrary. In traditional feeding, when you feed your baby mashed or puréed food, the consistency is not much different from their milk, the food can easily slide (or sometimes forced) at the back of their mouth. It does not allow them to chew first before swallowing. In BLW, babies learn to gnaw/bite, chew and swallow at their own pace. In between six and eight months, the gag reflex in babies are particularly sensitive. This reflex in babies prevents food from moving too far at the back of the mouth when they aren't ready to swallow. That's why it is important that you learn the difference between gagging and choking. Basically, if your baby bites a huge chunk and started making a lot of noise and if her face is turning red, that's gagging. Just allow her to manage the food and wait for her to spit it out. But if she's not making any noise (completely) and starts to turn blue, then your baby is choking. Give first-aid immediately and then call for help.

Beef Sukiyaki

We love Japanese! :) But Mr. T likes the sushi, sashimi, grilled meat side of Japanese food while I love the noodles, soups, ramen and the rest that's in a Japanese menu. And since I am the one in charge of cooking, I cook what I like. Lol.

For today's recipe sharing, I will share with you my own version of Beef Sukiyaki. See, I still take into consideration Mr. T's preferences even if I cook dishes that are really not up for his taste buds. I cook them in a way that he won't mind if I cook them again. Hah! And of course, this recipe is also BLW friendly for my darling daughter of course. :)

Ingredients:

500g Beef (Sukiyaki or Breakfast Steak cut)

2 medium-sized Onions

1 medium-sized Carrots

1 can Shitake Mushrooms

1 Chinese Cabbage (Pechay Baguio)

50g Sotanghon Noodles

1/3 cup Kikkoman Soy Sauce

1/4 cup Mirin

2 liters Water (or Light Beef Broth)

Pepper

Cooking Oil

How to Cook:

1. Sauté onion over medium heat. Wait till it's soft and cooked (but not browned) then put in the beef. Cook for about 5 minutes.
2. Take out (strain) the beef and onion from the pan and set aside.
3. With the beef broth still in the pan, pour in the water, soy sauce and mirin. Boil for about 5 minutes.
4. Add the beef and simmer for about 2 minutes. Then add the sotanghon noodles and let it simmer until the noodles are slightly cooked.
5. Add the carrots and mushrooms. Then add the cabbage and let it simmer for 2 minutes.
6. Season with pepper.
7. Serve and enjoy over a cup of rice. :)

*You can also add tofu to this recipe but unfortunately, I didn't have tofu available last night. The original recipe also calls for brown sugar but Mr. T doesn't like anything sweet for a main dish. The amount of soy sauce in the original recipe was at 1 cup (?) but since we're cutting down on salt for Ava, I reduced it to 1/3 cup instead. It's always fun to adjust recipes for you and your family's liking. Oh the joys of cooking. :)

Celebrating One Year of BLW

It was exactly on Ava's 6th month celebration when we introduced her to solids. Her first food was avocado. That was one year ago already.

When we started out with the whole parenting thing, we were basically relying on our doctors, parents and siblings for advises. That meant doing everything the traditional way. As we adjusted a few months later, we began to have a better understanding that we are already building a family of our own. I, particularly, wanted to break from my family's norm of raising up kids. Don't get me wrong, I am forever grateful to my parents and I respect my siblings' decisions in raising up their own kids. It's just that I think, our generations have evolved immensely and there are significant information that we didn't know back then that we know now. That's where our choice for Attachment Parenting (AP) came in.

Fambam Hits: Milky & Sunny

About a month ago, right before crazy November started, we found our little fambam in a small and cozy breakfast place called Milky & Sunny. This has been on my list for quite some time and I was happy to finally convince Mr. T to drive all the way to Kapitolyo in Pasig for our Sunday brunch that time. :)

A view of the whole place including my breakfast buddies. :)

Fambam Hits: Commune

Without the baby for today.

Mr. T and I don't get to spend lunch together that much even if our offices are just three buildings away because either one or both of us are too swamped with work. But last Thursday, Mr. T asked me out for lunch. :)

Instead of going to Pacific Star, I thought we could take advantage of these lunch dates and check out different places around our area. And on top of my list was Commune.

Commune is located at Liberty Plaza. corner of Dela Costa and Valero. If you're familiar with the area, it is where Binalot used to be. Commune is apparently a sister company of Binalot.

100 Days of BLW

Baby Led Weaning (BLW) is defined as:

Quite simply, means letting your child feed themselves from the very start of weaning.
* re ‘wean’. This is meant in the Brit sense, not the American. In the UK, ‘weaning’ means ‘adding complementary foods’, whereas in the States it means ‘giving up breastfeeding’.

I learned about BLW during one of the breastfeeding meetups we attended earlier this year. A was just around three months then. Then I started reading about it and introduced it to Mr. T as well. After reading articles, watching videos and more, I was finally ready and confident enough to do it. Yes, I had to build my confidence level and had to learn the difference between choking and gagging.

And as A turned six months on May 1 of this year, we started our BLW journey.

Our little foodie in training. Her first solid food - avocado. No, she didn't eat cake. Lol.

In the Kitchen: Crispy Kulitis

If I have to choose which of the wife duties I love the most, I will pick cooking in a heartbeat. Just about anything that has something to do with preparing and making meals for my little fambam, I enjoy a lot. Probably because the hubee is such a foodie and the little miss A is looking like becoming one as well. Happy tummies equals a happy family. :)

While I have my typical go-to recipes, every once in a while, I would try and cook something new just to give our palates something different. Or sometimes, the folks will bring some fresh goodies all the way from Nueva Ecija - longganisa, fish but veggies most of the time. Just recently I learned how to eat Kulitis (Chinese Spinach) leaves so my dad would bring me some everytime they're in Manila for a visit.

The only way I know how to cook it is to sauteé with garlic, onion, tomato and mackerel or sardines. And since my dad brought heaps of these greens last weekend, I think someone will eventually complain if I cook it that way over and over again. So I thought maybe I can make a Crispy Kulitis just like the Crispy Kangkong. :)

And here's what I came up with.

Ingredients:

50 pieces of Kulitis leaves

(Choose the big ones, wash then lay flat on a plate)

For the batter:

1 cup All Purpose Flour

1 cup Ice Cold Water

1 Egg

1 cup Cooking Oil

How to cook:

1. Start by heating the pan with the cooking oil.
2. Combine the flour, water and egg then beat until the lumps of flour are gone.
3. Hold the stem of the kulitis and brush both sides of the leaf in the batter until completely covered.
4. Cook until it turns slightly brown.
5. Remove from pan and transfer to a strainer lined with a tissue or coffee filter to absorb oil.
6. Serve and enjoy. :)

I made two dips:

1. Mayonaisse, dried oregano, dried basil, salt and pepper.
2. Soy sauce, lemon, garlic powder and sesame oil.

Recipe adapted from Crispy Spinach Recipe by Panlasang Pinoy