Baby-Led Weaning

With this blog title, do you know how tempting it was to tell you I was pregnant for April Fool's Day?  Especially since someone totally got me with that today (I thought I was going to be an aunt of a little Mexican boy named Alberto -- gullible, I know).

I so wanted to pay it forward. But, yeah, we all know how rumors get started.

With that being said, I'm honored and thrilled to have Brittany write a guest post on my blog today.  She is a full-time working mom, the beautiful mother of an incredibly adorable little boy named Henry (how can he not be adorable with a name like that?!) and the writer of a blog called ALL TOGETHER NOW, Inspiration to help busy moms get it together.


She is charming, witty, insanely funny, smart, a gifted writer and above all else, REAL.  I follow several blogs and hers is one I never miss an entry for.

I believe the best knowledge especially with kiddos, comes from experience with your own.  And therefore have the highest respect for moms out there and all the hard work that goes into not only growing a kid, but a lifetime of nurturing and love.  So when mom's speak about their experience, especially FOOD, I'm all ears.  I value the insights and the real details of the day-to-day.

Brittany brings just that.

So thanks for following along and check out her post below on Baby-Led Weaning.
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Hey Everyone! I'm Brittany, and I write over at a little blog called All Together Now. I'm a new-ish mom to an 8-month old baby boy named Henry, here today to talk to you about - what else?! - food! Big thanks to Shelly for having me! I ♥ Pickled!

Henry had his first taste of food when he was 6 months old. I placed him in my lap at the dining table, and in front of him on the table, next to my plate of home-made Pad Thai, was his very own serving of plain rice noodles and tofu. He dug in with both hands and shoved everything toward, if not necessarily into, his mouth.

Once his own meal had dispersed down his clothes, in my lap, and onto the floor, he started in on my plate - which I quickly pulled out of his reach for safety purposes, due to the salty seasoning and peanut garnish.

I've had a few people look at me like I was nuts, upon sharing this story. No rice cereal? No baby food? What's your deal, crazy lady?

Well, it's called baby-led weaning. The idea is that babies don't need to be spoon-fed - they can feed themselves, and will do so in a relatively healthy and balanced way, when presented with a nutritious assortment of foods.

Vegetables and fruit can be steamed, boiled, and roasted, (or given raw, if soft enough) then cut into fry or baton shapes, for babies to pick up in their fists and enjoy. In later months, as babies' pincer grasps develop, they can pick up smaller pieces of food (such as beans, Cheerios, etc.) and feed themselves that as well. Babies can basically eat whatever Mommy and Daddy are eating - to an extent, as of course it's recommended that salty foods are avoided (no good for those brand-new kidneys,) as well as processed sugary foods, and other small foods such as nuts that can be considered choking hazards.

Speaking of choking hazards, they're discussed in-depth in the book Baby-led Weaning by Gill Rapley, which has been my go-to source. Choking is one of the most-asked after topics when discussing this method of feeding. Babies aren't ready to swallow whole foods - they could choke, couldn't they?

Well...no, not according to author Gill Rapley. She explains that, while it's important to always supervise baby's feedings in case anything goes awry, baby's tongue-thrust reflex - the one that causes him to spit out anything that makes its way into his mouth before he's ready to start swallowing - protects him from choking. Rapley concludes that, as long as baby has placed whatever he's eating into his own mouth, he won't be able to get it past the back of his tongue unless he's prepared to swallow it.

Gagging, on the other hand, is practically a guarantee. Almost all babies will gag as they begin eating new textures and learning how to swallow. Gagging isn't considered to be dangerous and shouldn't be interrupted by slapping baby on the back, or any other interventions. That didn't stop me from panicking while watching Henry experience his first few feedings - but he was always fine once it passed, and went right back to whatever he was eating every time.

Henry enjoys feeding himself some avocado

One way in which I find baby-led weaning to be limiting is that it recommends that parents not spoon-feed at all, citing it as a hassle and a constant "struggle." There were many foods which I suspected Henry would enjoy that he wasn't eating, because they couldn't be picked up by hand. So I tossed the book to the side one day, picked up a 3-pack of baby-sized spoons at the grocery store, and Henry ate (and ate, and ate, and ate) some hummus.

Henry loves hummus so much that he's afflicted with nearly permanent garlic breath. He loves hummus so much that, contrary to what the baby-led weaning book told me to expect (that my child would be offended by strange mush being put into his mouth for him,) he didn't mind spoon-feeding one bit.

So I tried spoon-feeding him a few other things that he was unable to eat by hand. Yogurt? He loves it. Applesauce? Loves. Enchilada casserole? Loves it, jalapeños and all.

So I took it even further. Since my husband and I don't always eat a low-sodium, balanced dinner that we can share with Henry (sometimes you just gotta order a pizza, am I right?), I picked up a box of rice cereal and a few jars of baby food when I was at the store next.

And what do you know...he loves that stuff too! He sits in his booster seat (I quickly learned that it wasn't terribly convenient to feed Henry in my lap) with his mouth wide open like a baby bird, eagerly awaiting every single bite. If we take too long between bites, the kid practically hyperventilates.

I would tell you that the baby-led weaning book is biased in regards to spoon-feeding, but you know what? I credit baby-led weaning for Henry's being so trusting when he is spoon-fed. I think that having fed himself from the start, he learned to trust what was going into his mouth, and knew that he didn't have to eat anything he didn't like. Anytime we offer anything to Henry on a spoon, we always let him look at it, smell it, even touch it if he wants to - before putting it in his mouth.

Recently when I dropped Henry off at his sitter's, she was giving the toddler she watches some dry Cheerios for a snack. Henry starting fussing - he doesn't like when other people eat and he isn't included! The sitter remarked that she wished she could give Henry a snack too, when I pointed out that actually, she could. She put a few Cheerios on the tray for Henry, and he stopped fussing and went to town, and our sitter, with her 14+ years of childcare experience, told me in shock that she had never seen a (then) 7-month-old able to handle feeding himself Cheerios.

I mean, duh - my kid is awesome.

But in all seriousness, I think that Gill Rapley is onto something. We can probably give babies a little more credit for their ability to feed themselves. And hey, if your baby enjoys being spoon-fed, like mine does, I say that's cool, too. After all, as long as he actively enjoys the feeding, it's technically still him leading it, right? Rapley might say no, but it's working quite well for this busy family!

Be sure to check out the book for more information if you're interested in baby-led weaning. You'll want to make sure you have read all the safety information, such as choking hazards and allergens, before starting.

Millet - it's not just for the birds

My aunt lives in Orlando, Florida and for Christmas, she mailed me some oranges picked right off the tree in her back yard. I was nothing short of ecstatic to get them. For one, I am obsessed with getting snail mail and two, I love food gifts. Inside the box was a sweet handwritten note tucked inside; it wished us a Merry Christmas and sent her love, after she called out that the oranges were pesticide free. Sweet. And seriously, these oranges were blissfully divine tasting; sweet, juicy and you just can't eat them without making noises.


These perfect oranges made their way into our Christmas morning breakfast.

On the menu: orange millet pancakes with maple orange syrup, scrambled eggs with basil and feta, a side of blueberries and French pressed coffee. Sadly, this was the first Christmas for my husband and me to be away from our families, which makes me think this is probably the first time I've ever made breakfast on Christmas.

 

Okay, so I have a slight infatuation with whole grains. I feel they are terribly underappreciated, especially millet. There are many studies that show eating whole grains instead of refined grains will lower the risk of chronic diseases. Amazing... and worth several more posts alone to cover the amazingness.
When I mention millet, people have heard of it, but they often crinkle their faces, tip their heads side ways and say, “Isn’t that bird feed?” Why, yes. Yes it is, but it’s human feed, too.

MILLET

Millet is sweet, mild and fluffy. It’s a fantastic GLUTEN-FREE whole grain that earns its rightful place in the pantry. It’s highly nutritive being rich in iron, protein, calcium, phosphorous, potassium, magnesium, B vitamins and is a fabulous source of soluble fiber. Millet is cooling and very alkaline making it easy on the gut; being easy to digest makes it a major bonus for those with GI issues. I love that it’s a super inexpensive, budget friendly grain, about $1.29 / lb from the bulk bins. It’s been around for literally a few thousands years and was the staple grain until wheat farming came into the picture. It was commonly used in breads back in the Old Testament days as well. (Ezekial 4:9 & 27:17)

Keep in mind that millet doesn't rise like other flours so works well as cereal or used in flat breads or paired up with whole wheat pastry flour for example.

Also, if you have some arthritic pain, you can make a warm poultice with millet porridge.
Combine millet with water in a small pot and heat until warm; put mixture in a cheese cloth or piece of cotton or flannel fabric and apply to the affected area (not scolding hot of course). Millet has anti-inflammatory properties and stimulates circulation around the painful area.
Make a whole grain baby cereal.

When baby is ready for solid foods (after 6-8 months), toast ¼ cup of millet in a dry skillet and grind in a spice grinder into a flour; add ¼ cup of flour to 1 cup of water and cook over medium heat, whisking constantly. If the cereal consistency is too thick, add a little more water or breast milk.

***Note that the freshly ground flour goes rancid pretty quickly so store it whole in an air tight container and ground it as you need it.

You can eat it in your pancakes, feed it to the birds, rub it on your body and make a nutritious cereal for your baby. Are you not sold yet?

Ok, here’s a good place to start…
Orange Millet Pancakes
Pancake batter
1 1/3 cup plus ¼ cup whole millet
2 tablespoons sucanat or rapadura
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 egg
½ teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup whole milk
1 teaspoon orange zest
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2-3 tablespoons safflower oil

Syrup
1 ½ cup 100% pure maple syrup
½ cup fresh squeezed orange juice with pulp


Ground 1 1/3 cup of millet in a grain mill or spice grinder until it's a fine powder. Over medium-high heat, dry toast the remaining ¼ cup of millet in a skillet for about 5 minutes, or until the millet begins to pop and gives off a toasty aroma. Next, quickly pulse the sugar in the spice grinder to make the sugar finer but not into a powder.

Combine the flour, sugar, baking soda and salt in a small bowl and set aside. In a separate bowl, beat the egg. Add vanilla, milk, zest and stir to combine. Using a whisk, stir in the oil.

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry bowl and whisk until combined well. Finally, whisk in the ¼ cup of toasted millet.

Heat a cast iron pan or griddle over medium heat and allow to get very hot. Place a little bit of safflower oil (or other high heat oil) in the pan and scoop ¼ cup of batter into skillet. Cook for about 1-2 minutes on each side, once pancake batter begins to bubble and when it turns golden brown. Repeat until batter is used up, but be sure to stir the batter and scoop from the bottom each time as the millet will settle.

Meanwhile, over medium-low heat, combine the maple syrup and orange juice to gently warm it. Drizzle over pancakes and garnish with an orange slice.


Preparation time: 35 minutes
Makes about 10 5 inch pancakes

Copyright 2010, S. Nester, Original Recipe