BLW First Foods
"Eating with your baby – at the same time, at the same table and sharing the same food – is at the heart of baby-led weaning."
—Gill Rapley
You’ve mentally committed to baby-led weaning (BLW), you’ve got the BLW gear, and your baby has hit the necessary milestones to begin. What’s next?
Getting started with some simple and familiar foods is a good way to wean in (for your own mental health). Here I provide BLW first food suggestions. It’s important to use these as a jumping-off point and not as a crutch to continue to rely on without expanding your baby’s palate.
BLW First Foods
Any whole food (i.e. not processed) that exists can safely be given to your baby in some form or another with the exception of the short life of foods below. With all of these options, it’s important to take advantage of one of the most important parts of BLW: variety. Since the BLW window is so small, it’s important to keep pushing your comfort boundaries instead of getting into a rut of always giving baby avocados and bananas.
This should go without saying but never impose food restrictions on your child. Diets and restrictions like high carb, keto, Mediterranean, etc. should not enter the world of your child. Provide a variety of foods with a variety of colors in a variety of ways. For example:
Types of food: starches, veggies, fruits, meat
Cooking methods: boil, bake, steam, grill, etc. (depends on the type of food–see below)
Additions: spices, herbs, oils (avoid salt and seed oils)
Katie Ferraro, a registered dietician and mom of 7, hosts a great podcast called Baby-Led Weaning Made Easy. She suggests offering foods at this routine and frequency:
The schedule
Monday: Fruit
Tuesday: Vegetable
Wednesday: Starchy food
Thursday: Protein
Friday: Allergenic food
The frequency
6-7 months old: offer foods 1-2 times a day
8-9 months old: offer foods 2-3 times a day
10-12 months old: offer foods 3 times a day
Foods To Give (Examples)
The starter kit (to get you comfortable)
Avocado strips
Banana strip
Strip of cheese
Veggies
Types: Bell pepper, sweet potato, carrot
How to prep: cook until they’re soft
Fruit
Types: blueberries, strawberries, cooked apples
How to prep: raw if they’re soft, cook if they’re harder. For berries, squish them or halvE them and either provide plain or with oatmeal or Greek yogurt on a loaded spoon
Protein
Types: tuna salad, chicken, hard boiled eggs
Others
Bean
Lentils
Grains (e.g. toast with PB)
Rice (e.g. rice with hummus)
Daily (cottage cheese)
Pasta (spiral)
Foods To Avoid
What to avoid because of health reasons
Undercooked or raw foods
Processed foods (desserts, high sugar, artificial dyes, etc.)
Foods that have been modified (low-fat, fat-free, sugar-free, diet foods)
Products containing carrageenan
Foods containing carrageenan (a common food additive found in things like whipped cream, deli meats, cottage cheese, canned soups, dairy alternatives, and microwave dinners)
What to avoid because of choking hazards
Popcorn
Candy, gum
Marshmallows
Chips and pretzels
Hot dogs
Whole, large seeds and nuts
Uncooked apples
Uncooked carrots
Large globs of peanut butter or nut butters
Grapes
Cherries or cherry tomatoes
Olives
Cubes of hard meat
Fish with hard bones
Allergens
Allergenic Foods
The Big 9 allergenic foods are peanut, egg, milk, wheat, fish, shellfish, sesame, soy, and tree nut. We now know that 90% of food allergies are caused by these 8 foods (sesame is part of the Big 9 but less commonly an allergen so it doesn’t fall into this 90% statistic). For that reason, you don’t need to introduce all foods to a baby with days between, instead, do this for the Big 9 foods and feed foods that fall outside of these on a daily basis.
Not only is it okay to introduce allergenic foods early but it’s important to introduce them early to prevent allergies. If you want too long then you actually increase the risk of allergenic foods.
Some good rules of thumb for allergenic food are to introduce them early, introduce them at least twice in the first few months, never introduce two allergenic foods together at the same time, and offer them when your baby can be awake for a few hours afterward so you can monitor for any reactions like hives.
Common signs of an allergic reactions are hives, swelling of the tongue or skin, wheezing, sneezing, tightness of the throat, difficulty swallowing, GI discomfort, and diarrhea.
If your baby has conditions like intolerances, eczema, family members with allergies, or is allergic to anything then go slower with the introduction of these foods since they might be at a higher risk of having a reaction. Talk to your pediatrician about this.
Final Thoughts
Hope this BLW first foods guide helps. I recommend reading the complete guide to BLW before jumping in with these foods. Additionally, a great resource for beginning your BLW journey is the Solid Starts app and the First Foods® Database, which goes deep on food safety and how to prepare specific foods for specific ages. If you have any questions or concerns, always reach out to your pediatrician.
Enjoy the process, continue to safely explore the world of BLW, and leave suggestions for the best first foods you used with your baby in the comment section.
Related:
BLW: What It Is & How To Do It. Where to begin and a list of the necessary milestones needed before your baby begins BLW.
BLW Supplies. A list of safe and durable products I recommend as you begin BLW.
