Baby-Led Weaning

I was asked to write about this, so I gathered a few thoughts to do so.

Baby-Led Weaning is a technique for introducing solids to babies at 6 months.  It is believed that at 6 months a baby is able to feed himself, so by giving him manageable foods (usually in a stick shape), baby should be able to grab it, bring it to his mouth and learn to eat by himself.  For example, we started with well cooked broccoli, finger-shaped well cook pieces of sweet potatoes, carrots, turnip and even green beans, chicken and ground beef.  He is now eating toasts (with different kinds of purees on it, like meats and fruits or hummus) and even spaghetti squash with homemade spaghetti sauce for supper tonight!  It is also believed that baby needs to be eating socially, so with the family (same time) and same food (or somewhat the same).  So all and all, there are no spoon feeding of the purees!  Why the name you ask? It is believed that from birth, baby has the control over his feeding (if breastfed) as he eats how much he wants and how often he wants until the point where solids come into play.  Therefore, this technique allows you to continue to let baby lead the way with feeding.  He is then still in control of what he eats and how much (an important point with this technique is that the food is offered and then baby does the rest: no feeding from the parents or forcing baby to eat).  Hence baby leads the weaning off of milk, since as he eats more solids, he should drink less milk.  This is really resuming the technique in a nutshell, so if you're interested purchase the book : Baby-Led Weaning (on sale right now on Amazon.ca)

Now here's our experience with this technique: we love it!  It's amazing to see how baby just knows what to do! The very first time our little one took that broccoli and brought it right to his mouth and chewed and....oh the stress and excitement and oh so many different feelings I felt! Hehe our precious little bundle of joy is somewhat independant!  Yes, as and OT, that is one of my main goals, but as a mother, I'm filled with a little bit of selfishness: he doesn't NEED me for this! as the days went by, he would eat a bit (we would see the end product at diaper changes) but not much. Around 8months he really took interest into it and wow does he ever eat now.  Yes, he still has days where he doesn't eat so much, but it's normal.  I always have to tell myself that I too have off days.  He still takes the same amount of milk (hasn't weaned off at all yet), but he decides so.  We love this technique because he can eat with us, at the same time.  Yes, there are days where he gags and chokes, but every baby does it.  Oh and did I say no purees?!?! Hello time saving! To really understand the difference I referred to friends for comparison and one who's done purees with the first and BLW with the 2nd, would've done BLW with both if she would've known.  She says the introduction of pieces and the progression of textures was hard with her puree-fed baby.

From an OT point of view, yes there is no progression as for the textures (pieces right from the start), but baby having the control, he will be more likely to accept it, therefore, it's great in my book!  And then you have the fine motor part and wow, how else would you have a 6-7 month old dealing with such small objects to practice pincer grasps?!  The whole eating experience is problem solving at it's best! Eye-Hand coordination is also practiced with every bite!  Did I say I love this?!

In conclusion, if this peeked your interest and you're curious to try it yourself, read the book!

Thanks for reading!
V

Links:
http://www.amazon.com/Baby-Led-Weaning-Essential-Introducing-Confident/dp/161519021X

Kinderville dishes

Kinderville are silicone food storage and serving wares.  They are dishwasher, refrigerator and microwave safe. BPA, Phthalates and lead free!  These are all attributes that lead me to make this purchase.

I've bought other chemical-free dishes and they work well, but with the option of putting it in the microwave (yes, I know: bad mother! hehe), these were the only ones I found.  And yes, I know some companies will say you can, but they are not chemical-free.  I put food in the microwave now and then, but wouldn't take the chance of putting it in any serving ware.  I personally don't trust the melamine plates etc.  ok, this was the chemical-free part, now let's move on to functionality!





I've personally purchased the bowls and the cups.  First of all, I'm loving the colours, these are sooo cute! So I use the bowls for practically anything, so as a plate or a bowl, etc.  The cups are light weight and easy to grab with the indentations on the sides.  My little one loves them and can use them by himself.  the soft silicone is also great as he chews on it sometimes (no horrible teeth sound!!! hehe) and it doesn't mark the floor if it falls or anything.  I also see it as a cup that will grow with him.

In conclusion, we've been loving what we've used so far and we're looking forward to getting more products of theirs as our baby grows older (sandwich pouch and storage jars).  We personally purchased our dishes on amazon.com.


links:
http://www.kinder-ville.com/
http://www.amazon.com/Kinderville-Little-Bites-Bowls-Orange/dp/B00B4GYVJ0/ref=sr_1_3?s=baby-products&ie=UTF8&qid=1393596151&sr=1-3&keywords=kinderville

Applecheeks diapers review

I've been using Applecheeks diapers (size 1) since my son was 10 days old.  Love them!

First of all, my son was small and tall, so no chunky thighs or anything.  We would pull on the wings and the fit was perfect. but a friend had a chubby-thighed little girl and she had a hard time with the fit.

We used the microterry on top, so no stuffing! yeah!  We had a hard time at one point, as the little one was a heavy wetter, but we asked Applecheeks and they were very helpful with the matter.  We now are using a microterry with a bamboo booster during the day and for the night it's a 3-ply bamboo with an extra bamboo booster and the stay-dry bamboo booster on top, to wick the moisture away from the little one's bottom.  It's a trial an error, as it is with all cloth diapers.

If you are not using cloth diapers yet, but thinking about it, these are just the best way to get into it.  Yes you will need to buy size 1 and size 2 (eventually) unlike others that are a one size, but these aren't bulky!  yes I have a boy (so no skinny jeans or leggings ;-) ), but I still don't want him to have to wear 2 sizes up in his pants and onesies and all, just because of a bulky diaper.  Plus a bulky diaper gets in the way of a baby's movements (every little thing is important when you're learning to roll over and crawl, etc).  I tried and wasn't able to get a good fit with a one size, on my small baby and even to this day (he's 9 months) they are too big (he's still slim though).  Therefore, it's really a case by case, but personally, I'm not sure I would've gotten into cloth diapering if the fit would've been like other brands I tried (I'll review them later).  But like I said before, one friend didn't really like these because of her girl's size (which is a healthy size) and went with another brand.

If you want more pros, my husband loves them! First of all, he loves cloth diapering! He just can't imagine himself running to the store every week, or so, to get diapers.  He will help wash them, which believe me is easy, and hang them up to dry.  He also loves that they are easy to use.  The option of not stuffing saves a lot of time for us, but a few more steps when you put them on baby.  We plan on stuffing them for the babysitter, once I go back to work, so even more easy to use for her (but more time prepping for us).  At this point in time, with baby on solids, we are using the flushable disposable liners on top.  I can honestly say that since we've been using the cloth diapers I didn't have to touch pee or poop, so don't be scared of that, it's definitely not an issue!  You take the dirty diapers, put them in a wet bag and once it's full you push it inside out in the washer and throw the bag inside out in it as well!

Oh and before I forget, if you're gonna do cloth diapering, do cloth wipes as well, it's just logical!

Wow, I would have so much more to say about this brand, but I have to end this post eventually!  I had to do my first review with it, as it's something I use every day, many times a day, love it and want to share it with the world!

I also use Applecheeks' wet bags (all sizes), swim diaper, cloth wipes, spray, flushable liners and all the different inserts.  I purchased my diapers either locally or on the Applecheeks website or Snugglebugz for Canadians and lil' tulip for Americans.  Applecheeks website has the list of all it's retailers.

thanks for reading!
V

links:
http://shopapplecheeks.com/shop/
http://www.snugglebugz.ca
http://www.liltulips.com

About me and my blog

Hello mamas!
I'm V, a pediatric Occupational Therapist (OT), which means that I play with kiddos all day! Hehe all joking aside, pediatric Occupational Therapy is therapy through play, which, in a bubble, means that I need to analyze how different toys and movements impact the development. I'm presently on maternity leave, so I only play with MY baby at the moment.  Yes, my husband and I are proud parents of a lovely little boy and are looking forward to grow our family.

I wanted to start this blog, as I thought with my experience as an OT (ergo) and a new mother, I could share my views on different baby and kid products.  I also have many mommy friends and we share our thoughts on products and the latest baby related trends.  I'll start building up my blog with a few reviews of stuff that I've used lately and go from there.  I'm open for suggestions and look forward to interact with my readers, so please don't be shy to comment on my posts and contact me if you have any questions or even suggestions of products to review.

I have to add that everything on here will be MY views at that point in time.  I will review my posts and update when needed and sometimes change my opinion (i.e. because of product updates, growing baby and needs, etc).

Thanks for looking and happy reading!
V