❤ As a first time parent, madaming bagay ang nagbibigay ng kaba at surprises samin sa pag gguide kay Bonita. Of course We always wanted what’s best for our child. And most importantly, as much as possible we wanted our child to be healthy.
🧐 Before mag start kumain si Bonita, we took time to research & gather informations of what are the best firsts food to give because we wanted to give her homemade at naturally prepared foods. And syempre gusto namin magkaron sya ng joy in eating & establish good eating habits din.
‼️Pero bago tayo mag start to give them solid foods, there are some things we need to consider.
• Baby atleast 6mos old (WHO recommended)
• Baby must be able to sit unassisted (yung hindi na natin kailang pilitin na umupo sila ng tuwid, kaya na nilang umupo ng diretso ang likod at hindi naka depend)
• Baby should show an interest in solid food
• Baby should have lost the "Tongue Thrust Reflex" (yung hindi na tinutulak ng dila nya yung food na kakainin nya)
• Baby should be able to pick up object & bring them to their mouth.
🍽️ We came across in two approaches of weaning:
🥣 Traditional Weaning - our known usual way to wean babies, purees, spoon-feeding, Mommy's leading to feed the baby.
👶 BLW (Baby Led Weaning) - Baby lead themselves, No spoon feeding, Baby will be incharge of whether & how much they wants to eat.
We really want Bonita to start for BLW, not because it is "In" to many nowadays, but because of the benefits that we want her to experience.
❤ They will learn to chew their food in order to soften it and make it safe to swallow. (at 6mos, some babies are tend to do Mirroring, What you do, they'll follow. In our case, everytime Bonita looking at us while eating, we try to show to her kung paano pagsubo namin ng food at pag nguya, sometimes in a Slow motion way. And when she started eating, she's trying na nguyain kung ano nilalagay nyang food sa bibig nya)
❤BLW encourages exploration and independence. (Enjoying the texture of every food na ihahain sa kanya. We always think na "linalaro" nya ung food nya but No, don't mind them squishing, slapping, or tearing away their food. It's just a part of their sensory play, at their age baby tend to explore all the things that they can see, touch, hear or smell and it's ok mommies)
❤It develops their hand-eye coordination and fine motor skills
❤BLW also reduces the chance of your baby to become overweight because by feeding themselves. (narerealize nila kung kelan sila busog at dapat ng tumigil sa pagkain, No force eating kumbaga)
❤ They are less picky eaters (since BLW is also way of serving different varieties of food, they can even try everything or almost everything of what they have in front of them, kahit simpleng nilagang okra lang yan, o nilagang kalabasa, patatas. etc)
❤Most of the time, what your whole family's meal can be your baby's meal as well. So hindi ka na mahihirapan mag isip lagi. (Just AVOID: Sugar, Salt, Honey for babies na below 1yr old. And syempre WATCH OUT FOR ALLERGENS)
❤Baby can learn how to feed herself independently, kaya pwede nyo na sya makasabay during mealtime 😊
📝 How to start BLW ba??
Of course, kung need ng signs of readiness ni baby, Need din ng signs of readiness ni Daddy & Mommy. In BLW, we have alot of questions as a parent at unang una na jan ay yung:
- What if mabilaukan??
- Paano kung wala pang ngipin?? Paano nya mangunguya?
- Matutunawan ba yon??
- Baka mangayayat lang kasi lagi lang lalaruin at itatapon, di naman makakakain ng madami.
👨👩👧 As a parent we also need to ready ourselves in this. We have to:
✏️ EDUCATE OURSELVES first regarding BLW (Pros & Cons, What to expect, different of Gagging from Choking, What are the different ways of cutting & serving food), Research & Try to attend in some free webinars & join to some BLW groups.
❤ Learn to TRUST OUR BABY. (we learned this during Bonita's BLW journey, instead na kinakabahan kami tuwing mag gagagging sya pero what she really needs is our encouragement na she can chew, she can spit up the food out from her mouth & she can do it without any fear of eating)
💆🏻♀️💆🏻♂️ PATIENCE - BLW can be messy, It is really messy actually, and we cannot guarantee na kapag hinain natin ang food sa harap ni baby ay kakainin nya agad. We need to take a lot of extra patience on this, because everything will be worth it in the end for our baby. Hayaan natin silang magkalat, mag explore. Do not let them skip this method dahil minsan lang sila magiging bata. 😘
Bonita started to have her first solid food when she was 5mos & 20days, her first food was half cut of banana, pero we noticed na hindi pa sya masyadong maka grab ng food nya kaya hindi muna namin pinush na mag full BLW agad, so days before her 6months, we tried to give her mashed food but always have something on the side (French cut steamed veggies or have her own spoon), for her na mapractice ang pag grab nya 😊 And hindi naman kami nagkamali, when she turned 6mos she can grab her own food and put it inside her mouth, mas naeenjoy nya pa yun compare sa sinusubuan sya.
We're hoping na maka help ito sa mga first time parents na tulad namin na gustong i try na mag BLW with their babies. Syempre YOUR CHILD, YOUR RULES pa din, kung saan kayo magiging comfortable 😊 Always remember that We as a parent are incharge of what we can give to our baby 😊 and Our baby's job when to continue or stop eating, Wala pong pilitan 😄 para maenjoy ni baby kumain at mas maenjoy pa ni Mommy or Daddy magprep ng healthy foods kay baby.
Happy Baby = Happy Mommy!
Happy Wife = Happy Life!
So WE (Daddy, Mommy, Baby) are a one Team on this! 😊
Happy Eating Everyone!
#theadventureofbonbonita #BabyMukbangers #mukbangbaby #BonDiaries #blwbaby #parenting101 #babyleadweaning #firsttimeparents