This weekend, I officially introduced my daughter to solid foods.  Previously, my husband snuck in some pistachio ice cream when we were visiting his family in New Jersey in February.  She also had some chai tea at about four months, to which I was an accomplice.

“Oh come on,” my husband said beguilingly. “Just a little bit.” 

Aside from these, on the advice of our pediatrician, we have been pulling away our food from our seven-month old daughter for about two months.  I read recently in a book about Baby Led Weaning (BLW) that if a child is reaching for your food, it means she’s ready to eat solids.  At about 9-12 months, breast milk will no longer meet all of her nutritional needs.  Worried that she won’t be prepared, I decided this weekend we would not pull away our food from her any longer.

We didn’t plan on doing this in public, but it turned out that way.  My husband invited some friends for Saturday brunch at an Indian buffet.  Of course they asked about my daughter.  “Is she eating solids yet?”  Well, actually, she is starting today, I responded.  The only other woman there took out her camera cell phone and began snapping pictures.  Foolish me, I forgot my camera.

My husband got some raw and cooked vegetables from the buffet.  I put it out in front of her on small plate.  She mostly played with the food by waving it in front of her.  This is to be expected, according to the BLW method, which states that children discover food first by touching and playing with it and then by putting it into their mouths.  This is in contrast to strapping your kid to a chair and force-feeding him/her with a spoon one of the most popular baby foods- rice cereal.

“It doesn’t taste good,” said my pediatrician.  “Why not offer her an avocado?”  She had a point.  After reading and thinking about it, BLW not only seems more humane, but it makes for easier mealtimes later, advocates say.

“So are you trying to do everything right?” smirked the husband of the woman snapping pictures.  “Well, I don’t have five kids.” I replied, referring to my husband, who has four siblings.  “I have one kid, and I want to get it right.”

So, we didn’t have cantaloupe this weekend, as I had planned.  It’s still sitting in our refrigerator.  But at least I kept my commitment to allow my daughter to explore food.  It wasn’t as scary as I thought because she was just as careful in her approach as I am.  She picked up a piece and waved it back and forth in front of her.  She didn’t put anything from the smorgasbord of vegetables in her mouth.  This morning, however, when she reached into my cereal bowl, I did offer her a fresh blueberry from it.  After feeling it, she did put it in her mouth and her facial expression was priceless.  It’s as if she bit off a piece of toothpaste.  So the journey has begun…