Feeding your baby BLW style

I was not worried about the reaction, did not even know that there may be one before skitterling pointed it out.

What I wanted to know is ok to start him playing with food now, like the strawberries where I fed it to him. Just tastes of things, or should I wait until he is ready to do it himself?

Just a quick pic as I finally caught it.
This was taken yesterday so B was 4 days shy of 14 months.
I know in the pic she's eating 2min noodles and I have to admit that it goes completely against my grain to give that to her as a meal, but she loves it and if she gets it once a week she would consider herself lucky. I also always try to balance it, if I know that we are having a 'quick' dinner then I give her a healthier lunch but if I know that tonight I'll be cooking something yummy then I see no harm in her having 2min noodles every once in a while!

*edited to change the pic since I needed my glasses to see it* oh yes and this is her eating with a fork

Oh I am SO behind with answering questions! Thanks to those who step in and help out

Zodwa, I started giving B regular milk with her weetbix from 9 months on. I think you would have known by now if Ruru is sensitive to milk so I think it would be fine if you make something to eat which contains regular milk as long as you don't substitute breast/formula for regular milk yet.

Juno, (thanks Claudia!) firstly I would try and stick to 'bigger' finger foods until the pincher is a bit more developed, it's hard for them to (for instance) eat a whole meal of rice with only their fingers. B is now on a 50/50 with food and milk as Claudia mentioned, sometimes it's 60/40 (food/milk) as I have in the first year felt that I can never give as many vit/minerals etc as is found in milk. At 5 months I stopped the 4 hourly feeds and demand fed (bottle)

You also have to remember, even for us grownups, we eat less when we take our time and pause every now and then than you do when you just sit bent over and shuffle everything in your mouth. (usually take-aways!) Spoon feeding (although it sometimes takes a while) is a much quicker process and for us it seems that they are eating more (which they are) but it takes a while for the body to register that it's filling up and this happens easier when they pause and eat on their own. So when you compare 1 bottle of purity(for example) to half an apple, it doesn't seem to be close to enough but you have to keep in mind that if a baby is allowed to eat a bottle of purity on their own they also wouldn't be able to finish it.

There are so many sources of protein that meat is only one of, so for the iron in meat the gumming is enough, for the protein there are other wonderful sources. Also try self feeding with a spoon (preloading the spoon and letting baby take it to their mouth on their own) with food that isn't as easy to pick up or when they start getting a bit annoyed that they aren't getting it right (for B this is when we have rice, she loves rice but can't get it in fast enough with her fingers so she loves eating with her spoon)

Bronz, don't worry about the strawberries, as it seems that there is no reaction then I would assume it's safe, I don't however know if strawberries are like bee stings in the sense that you might get allergic to it over time, think Claudia should research that for us But I gave B strawberries before she turned 1 and we also didn't have any reaction to it. Personally I still think fruit in any form (that isn't too acidic) is safer than cookies with too much sugar!

He will be fine Bronz! Dont worry It is safe to assume that he can eat it

@skitterling: Thanks for that. Ok now that he has already had 3 on friday, do you think it is safe to assume he has had not reaction? No rash any where, and the only thing that changed was his poo (But just to a more solids poo).

Sorry for butting in here but I would like to share this that I found recently, quite an interesting read

www.homemade-baby-food-recipes.com/when-...at-strawberries.html

So this weekend we had some fun. I was eating stawberries and G smelt them and started going towards them with an open mouth (He was on my lap). So I let him have. Well he went through 3, sucked on them and they sort of broke up slowly as he sucked. Absolutely loved them. I know he is not ready for solids and wont do them until he can sit. Will try put up the pic later of him with a red nose and red top. (Oh how do you get strawberry out of clothes, haha)

But is it ok to play with food like this? And since he went through quite a lot.