Sunny's First One Hundred Foods: Our Experience with Baby Led Weaning

We were introduced to Baby Led weaning by my sister and sisters-in-law. We did take a course that really helped put our minds at ease because as first time parents we felt a little stressed about it. She also has a great instagram account and podcast with tons of information. One of the things that was helpful for me early on was the reminder that it is our job to serve it, and it's baby's job to eat it. We can offer it, but she gets to make the ultimate choice if she's going to take a bite. Our goal was to hit 100 new foods in Sunny's first year. We began around 6-7 months after Sunny was sitting up well on her own. Aaron and I are both list makers and I thought it would be fun to share the list of Sunny's First One Hundred Foods before her first birthday! I also included how we chose to serve them.

Sunny's First 100 Foods

1. French fries (or really "chips" since her first official food was in the U.K.)

2. Sweet potato (served smashed)

3. Eggs (cooked and then sliced into strips with a pizza cutter)

4. Apple Sauce

5. Blueberries (smashed with thumb)

6. Oatmeal (served with cinnamon)

7. Black beans (low sodium and pureed)

8. Green Peas (low sodium, mashed)

9. Guacamole

10. Banana (mashed or in long slices)

11. Mango (steak fry sized slices)

12. Green beans (low sodium, canned)

13. Barley

14. Red kidney beans (low sodium, pureed)

15. Plain yogurt (whole fat)

16. Strawberries (sliced)

17. Peanut puffs

18. Peanut butter (mixed in with yogurt)

19. Cucumber (spears, makes a great teether)

20. Pumpkin (canned)

21. Pinto beans (low sodium, pureed)

22. Sardines (Costco, canned boneless/skinless)

23. Asparagus (steamed tips only)

24. Avocado (mashed and sliced)

25. Kiwi (sliced)

26. Cannellini beans (low sodium, pureed)

27. Almond puffs

28. Hummus

29. Pear (thin slices, steamed)

30. Watermelon (long, thin slices with rind for gripping)

31. Broccoli (steamed)

32. Chickpeas (mashed)

33. Cottage cheese

34. Prickly pear chia parfait

35. Pineapple (long, thin slices)

36. Zucchini

37. Potato (mashed)

38. Lentils

39. Rotini Pasta

40. Grape tomato (quartered, this was a scary one for us because she couldn't get the skins down)

41. Orange (peeled, served in slices)

42. Yellow Squash

43. Corn tortilla (the only food she was super unimpressed with, ha!)

44. Beef (roast, with yellow onion and garlic)

45. Yellow Onion

46. Tuna (served as tuna cakes, we used panko bread crumbs, green onion, lime juice and cilantro)

47. Peach (skinned, sliced)

48. Grapes (quartered)

49. Carrots (steamed)

50. Quinoa

51. Lima beans

52. Raspberries (mashed)

53. Tofu (served with cumin, another food she wasn't excited about)

54. Beets

55. Apricots

56. Mozzarella Cheese

57. Provolone Cheese

58. Coconut

59. Sun sugar tomatoes

60. Apple Juice

61. Hamburger patty

62. Mandarin Oranges

63. French bread (she had a just a small sample, but we're counting it!)

64. Cornbread

65. Papaya (long, thin slices)

66. Lemon

67. Tahini paste (served atop green beans)

68. Mushrooms (served in a strip of eggs)

69. Salmon (served with paprika)

70. Spinach (blended up with apple sauce)

71. Lime

72. Plum

73. Corn (served on the cob, sliced the cobs into 4 inch sections)

74. Grapefruit (peeled, sliced, skins removed)

75. Couscous

76. Cod (served with garlic powder, black pepper, lemon)

77. Brussel Sprouts (steamed)

78. Pork (roast)

79. Pepperoni (a piece she found on the floor at a birthday party)

80. Figs (one of her favorites, sliced vertically)

81. Nectarine (she just ate some small pieces of mamas)

82. Shrimp (food processor with shallots, parsley and garlic)

83. Shallots (part of the shrimp mix)

84. Cheddar Cheese (shredded)

85. Blackberry (mashed)

86. Sauerkraut (canned)

87. Sourdough bread (thin slices, lightly toasted)

88. Cheerios

89. McNuggets

90. Cantaloupe

91. Birria

92. Black lentils (served with olive oil, coriander, cumin)

93. Mac N' Cheese

94. White Crab (crab cakes)

95. Chicken (drumsticks)

96. Lobster Bisque

97. White Rice

98. Edamame (smashed)

99. Ricotta Cheese

100. Dragon Fruit

As we've been going along I'm usually asking Alexa what is and isn't safe for dogs since our pup is often waiting for her turn to clean up. Here's a few of the foods per Alexa to keep away from dogs:

• Avocado

• Grapes

• Grapefruit

• Garlic

• Onion

• Corn on the cob (we learned this the hard way when our dog dug through the trash after Thanksgiving a few years ago and nearly had a bowl obstruction. We're grateful she threw it up instead!)

• Peaches

Clean Up Crew

We love food and have had the best time introducing Sunny to solids. Watching her explore new textures and flavors is a joy. Today we gave her eggplant and she let us know that she was not a fan by grabbing handfuls and throwing them on the ground. Little lady has some strong opinions! Of all the things she's tried eggplant, tofu and corn tortillas were her least favorite. We're so grateful she's been safe so far and I hope as we continue on this food journey that we can keep facilitating positive food experiences.

These are the products we've used! From the beginning we haven't put anything in her mouth. We let her use her hands and spoons to self feed. It's messy but evidently helps keep baby extra safe!

1. Food mat

2. Silicone spoons

   1. there are significantly cheaper spoons but we liked the thicker handle for her to grasp and we like this brand

3. My sister sent us these spoons and I think Sunny has liked having a little variety!

4. The course we took mentioned that baby can be spill free by ONE when they get practice with an open cup. We are about 1 month shy of her first birthday and still waiting, but Sunny does love this cup.

5. We just bought this straw cup per my sister's recommendation to have Sunny get some practice with a straw. We love it!

6. We use a silicone bib which only makes it on her about 40% of the time

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Have you tried baby led weaning? We'd love to hear about your experience!