16 Baby Led Weaning First Food Ideas – Simple & Sensory Ways To Serve The Basics (Recipes!)

babies and solids

Depending on your baby’s age and abilities (some are more sensitive to texture, some develop pincer grip earlier, some gag a little and some gag a lot) they may gobble foods up or be hesitant about most, making you wonder if they like it or even if they are eating ‘enough’. (I talk more about intake below)

So baby doesn’t seem to love it? Enter: some new ideas for presenting foods! Sometimes all it takes is serving something a different way – a new shape, a new spice, a different softness, for your LO to be more apparently keen on it. And man, it feels so nice when baby seems to be happily eating, right?!

I own a Montessori-inspired daycare & preschool, so feeding babies is a constant. I have worked with dozens and dozens of babies and some love carrot spirals but will throw a carrot stick to the side every time. Others won’t touch a whole shrimp, but love it chopped in asian-style pancakes.

{Related Article: EVERYTHING You Need To Know Before Starting Solids With Baby Led Weaning}

Ok! We can adapt to this.  

I’ve put together a list of 16 fresh ideas (and full recipes) for serving basics like oatmeal, cheese, broccoli, beef… That will help you mix things up and experiment a bit, outside of whole form foods for baby led weaning.

Take these ideas as inspiration, and experiment with which size and shape works best for your little one. Get ready to be pleasantly surprised by their responses!

A couple notes on baby led weaning

(I swear, I get to the 16 ideas + recipes soon but wanted to share a couple reassuring notes for moms who are just starting solids and haven’t experienced it before – because it can seem confusing/like baby isn’t doing it right or getting enough. Feel free to skip ahead!)

The typical age for a normally developing baby to start solids is 6 months. Always check with your pediatrician before starting solids. 

{Related Article: Top 6 Baby Led Weaning Essentials Every Mom Needs To Keep It Low Stress}

Because it can be hard to tell if baby is enjoying a food, remember that our responsibility at this juncture is to: expose them to safe variety. 

Exposure to the same foods, often and consistently, will help your child familiarize and accept new foods. This is a huge advantage to baby led weaning that introduces babies to foods in its most natural state. And! They may not go for zucchini sticks but might loooove zoodles, or they might not care for cubed carrots but may love it shredded in pancakes! 

Mix it up to see what your baby takes to best and happiest. Good news is, they may like a food served differently, when in fact, you thought they didn’t like it at all. 

Why not try it a few different ways to see! This can help all the way through toddlerhood too.

{Related Article: 21 Picture Examples Of How To Serve Solids For Baby Led Weaning}

Repeated taste exposure and modeling of behaviors in non-coercive fashion has shown to increase food acceptance. –Frontiers In Pediatrics

It’s so helpful to know also that – “Children may exhibit normal exploratory behaviors with new foods such as touching, smelling, playing, putting foods in their mouth, and then spitting them out before they are willing to taste and swallow various foods.” – Frontiers In Pediatrics

So, when just starting out with solid foods, that are wildly different than the milk your baby has known up until now, know that they may not do much with foods you serve them for the first month or so.

{Related Article: Top-Rated Baby Led Weaning Supplies Other Moms Love To Use}

This time of exploration and discovery is what I like to call, “learning my solids”. Rather than, ‘eating solids’.

When we phrase it this way, we think – oh, learning. We have more patience and experience less pressure for them to ‘eat’. And when we feel less pressured, we pass off more of a calm and reassuring vibe to our children. And, when they are calm and comfortable, they behave naturally, are more open, willing, and experience things more authentically. 

Remember, that your baby is getting the nutrients they need from their milk, whether it be formula or breast milk. Unless otherwise advised by your pediatrician, starting solids is less about intake and more about food awareness, food acceptance, and independent skill building.

{Related Article: EVERYTHING You Need To Know Before Starting Solids With Baby Led Weaning}

Did you know that babies and toddlers are naturally intuitive eaters?? “Children are born intuitive eaters. They are built to self-regulate based upon their own individual hunger and fullness cues. 

Most kids remain intuitive eaters until their hunger and fullness cues become interfered with, like when we make them finish their plate or they don’t have access to enough food.” –Feeding Littles 

A wonderful bonus to baby led weaning, is that research suggests that – “babies who are given this control over what they eat early on are less likely to become picky eaters in the toddler years and beyond. With baby-led weaning, food is less likely to become a lever for control or power in the child-parent relationship because the child is in control from day one of starting solids.” –Solids Starts

This has thoroughly been my experience now with 4 children (out of 20+) who I’ve worked with that have started solids with baby led weaning, as opposed to traditional spoon-feeding purees.

Ok, so let’s dive in to the fresh serving ideas…

16 Fresh First Food Serving Ideas + Recipes

Safe size and softness is key when starting baby led weaning. 

Here are a few other things you want to consider when serving your baby solids with baby-led weaning:

• Are they getting foods with iron in them? According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, iron deficiency is one of the most common problems among children. It is frequently not detected and it has long-term health implications for development. Don’t stress. Now that you know, you can ensure you’re providing iron-rich foods. If you need ideas, you can read this article.

• Are they eating foods from all the recommended food groups?

• Are we making sure we don’t serve foods that are unsafe including, over processed foods and honey. For a complete list of what to avoid, read this article.

• Are we allowing them to grab and explore foods on their own, even if it means they are hardly consuming anything. Remember, they are just beginning to learn how to do this and are tasting all sorts of new flavors. It may be a slow process for your child, meaning weeks or months. They will soon understand intake and in the meantime, they are still getting the nutrition they need from breastmilk and/or formula.

So, in summation:

• Choose a variety of foods from different food groups.
• Prepare to safe sizes.
• Prepare to safe softness.
• Let baby explore foods independently.
• Serve foods in whole form and in a simple, fun recipe form to optimize exposure and see which your baby takes to most, as they grow.
• Enjoy watching your baby discover what they like.

I hope this was helpful with some baby led weaning mealtime inspiration! I know it can be hard to know what to keep making for our little ones AND to think about how else we can prepare foods if they aren’t open to them (yet) in whole form. 

For more great reading on baby led weaning, check out these resources: