These are my favorite blw foods for 7 month old, and how to best cut and serve them. Baby led weaning is such a fun process and I hope you can enjoy it while providing your baby nutrition.
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As a Registered Dietitian, I take alot of pleasure in providing my baby food and watching him eat.
It’s so fun and joyous to share in the experience of eating, and watching your own children learn how to feed themselves and discover tastes and flavors is unbeatable.
Baby led weaning at 7 months doesn’t have to feel intimidating or all or nothing – babies are still learning so much at this phase and are generally still beginners.
We’re just about 2 months into our baby led weaning journey, this time around. I wanted to share an update.
Similar to baby led weaning foods at 6 months, our journey at 7 months consist of many new foods and ways to prepare them!
We’re offering mostly finger foods as the basis of our baby led weaning journey – we also do some pre loaded spoons too, so he can feed himself!
Baby led weaning 7 month finger foods are easier than you think to prepare!
So far, Sawyer’s favorites are these roasted carrots for baby led weaning and baby meatballs.
He absolutely loved holding the meatball and digging right in. And I loved knowing it was providing iron and Vitamin C, from the sweetpotatoes!
Here’s a video on how I prepare the carrots for blw.
Benefits of Baby Led Weaning (BLW)
Baby led weaning is essentially a way of introducing solids to baby in which they feed themselves.
We have loved baby led weaning and have used it for both kiddos as a way to introduce foods.
Like any parent, I want my child to be an adventurous eater, try different foods and textures, and have a good relationship with food.
My dietitian self also wants to promote autonomy and help my child learn self-feeding and responding to hunger cues.
I felt that I could better promote that without spoon-feeding my child.
For us, baby led weaning has set the stage for a healthy relationship with food, and has been a great introduction tointuitive eating for kidswho learn to listen to their cues and trust their bodies.
First Baby Led Weaning Foods
Here’s our list of the first baby led weaning foods we introduced, and continue to serve at 7 months.
I keep track with the solid starts app!
As you can see, I was diligent on introducing many of the allergens early on – peauts, milk, eggs.
When to introduce peanut butter can vary, but in general, the up-to-date research supports that 4-6 month window, to prevent the risk of allergies later in life.
This is supported by up-to-date research and even the2020-2025 dietary guidelinesto reduce the risk of allergies later on.
- sweetpotatoes
- banana
- avocado
- carrots
- beef (through meatballs)
- full fat greek yogurt
- eggs – introducing allergens early is important, and I either did it with egg strips or these egg muffins for babies! We then advanced to baby french toast sticks
- peanut butter – I mixed someno sugar added peanut butter powderwith breastmilk and offered several peanut butter recipes for babies (without sugar/syrup)
- beans – great iron source – I mashed them
- broccoli
The latest research actually encourages theearly introductionof allergen foods (even the2020-2025 dietary guidelinesrecommend this).
And don’t think you need to serve bland food – spices for babies are highly encouraged!
To this point (just shy of 8 months), Sawyer has tried 35-40 different foods! With two other kids running around, I’m happy with that!
I also get lots of baby products and some toddler snacks from Thrive Market, I’m so thankful for their monthly snack deliveries to keep options available when I don’t have time to prepare anything.
Signs of Readiness at 7 Months
As discussed in my post on starting solids at 6 months, you’ll want to make sure baby shows signs of readiness at 7 months, too!
These signs are:
- Sitting: Baby can sit independently and with head control. This ensures safe angles for chewing and swallowing. And don’t forget a proper high chair with a foot rest for baby!
- Reach & Grab: Baby is able to pick up food while seated and easily bring them to the mouth. This is why we rely mostly on finger foods that are easy to grab!
- Shows An Interest:Baby has shown/is showing an interest in food. While watching you eat, he/she may grab at the food.
- Tongue Reflex: Some experts also recommend having the tongue thrust disappear before starting solids. However, this may not be necessary.
As of 2021, the American Academy of Pediatrics, U.S. National Institutes for Health, and World Health Organization all recommend waiting until your baby is around 6 months old and showing signs of readiness to introduce solids.
Baby Led Weaning Feeding Schedule
I assume we will have a bit more of a routine in our baby led weaning feeding schedule once we reach 8-9 months, but here is our general schedule as of now.
7am – wake up, milk
730-8:00 am – breakfast with the family. Sawyer usually has oatmeal, eggs, or some sort of dinner leftovers (here are some ideas for baby led weaning dinners)
11am – milk after his first nap
12-12:30pm – lunch or snack.
This isn’t consistent and sometimes it’ll literally be a slice of mango that he chews on while I’m preparing lunch for myself. I love the My Serenity Kids pouches from Thrive Market too, especially since they have some fat!
I also love these breastmilk popsicles or DIY yogurt pouches, where I’ll mix in fruit or nut butter!
1:30pm – milk before second nap.
4:30pm – milk
6:00pm – dinner. He’ll usually have small pieces of what we’re having.
6:30-7pm – milk before bed
Baby Led Weaning at 7 Months
Baby led weaning at 7 months is a tiny bit more advanced than 6 months, but not much.
Honestly, they are still beginners. Babies may (or may not) be starting to eat more foods.
Most likely still haven’t developed the pincer grasp yet, so a lot of food may still end up on the floor.
And because of this, you’ll still want to cut foods appropriately – mostly in long strips that is easy for them to pick up.
Any parent or caregiver will want to take a CPR course if you haven’t yet.
When Sawyer gets a little older, I will introduce baby oatmeal bites. But, I want him to become a little more proficient.
Must Have Equipment for Baby Led Weaning
I do recommend having some equipment to help with the mess. You can get a free download of my baby led weaning shopping list here.
We pretty much use all of theEZPZ productssince they have an awesome development team that creates things based on baby’s needs for their age and developmental milestones.
Themini cup,utensils,bowlandtiny placematare all great for babies just starting solids!
Here is what the mini cup looks like as our guy plays with it. It’s so easy for them to hold themselves!
Everyone may have their own forms of these things that work for them, but these are what we love!
- CPR class – While this doesn’t technically fall under equipment, it DEFINITELY falls under proper preparation. Make sure you have taken this in the rare instances that your baby chokes and you feel confident in knowing what to do!
- Born to Eatbook – This has fun recipes and tips for serving solids to babies to create a good relationship with food.
- Sturdy high chairwith foot rest – Since your baby needs to be sitting independently, you want something sturdy for them to be sitting in. It is not safe to feed them on your lap. You want to be looking at them always. I love this one since it transforms into a helper for the toddler years!
- Long sleeved waterproof bibswith a pocket (you’ll be surprised at how much food goes in that pocket!) orany bib with a pocket(I find silicone bibs easiest to clean)
- Splat Mat– essentially to make clean up easier below thehigh chair(or a good dog 🙂 )
- Mesh Feeders– These can be great for those who want a modified BLW or just some easier to swallow options before doing full-on solids
- Silicone plates and bowls– this works great forfeeding oatmeal
- Tiny cup– This is great for starting to introduce water
- 360 Cup– One baby can hold and tip the cup, this is wonderful and will last until toddler years.
7 Month Old Baby Led Weaning Foods
When continuing to introduce solid foods through baby-led weaning at around 7 months, it’s important to offer age-appropriate foods that are easy for your baby to handle and consume.
Acorn squash for babies, for example, is a great soft starter food.
Here are some other suitable options that my three kiddos have enjoyed at this age.
- oatmeal (good iron source) – I like to cook it more so it’s easier for baby to chew, or make oatmeal balls or use them in meatballs
- raspberries – mashed, pureed or cut in half
- asparagus – a great finger food for 7 months old!
- avocado
- cantaloupe (we also love serving cantaloupe puree on a preloaded ezpz spoon!)
- baked carrot sticks
- baby led weaning meatballs& various otherburger recipes(modified by slicing or cubing)
- sweet potato (severalrecipes for sweet potatoes for babiesand kids!)
- broccoli
- acorn squash in the air fryer
- liver and other cooked/pureed meats
- bison or beef (great iron source) – We love theseair fryer bison burgers and ALWAYS use Butcher Box organic meat.
- yogurt and other full fat dairy products
- baked parsnipsorair fryer parsnips
- thinly sliced steak (great iron source)
- beans (great iron source) – Preloading with this ground turkey quinoa skillet is fantastic
- eggs (I like to mix them into several recipes, such aszucchini and sweet potato fritters)
- strawberries
- pesto (I love to make spinach pesto without nuts)
- soft grains – rice, cous cous, quinoa, barley, farro
- lentils – we mash or puree them. So many greatlentil recipes for babyhere!
- salmon (salmon pattiescan be great too)
- pasta
- chicken
Should You Offer More Than One Food at a Time?
When possible, I’ll offer two foods, generally an iron source and Vitamin C source food. The reason for this is because Vitamin C helps enhance iron absorption.
I don’t want to overwhelm baby with an entire plate of food, so I generally offer 1-2 options, and 1-2 pieces of the same food.
I also prefer to offer vegetables first since fruits are sweeter. Here’s how I handle that with an 18 month old toddler eating schedule.
I don’t think there is definitive research on that, or how introducing certain foods before others may develop certain taste preferences.
But, the way I see it, it’s very likely that kids will like fruit because they are sweet. As kids get older, use these tips to get toddlers to eat veggies.
So, I want to encourage them to like vegetables as well, so I try to introduce those more often right now.
How to Cut Food for Baby Led Weaning at 7 Months
What size food to serve for baby led weaning likely depends on the age and development of your child.
As they progress, you can likely serve less things in finger shapes and more in small shapes, like beans and small diced shapes since they can pick up easier.
Those seem to be easier baby led weaning foods for 8 months. You can also start serving mixed meals then, like casseroles.
At this early phase, most babies are still developing hand-eye coordination and grabbing food.
Therefore, it’s probably easiest to cut food into long strips or finger shapes so it’s easier for baby to pick up.
Many foods from these toddler finger foods are great for babies, too!
For example, when serving sweet potatoes, I’ll peel and cut them into fry shape, and mesh with oil so baby can pick up and enjoy.
There are a slew of options for sweet potato finger food!
Some food that can’t be cut (ie – oatmeal, mashed sweet potatoes, berries), you can mash and/or preload onto anezpzspoon for them to self feed.
As baby advances, you can start offering smaller-sized foods that they can pick up.
7 Month Breakfast Ideas
Here are some of my favorite baby led weaning breakfast ideas for 7 months.
To save yourself time, you could make these in bulk and freeze for later use. We love to do this with our freezable toddler meal ideas.
- eggs cut into strips with sliced raspberries or avocado slices
- baby french toast sticks(easy to grasp and fun)
- baby pancakes(can mash eggs and banana and cook) or make your own
- mashed sweet potato orsweet potato wedgesand beans
- Mushroom and asparagus quiche
- oatmeal with breast milk and a sliced fruit
- lots ofbaby led weaning muffin recipes(and some for when they get a little older)
- yogurt
- tropical chia pudding
- apple pumpkin baked oatmeal
What Foods Should You Avoid?
Here are some foods you’ll want to avoid in baby led weaning.
- You want to avoid anything hard or anything the same shape as their windpipe, which could lead to blockage or choking. Again, taking an infantcprclass is vital so you do understand the difference between choking and gagging and know what to do if your baby is choking.
- Avoid anything overly crunchy or sticky.
- Honey – Honey is not recommended for children under age 1 due to the risk of botulism.
- Avoid added sugar and high amounts of salt, as babies kidneys’ are not equipped to handle high amounts of salt yet.
- Cows milk until age 1 – Baby just needs breastmilk or formula
For the most part, though, baby CAN eat what you eat.Make feeding your 7 month old an enjoyable process!
- Bean recipes for toddlers
- Sweet potato baby led weaning recipes
- BLW dinner ideas for 9 months
- Meal ideas for 1 year olds
- Easy baby breakfast ideas
- Sweet potato spinach baby food
References:
- https://solidstarts.com/tongue-thrust-and-starting-solids/
- Larson K, McLaughlin J, Stonehouse M, Young B, Haglund K. Introducing Allergenic Food into Infants’ Diets: Systematic Review. MCN Am J Matern Child Nurs. 2017 Mar/Apr;42(2):72-80. doi: 10.1097/NMC.0000000000000313. PMID: 27879501.
