The other title I was considering for this post was “Teddy noms on a banana and then throws up” but it was a bit too long for my taste.

We gave Teddy his first solid food tonight: half of a banana. Yes, we gave it to him in one piece. Our favorite way to teach a baby how to eat solid food is called Baby Led Weaning where you skip spoon-feeding your infant pureed food by providing age and skill appropriate whole foods. This teaches the baby how to hold, “chew,” pinch, swallow, and experience food at their own pace with the goal (at least in our house) of creating a healthy relationship with food from the get-go.

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Teddy couldn’t keep the banana in his hands even though he tried really hard so I provided a little assistance at first.
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Learning early that food tastes better if it smeared all over one’s face

It was about this point that Teddy gagged when he realized he had something that wasn’t completely liquid in his mouth and spat up his banana and some of the milk he had drank just before dinner. We’re not worried about that; it would be more worrisome if his body didn’t instinctively try to move the food away from his airway. Gagging didn’t stop Teddy from enjoying the taste of banana for the rest of dinner, though!

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Teddy mushed up the banana on his tray, kept rubbing his fingers in it, and the sucking the banana off of them. That’s one way to do it!
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Mmmmm, tasty!