‘When I first crawled under the table to clean up all the mess, I got a déjà vu’
Ellen is a counselor in secondary special education, a thriller author at publisher De Fontein, mother of Lewis and Miles (11 and 8) from a previous relationship and gave birth to daughter Sophia with her boyfriend Nils in November.
I forgot for a moment what a thankless job it is to cook for your baby. The moment I crawled on my knees under the table for the first time to clean up all the mess, I got a déjà vu. Oh yes, I thought. I’ve done this twice before. I had already warned Nils; as soon as Sophia starts eating herself, it really is everywhere. So theoretically I really knew it, but I think I had repressed the impact of it. Cleaning that goddamn chair every time, the floor, the table and the child itself. How wonderfully easy was the time when she was only breastfed…
Together at the table
I also think it’s a very nice phase, that has to be said. When the five of us are sitting at the table and Sophia really belongs by eating along, it’s super cozy. It also seems to be genuinely good for babies to watch parents and siblings eat, listen to conversations, and participate in the interaction. My boys also enjoy watching Sophia mess around, regularly being laughed at or applauded when she finishes her food.
“She is regularly laughed at or clapped when she has finished her food”
Be fed? hey
After Sophia had been fully breastfed for six months, I had bought a nice device that can steam and mix. I like to buy fresh (and preferably organic) fruit and vegetables and make something delicious out of them. Sophia only had her own opinion about that from day one. She is not the type of baby who enjoys being spoon-fed. Yes, if she is allowed to do it herself, but then the mess is already all the way to the ceiling. She kept reaching for the spoon and kept her mouth shut when we tried to give her a bite, often with loud protest and an angry face. So I switched very quickly to Baby-Led weaning (BLW). In other words; Rapley.
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Baby Led weaning
So now BLW has a lot of benefits for the baby, but for the parents it means that afterwards you can scrape your carefully made, organic food off the floor. It’s not going to be very neat and coordinated, but so be it. It’s super fun to see how she gets better and better at getting the food in her mouth and practicing her tweezer grip. Even the tiniest grains are now ingested. She gets her own plate (unfortunately, the suction cups don’t work on the tablecloth or tray of her TrippTrapp, so the plate regularly turns upside down, but oh well… it’s a mess anyway) and have fun with it, child. Just hit it. The advantage is that we can also eat normally without you feeding in between and she only benefits from it. She really gets enough, she’ll make sure of that.
“BLW has many benefits for the baby, but it means you can scrape your carefully made, organic food off the floor.”
Gastronomic delights
Recently she ate the same as us; white fish, sweet potato from the oven and beans. Not pureed, just the way we have it on our plate, but for her I don’t put any salt or spices on it. I follow all kinds of Instagram accounts focused on BLW and make healthy pancakes, sweet potato/zucchini cookies, spinach balls, healthy muffins and all that kind of fancy shit that half ends up next to the chair, but hey, as long as she enjoys food and we If you don’t get tired of cleaning yet, we will continue with it. Thankless job or not.
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