100 First Foods™ Approach to BLW
Babies can eat so many more foods than we give them credit for!
In 2016 I created the 100 FIRST FOODS approach to baby-led weaning which has now helped tens of thousands of families give THEIR babies a safe start to solid foods. Here’s how it works…
Who’s Behind the 100 FIRST FOODS Approach?
Hi there! I’m Katie Ferraro, Registered Dietitian and mom of 7 specializing in baby-led weaning. I’m a college nutrition professor and I run the largest digital community dedicated to baby-led weaning @babyledweanteam.
In 2016 I created the 100 FIRST FOODS approach to baby-led weaning and I host the top-rated parenting podcast BABY-LED WEANING MADE EASY.
I wasn’t always a fan of…or even aware of baby-led weaning!
We struggled immensely when introducing solids to our oldest daughter using traditional spoon-feeding. Mealtimes were a downright battleground and she hated food and hated being fed.
But with my next set of babies (quadruplets!) - teaching those 4 babies to self-feed with baby-led weaning turned everything around and helped return the FUN to family mealtimes.
With traditional parent-led spoon feeding, most babies might have 10 or just 15 foods that they can eat by the time they turned 1.
…but with baby-led weaning, the possibilities are INFINITE.
By the time they turned 1, our quadruplets had tried over 100 foods with baby-led weaning, and my 100 FIRST FOODS APPROACH to starting solids with baby-led weaning was born!
Doing baby-led weaning with our quadruplets was such a transformative experience that I shifted the entirety of my nutrition practice to focus exclusively on baby-led weaning…and it’s all I do now, all day…every day!
Katie Ferraro’s 5-STEP FEEDING FRAMEWORK™
If the idea of feeding your baby 100 foods before one sounds overwhelming…don’t stress!
Babies don’t wake up on their first birthday and magically know how to eat 100 foods. They need lots of time and space to learn HOW to eat.
My 100 FIRST FOODS approach to baby-led weaning is built on the back of my own 5-STEP FEEDING FRAMEWORK.
I created this framework in 2016 to help parents safely introduce their babies to 1 new food per day, 5 days per week.
Katie Ferraro’s 5-STEP FEEDING FRAMEWORK takes the guesswork out of feeding foods to your baby. Using this 5-STEP FEEDING FRAMEWORK each week we offer 5 new foods to baby:
1 new fruit
1 new vegetable
1 new starchy food
1 new protein
1 new allergenic food
If you spend time on my Instagram account @babyledweanteam or inside any of my baby-led weaning workshops or programs, you’ll see babies all over the world utilizing this approach to safely eat 100 foods before turning 1!
100 FIRST FOODS LIST
If you want to help YOUR baby eat 100 BLW foods safely before starting solid foods, grab a copy of my 100 FIRST FOODS list.
Each week I teach a free online workshop called BABY-LED WEANING FOR BEGINNERS.
This free training is all about how to get your baby to try 100 foods before turning 1 without YOU having to spoon-feed purees or buy pouches.
Everyone on this workshop gets a copy of my 100 FIRST FOODS list, and you can sign up for this week’s workshop times here.
100 FIRST FOODS FIELD GUIDE PROGRAM™
For families interested in additional training about how to implement my 100 FIRST FOODS (TM) program, I have an online digital program called the 100 FIRST FOODS FIELD GUIDE.
This is my proprietary approach to safely offering 100 foods to your baby using baby-led weaning. I created this approach in 2016 and I co-teach my program with a speech-language pathologist feeding therapist.
The 100 FIRST FOODS FIELD GUIDE is open for enrollment a few times each year. You can click here to add your name to the email wait list and we’ll notify you the next time the program is open.
History of the 100 First Foods
To learn more about my 100 FIRST FOODS approach and the history of this program, check out this episode of my BABY-LED WEANING MADE EASY PODCAST: A History of the 100 First Foods Approach to Baby-Led Weaning
100 First Food Grads
Nothing lights me up more than seeing babies around the world safely learning how to eat 100 foods before turning 1.
If you’re on Instagram and doing the 100 FIRST FOODS approach, be sure to tag me @babyledweanteam and use the hashtag #100FIRSTFOODS.
Don’t be overwhelmed by the idea of 100 foods…your baby CAN do this!
You can listen to the stories of some of our 100 FIRST FOODS grads in another episode of my BABY-LED WEANING MADE EASY podcast called “100 First Foods Graduates”. Click here to listen.
