When we introduced solids to E at 6 months we went with a totally different approach. With the older two we did the usual, start with baby cereal then introduce one pureed fruit or veggie every 3-4 days. Truth is, I hated it! It was so time consuming, not to mention we were not helping them learn to eat, just shoveling food into their mouths.
This time around I heard about Baby-Led Weaning. Again through my extensive research, uh reading of blogs, I realized this sounded like the way to go. I quickly ordered the book and got to it. Now purees for us!
We started her out at 6 months with hard foods that she couldn't really bite, but just gnaw on. She loved it! I was a little freaked out about her choking, but the book explains how that really is not a problem because a babies gag reflex is so far up on their tongues that it prevents them from getting large pieces of food in the back of their mouth. 
After a while we started giving her steamed and softer foods to eat. It has been really amazing watching her learn to bite and chew at a much earlier age. By 9 months old she was eating just about everything we ate (minus common allergy triggers). An advantage to her eating the same food as us is that it is a good incentive to eat healthy! I am cooking healthier foods and healthier sides because I do not want my baby eating junk! I often forget how advanced it is to just give my baby regular food and watch her eat it like she is two! It is also amazing to give a 10 month old a piece of steak and watch them chomp it up!
(Pics from early stages of BLW)
