Avocado is so slippery without the skin, how can a baby pick it up?? When my twins started Baby-Led Weaning, I wanted avocado to be their first food just like big brother Benjamin. I gave it to them a slice plain, Wyatt tried picking it up and it slipped right out of his fingers. At the time I had some plain cheerios on hand so I crushed them and rolled the avo in it and he was able to pick it up no problem! So now I’m hear to help you learn how to prepare an avocado for BLW so it’s easy for your baby to hold based on their age and development. There are four easy options here so you can pick the one that works best.

A wooden bowl containing two baby spoons and a silicone teething toy, all with bits of green food on them. The bowl rests on a marble surface, next to a halved avocado and a small slice of parchment paper.

Avocado BLW 6 Months

Babies that are just starting to eat solids at 6-7 months of age are not able to pick up foods with their thumb and index finger (what we call the pincer grasp), thus we have to make pieces of food big enough for them to hold and gum on. Because one of the principles of baby led weaning is that the baby has the choice to feed themselves.

How do you prepare Avocado for BLW?

Leave part of the rind on for baby to hold
Cut into strips and roll in hemp hearts or flax meal
Mash and spread onto piece of toast plain or over whole fat greek yogurt, sprinkle with hemp hearts
Mash into grooves in EzTotz Utensils or into Oral Awareness Tools

Nutritional Benefits of Avocados for Baby

I heard once that avocados are like nature’s butter. They are technically a fruit with a large berry, however, they are not sweet like a fruit. They are higher in unsaturated fats than any other fruit according to Harvard School of Public Health.

Avocados are a great source of fiber, and many vitamins and minerals including B vitamins, folate and magnesium.

A wooden plate contains a piece of toast topped with mashed avocado and sprinkled with hemp seeds, an avocado slice, and a small baby spoon with an orange handle holding mashed avocado. Half an avocado is visible in the background on a marble countertop.

Hemp Hearts & Flax Nutrition:

Adding hemp hearts and/or flax meal to your blw avocado adds nutritional benefit for your baby! Hemp Hearts pack a huge punch of iron which is essential around this age especially for breastfed infants. Both of them are a good source of omega-3’s which are great for your baby’s brain development. Omega-3’s are also a source of unsaturated fat which is the one touted for heart health. Fats are also great because they make food taste good and we definitely want food to be tasty for our baby.

BLW Avocado 8-9 months (for those babies with a pincer grasp)

Around 8-9 months, babies start to develop their pincer grasp. therefore, they can pickup things in smaller pieces.

Unfortunately, slippery avocado is still hard to pick up in bite size pieces so I would consider doing the avocado toast and cutting into bite size pieces or still offering it mashed on a spoon or rolled in something and cut into pieces.

A baby spoon with mashed avocado on it, and three slices of avocado arranged in a row, progressively showing varying degrees of ripeness and decomposition, from fresh to partially spoiled. All items are placed on a white background.

Tools & Supplies for Avocado BLW

Foods to Pair with Avocado for Baby-Led Weaning

There are a multitude of options you can choose to pair with avocado for meals for your baby.

High protein options:

Steak strip
Hamburger patty strip (shown here)
Boneless thigh chicken strip
Fresh mozzarella cheese

Fruit/Vegetable options:

Thin watermelon strips
Cantaloupe
Mango strips
Orange wedge

Starch options:

Mashed Sweet Potatoes
Spaghetti Squash
Mashed potatoes
Quinoa patty strips

A wooden plate contains two breaded meat sticks, two slices of white cheese, and a slice of bread topped with avocado spread and seeds. Two avocado halves are placed on the white marble surface next to the plate.

FAQs

How do you prepare avocado for blw?

There are several ways you can prepare avocado for blw. We outlined 4 ways earlier in the post. Mash and put into grooves in the EzTotz Spoons or Oral Awareness Tools, slice with half the rind on for baby to grip, slice without the rind and roll into ground flaxseed or hemp hearts, or mash and spread onto toast.

Can 6 month old choke on avocado?

Avocado is a food that you’re easily able to mash it between your thumb and index finger, indicating that it is soft enough for baby to manage and lowers the risk of choking. Choking is different from gagging, which is a completely normal learning experience for babies.

How do you make avocado less slippery in BLW?

Avocado can be slippery for babies to pick up so you can leave part of the rind on or roll the piece of avocado in something like hemp hearts or ground flaxseed. One of my twins Wyatt had a hard time picking up his naked piece of avocado and once we rolled it in crushed whole grain cheerios, he was able to pick it up! I like hemp hearts or ground flaxseed because they pack a little extra nutritious punch.