BLW - Baby led weaning support thread

[TigerLady]

UK ladies all comment on my accent -- I don't have an accent... you do!!!!



And I would love to have a posh UK accent. There is one UK lady in this town and she always sounds so much cooler than she probably is!

 

[faille]

I agree TL, your accent is ace!!

I'd love a posh british accent too, I just sound damn right common (always get asked if I'm an Essex girl??)

 

[NIfirsttimer]

ugh ive a horrible northern irish accent lol!!
TL thanks for posting that.. OH & i watched it together, and were impressed! hes got that mastered now doesnt he! Rubys not quite that good at it... probably becasue my fear is limiting her progress!
ive decided im going to do some research into what to do if she does choke.. and then just go for it. think i might feel better if i knew what to do properly if it did happen, not that its likely i know!

violets face is a picture!!!! shes loving that lasagne!

girls what were the first foods that you all started with?

 

[saraendepity]

hun if she does choke the procedure is to lay her down your arm and do 5 baxk slaps ( i think) then tummy thrusts if that doesnt work with 3 fingers ( i also think) - i just done a paediatric 1st aid course !!! but like you say, SHE has the skills to sort herself out and it is so so very unlikely that she will actually properly choke

Daisy's first foods were toast, a roast chicken dinner, porridge, roast butternut squash and sweet potato!

i LOVE Irish accents i have an awful Geordie accent

 

[TigerLady]

Thanks for that, Sara, I had been looking for a pead 1st aide course but none offered in my town.

NI, glad you found the video useful! I agree -- go for it. I was nervous at first, too, but am getting more confident all the time. Otter is doing really well considering he is not quite 5.5 months old yet! But that is why I had to start him early -- he just demanded it! Would have it NO other way. Stubborn boy.

His first food was lightly steamed carrots, sweat potato, sweet (not dill, high salt) pickle, pear slices, and cucumber. He's also had watermelon, strawberries, broccoli, cauliflower, a bread roll, and tonight he had a twice baked potato (without the cheese or bacon bits).

Still sticking to more simple things until he is 6 months. Also still sticking to just dinner.

I talked to his daycare and the boss lady FINALLY agreed to work with me on the BLW. He'll need lunches there after he turns 6 months and I was beginning to wonder what to do. She agreed to let me teach her how to go about it and then she will personally feed him lunch.

I have faith that after all the caregivers see him at it for a week or two, they will understand it better and have no trouble feeding him... well letting him eat. They had never heard of BLW before I showed up.

 

[Missy]

What a great video of Otter!! Yes, I like your accent too.
Oi Faille! I AM an Essex girl....what you trying to say??? LOL

 

[Lu28]

Violet looks so pleased with herself!! Otter is so cute too

I've got a Dublin accent which loads of people don't like, ah well!

 

[kirsten1985]

I've got a Lincolnshire/Derbyshire accent, it's not that good really. I get teased when I visit OH's Somerset family though, as they all have really strong South West accents. Lol.

 

[faille]

What a great video of Otter!! Yes, I like your accent too.
Oi Faille! I AM an Essex girl....what you trying to say??? LOL

It's not me, it's everyone else who thinks I am (mostly norfolk/cambridge way). Obviously they all have opinions that Essex girls are common

ETA that I looove Irish accents, I just can't understand them very well

 

[faille]

girls what were the first foods that you all started with?

First foods were fruit (not citrus), veg and things like toast and breadsticks.

Toast is fine as one of the first foods but you might wanna stay away from bread as whilst they're still sucking and not chewing, it easily clumps together and can very easily stick to the roof of their mouth x

 

[NIfirsttimer]

yeah i think its toast thats scaring me!!! she takes huge chunks then it just turns to a big ball of mush in her mouth!

this morning she had mango chunks & apple wedges.. she loved both.. those 2 little half here teeth can really do some biting! its so cute all the little teeth marks!!

i think i might need to start using the tray of her highchair tho, which i didnt really want to do... i want her to be able to sit at the table with us... so her highchair at the big table in the dining room is pushed right up to the table, and in the kitchen we eat at a high breakfast bar with stools, so she has a clip in high chair there, but the food is so slippy and theres nothing to contain it, so it just constantly ends up out of her reach...
any ideas from you professionals on this??

so... when do you offer foods?

ruby wakes at 9 & has a milk feed, then around 10.30 she has porridge (self fed) with some fruit puree mixed in, and a few chunks of fresh fruit...
12 she has a bottle, and 3 she has a bottle, then at 5 ish im going to start with dinner... roasted root veg tonight, and shes then due a bottle at 6, and again at 9...

does that sound ok or should i be timing it so that shes offered food closer to when her milk feed is due? or even after a milk feed?

thanks in advance ladies :=)

 

[Mum2b_Claire]

Our day usually goes like this:
We get back from taking OH to the station at 7.30am, so give first milk (8oz) then.
We have breakfast at about 8.30am
Lunch about 12, 6oz milk afterwards
Another 6oz milk at 4pm
We have a snack together at about 5pm.
(We have to collect OH at 6.30pm so OH and I eat dinner too late for Ruby to join us. She has 8oz milk and goes to bed as soon as we get home!)

I really wouldn't worry about timing with milk tbh. Go for whenever she's interested and not too hungry!

I don't know about using the tray, if we're at a restaurant and Ruby sits in a highchair with a tray it never works very well, stuff still ends up out of her reach and there tends to be an awkward 'lip' around the edge that gets in her way! Maybe go for less slippery foods for now.

 

[kirsten1985]

Can't really help with the milk timing thing, Freya has milk feeds and naps at different times every day, there is no set pattern to milk or solids whatsoever, some days she has 3 meals, sometimes one.

We usually eat at the table with her highchair pushed up to it, if food gets too far away for her I just push it back. When we are out I have a highchair that clamps onto the table, I don't like the idea of using ones that belong in other places. Plus I think she would spend too much time investigating a different highchair to bother to eat!

I think especially at your early stage there is no need to worry about the timing of milk feeds, she is only learning what food is right now so it doesn't really matter.

I do think that maybe I should think about some sort of timing though, Freya is 8 months next week and we are still all over the place with this food business. I am hoping once she is going to nursery 2 mornings a week I can use their structure to help us? That sound possible?

 

[fantastica]

This is driving me absolutely mad.

I'm living at my parents right now (long story) and although my dad is really supportive of BLW...my mum just isn't...she thinks finger foods are ok, but he needs more...to make things worse my grandparents are staying here at the moment, and my grandma is constantly going on and on about it, saying he needs the nutrients from food etc. (I wouldn't mind but she gave him a chocolate finger when I wasn't there...luckily my mum went mad on my behalf though).

I'm sick of trying to explain it all the time, it's really starting to ruin meal times...something which is supposed to be enjoyable. LO doesn't have dinner with the rest of us, he goes to bed quite early, so I usually just have a snack with him, which makes it slightly easier. What can I do?! I've tried showing them the book, explaining why I'm choosing to do this, but they just think i'm lazy, can't be bothered to puree food.

Sorry about that...really needed a rant with people who understand! On another note...lately i've only been giving Jacob carrot sticks, banana cucumber sticks, rice cakes with puree. What could I try now? He's still not really 'eating' much but I want to prove to people how he can have a 'nutricious' meal this way!

 

[TigerLady]

Tell them milk is ALL he needs (formula or breastmilk) until at least 9-12 months. He does NOT need food. He gets everything he needs from milk. Milk is much much more nutritious than food and more easily digested -- duh! By the time he needs to be getting certain things from food (9-12 months) he will be eating enough.

You might just have to throw a hissy fit and put your foot down. Tell them he is your baby and you will be doing things your way. And you don't want to hear about it anymore. End of story.

I really hope that works for you. Fighting the older generation on this, especially when you live with them and they are family, is very hard.

 

[kirsten1985]

Fantastica, my parents are just the same, to make it worse my mum is a HV and thinks I really should listen to her.

I am constantly getting told that Freya needs more vitamins and that she should be on less milk and more solids...etc etc.

The only good thing is that I don't have to live with them like you do!

You can try any meal now, could you try lunch if he is going to bed before your evening meal? Anything like jacket potato, roast vegetable wedges, soup, sandwiches, we had cous cous today which went down well. Freya loves blueberries, raspberries and things like that. I just make sure they are not the sort of size she could choke on.

 

[kirsten1985]

Also, Freya doesn't really eat much either, I'm hoping she will start eating a bit more soon.

 

[TigerLady]

How did she manage the cous cous? loaded spoon? or fistfuls?

 

[Lu28]

Fantastica, I think a hissy is in order - your baby your way, simple as that. Easier said than done though I know!

NI, we have a rubber mat that we put on the table for Aisling to stop the food skidding around, it works really well except she tries to play with it alot! https://www.bloomingmarvellous.co.uk/product.aspx?CategoryID=practicalproducts&ProductID=81027&language=en-GB

 

[kirsten1985]

How did she manage the cous cous? loaded spoon? or fistfuls?

A combination of it sticking to her hands and her licking it off and eating tomato segments that had it all over them.