BLW - Baby led weaning support thread

[Elliebank]

Hi Mary Jo! I too have resistance from my OH - we had a MASSIVE argument in Asda today over what food to buy her. He takes the mick when I quote the book - saying I'm stupid for believing everything I read in the book & on the internet. *sigh* surely he should be please that I've researched it instead of going in with my eyes closed? Luckily tho despite the comments he is letting us get on with BLW, altho he does 'encourage' her to eat a bit more than I'd like, but I'm hoping that stops once he gets used to her eating & it's not such a new thing.

 

[TigerLady]

My DH raised a brow a few times about it, too. Thankfully he tends to just let me get on with making these kinds of decisions and follows my lead. I think he can't be bothered to research it himself, so feel like he has to give in to what I say. Though I have gotten more than one comment like "What did your Baby and Bump tell you that??"

I couldn't get him to read the book. And he, like EB's OH, doesn't always follow the guide as much as he should. Otter hasn't figured out the loaded spoon all that well yet, so DH has a habit of trying to spoon feed him stuff that is mushy. Every time, without fail, Otter has a fit and won't have it. Keeps trying to grab the spoon. DH always says "He doesn't like it. He's pushing the spoon away." And I always say "No. He likes it fine. He is trying to GRAB the spoon. He doesn't like spoon fed!"

Call me a dreamer, but I hold out hope that this conversation will stick one of these times!

More than anything, it suits DH as he doesn't have to bother feeding him most of the time. And he has seen how well Otter has taken to it, so is cool to keep going this way.

 

[tmr1234]

mj~ i cant belive they are almost 1/2 a yr old wheres the time gone they will all be toddling around soon. My oh just looked at me like i was made telling him about it but as we have a lot of probs with rueben eating as he just wont eat any outher food than he dose and makes him self sick with any thing new he was happy to try any thing new and thinks its brill to wach him eating now.

i gave lucas broccoli collie and carrot for luch yesterday and he loves the broccoli not so keen on the rest but had a good go i dnt think he ate much but i think he did a bit. for tea he got tomato and cucomber he had a good go he gummed the soft bits and left the rest. I have just read about the Doidy Cup on here and have just bort 1 so we will see how it gose when it comes.

I gave lucas a loaded spoon last night with yogert and he is really good with it gets the right end all the time.

 

[Mum2b_Claire]

OT sorry - but Claire and Faille - where abouts in Kent do you live? I'm from Sandwich on the coast

I'm in Gravesend at the moment but grew up in Dartford/Bexley area and lived in Higham for a few years so got to know medway a bit too.

I'd love to live near the coast though. My nan and grandad live in Ramsgate and I love going to see them in the summer and walking along the seafront.

I'm in New Ash Green, which is about 7 miles from G'end!

 

[purple_socks]

LO has mastered getting a loaded spoon in and today at dinner kept grabbing for our forks and ignoring his food. I dug out a toddler fork he got at Xmas and speared a bit of food with it. It went straiht in and then the fork was handed back, this happened for about 6-7 mouthfuls before he dove in with his hands as normal. Just a bit worried he's a bit young for forks - anybody else's LO do this?

yeah Kian does this...hand him a loaded spoon or loaded baby plastic fork and he'll eat from it. altho after each mouth full he spends ages looking at the spoon/fork and banging it on the table! he spends more time playing with them than eating with them so most of the time i don't offer them or i offer them near the end of the meal once he's had a good go with his hands.

Also lately he's started leaning 4ward, mouth open when i hold out a loaded spoon/fork...as if he wants me to feed it to him! cheeky monkey (i haven't ever so i don't know y he does that)!

Hello mary j

To get my OH to read the book i marked sections that were important/most informative/ explained the basics of BLW so he didn't have to read the whole thing (he doesn't really 'do' books! lol) He just read a little section each night in bed and then i would start talking abt it and end up filling him in on all the stuff he hadn't read (i started off just marking a page here and there, then as he got more into reading abt it i started marking whole chapters so he pretty much read/got told abt the entire book!)

i'm working on pulling a similar move with the book on MIL

 

[Mum2b_Claire]

Ruby didn't want her breakfast again today. But then she opened her mouth to be fed! I couldn't believe it, she hates me putting anything in her mouth. But she spat the entire mouthful out. Same happened with another spoonful. So I won't be bothering with that again! I'm kind of relieved, as I don't think I could take her wanting to be fed after coming this far!

 

[purple_socks]

I have a question...

peanut butter: is the reason we don't offer peanuts with BLW an issue with allergies or choking? coz if its choking is smooth peanut butter ok? i know peanut butter is pretty salty but i have some recipes for homemade 'healty stuff' whats everyones thoughts on trying it...or should i wait until a certain age? neither me or OH have peanut allergies...as far as i know no1 in our families do.

 

[purple_socks]

Ruby didn't want her breakfast again today. But then she opened her mouth to be fed! I couldn't believe it, she hates me putting anything in her mouth. But she spat the entire mouthful out. Same happened with another spoonful. So I won't be bothering with that again! I'm kind of relieved, as I don't think I could take her wanting to be fed after coming this far!

i wonder if going through a 'lazy' phase is a normal thing with BLW...coz Kian had started leaning 4ward 4 feeding...i've never fed him but i wonder if its just that he's realised that since i put things like bottles/ his dummy ect in his mouth that getting fed food is also a posibility?...i wonder if its a normal part of development surely its human instinct to find short cuts 4 things?

Kian also puts food in his mouth, lets it hang out and sits there wth his hands by his side chewing... hands free eating! lol

 

[Mum2b_Claire]

Purple socks - yeah smooth peanut butter is ok to give under normal circumstances. It's not just peanut allergy you have to be wary of though, for instance I was advised not to eat peanuts in pregnancy as my OH has eczema badly, and there may be a link, but to be honest I haven't done too much research so need to put that right as I love peanut butter and want to give it Ruby. I will ask my HV when I can face the clinic again, Ruby had such a meltdown last time we went that I'm avoiding it now!

Yeah I reckon the wanting to be fed thing is just them exploring and playing. Come to think of it, there's an anecdote in the bible about a lady who spoonfeeds when out, and her LO usually takes it then just spits the food out.

Ruby leaves food hanging out of her mouth too.

 

[faille]

OT sorry - but Claire and Faille - where abouts in Kent do you live? I'm from Sandwich on the coast

I'm in Gravesend at the moment but grew up in Dartford/Bexley area and lived in Higham for a few years so got to know medway a bit too.

I'd love to live near the coast though. My nan and grandad live in Ramsgate and I love going to see them in the summer and walking along the seafront.

I'm in New Ash Green, which is about 7 miles from G'end!

And I work in New Ash Green


Also, about wanting to be spoonfed, we had this phase a while back where Violet just didn't want / seem interested in her breakfast and wouldn't take a pre-loaded spoon and would open her mouth instead. I've never put a spoon in her mouth so I dunno where she got that from!

It was just a phase with us - dunno what causes it but she's more than happy doing it herself again now. It went as quickly as it happened


I was lucky I guess with my OH - he was more than happy to go along with me as soon as I said "I've found this way of weaning called BLW and I'd like to try it" - he didn't really even ask much about it lol. Sometimes I wish he'd pay a little more interest rather than leaving it up to me. Poor guys, can't win can they

 

[kirsten1985]

OT sorry - but Claire and Faille - where abouts in Kent do you live? I'm from Sandwich on the coast

I'm in Gravesend at the moment but grew up in Dartford/Bexley area and lived in Higham for a few years so got to know medway a bit too.

I'd love to live near the coast though. My nan and grandad live in Ramsgate and I love going to see them in the summer and walking along the seafront.

I'm in New Ash Green, which is about 7 miles from G'end!

I went to Uni in Canterbury, I loved living there and we pop down sometimes to visit again. We will have to all meet up down there one day!

 

[Mum2b_Claire]

OT sorry - but Claire and Faille - where abouts in Kent do you live? I'm from Sandwich on the coast

I'm in Gravesend at the moment but grew up in Dartford/Bexley area and lived in Higham for a few years so got to know medway a bit too.

I'd love to live near the coast though. My nan and grandad live in Ramsgate and I love going to see them in the summer and walking along the seafront.

I'm in New Ash Green, which is about 7 miles from G'end!

I went to Uni in Canterbury, I loved living there and we pop down sometimes to visit again. We will have to all meet up down there one day!

Yay! That'd be great. My friend went to uni in Canterbury too so I've spent a lot of time down there. Mostly drinking though. Seems like another lifetime!

 

[kirsten1985]

I know what you mean, I still have friends down there who go to the same pubs we always used to go to, (I finished uni nearly 4 years ago) and still do the same things, it's so weird. I miss the pubs though, they were great and we don't go out drinking anymore.

 

[joeyjo]

I think LO is going thru a growth spurt - he's BF and woke extra times in night to feed. Also today has wanted very very very long milk feeds and also managed to fit an extra feed in. At one point he was fussing but didn't BF well but did eat some of my lunch when I took him off the boob. Just wondering if I should still offer solids or really encourage BF for a few days as it's got more calories?

 

[TigerLady]

When that happens to me I still BF on demand and offer meals both. It has worked for us so far.

Daycare has been giving Otter his BLW lunches this week. Today I guess a new lady did it (new to BLWing, not daycare). She said it went really well, except, "He gummed one of his strawberries so much that he managed to suck it right into this mouth, so I had to dig it out."

I had to gently encourage her to LET him do that and not to dig anything out unless he is choking. Hopefully she got the message.

BUT, he ate loads of his jam sandwhich and strawberries! Well, what he didn't have smooshed all over him.

 

[Shiv]

Hiya girls, I've got a couple of questions for you if you don'tmind.
1) How did BLW affect your LO's sleep?
The reason I ask is because SOphia has recently not been sleeping as well and people have of course said it is because she needs solids. If this was teh case then BLW would not really help with this as there is a good chance she would not eat anythign for a number fo weeks. So did your LO's sleeping pattern change when you started weaning?
2) How do babies who have been through BLW learn to use cutlery?

I was at my parents house today and I haev been talking about BLW for a while. Anyway I took the book round and asked if they would like to read it. My mum looked really offended and said "is that just cos you think I am gonna nag you". I said no but if you read it then you will understand what I am trying to do. She said "Sophia is your baby you do whatever you want to - none of my business" - great I thought. So she asked me when I was goign ot start and I said not properly until she is 6 months. SO she says "i think she is ready now" - I told her to read the book as this is the sort of comment I wanted to avoid!

 

[Mum2b_Claire]

Hiya girls, I've got a couple of questions for you if you don'tmind.
1) How did BLW affect your LO's sleep?
The reason I ask is because SOphia has recently not been sleeping as well and people have of course said it is because she needs solids. If this was teh case then BLW would not really help with this as there is a good chance she would not eat anythign for a number fo weeks. So did your LO's sleeping pattern change when you started weaning?
2) How do babies who have been through BLW learn to use cutlery?

I was at my parents house today and I haev been talking about BLW for a while. Anyway I took the book round and asked if they would like to read it. My mum looked really offended and said "is that just cos you think I am gonna nag you". I said no but if you read it then you will understand what I am trying to do. She said "Sophia is your baby you do whatever you want to - none of my business" - great I thought. So she asked me when I was goign ot start and I said not properly until she is 6 months. SO she says "i think she is ready now" - I told her to read the book as this is the sort of comment I wanted to avoid!

I don't know the answer to question 2, but with regards to question 1 - it didn't. Ruby slept perfectly through the night from 6 weeks to 8 months, but is now going through a phase of waking once or twice sometimes but she's easily settled and is NOT hungry. She started eating properly at 7 months. It sounds like you already know, that solids don't help a baby sleep...

 

[TigerLady]

1. It hasn't changed really. He still wakes every three hours to BF.

5 months is a classic time for a growth spurt. Babies frequently regress on sleep patterns and start waking more. This is commonly used to justify early weaning. But it is the wrong reason to start weaning. Just because they wake more often doesn't mean they NEED to eat solids. To me, it just doesn't make sense. The ONLY way I can see solids assisting in sleep is if you fill them up with something like rice cereal RIGHT before bed. Even then, I don't think it helps all that much for most. And it just doesn't make sense to fill a baby up with something that has little to no nutritional value if they are waking more often because they are hungry. They are hungry because they need more calories and fat. Not because they need more useless bulk in their diet.

2. They use them later for most, I think. I have been giving Otter a loaded spoon. Basically I put the stuff on the spoon and hand it to him. He proceeds to make a mess with it. But all babies are different. There are other on here that mastered the loaded spoon very fast. And some even figured out how to dip their own spoon fast. As for the rest... that should come later anyway. You don't need a 6 month old (BLW or not) to poke an eye out with a fork! hehe

As for the comments -- unfortunately, just get used to it. You are going to get them. Many more than you want. You just have to stand your ground and say... this is what I am doing. I will decide.

 

[Elliebank]

Hiya girls, I've got a couple of questions for you if you don'tmind.
1) How did BLW affect your LO's sleep?
The reason I ask is because SOphia has recently not been sleeping as well and people have of course said it is because she needs solids. If this was teh case then BLW would not really help with this as there is a good chance she would not eat anythign for a number fo weeks. So did your LO's sleeping pattern change when you started weaning?

I was actually just coming on to talk about Katie's sleeping. We started BLW a week ago & her sleeping changed almost immediately. Before she was sleeping anywhere from 4-8hrs in one go, now she is sleeping 10-12hrs At first I thought it must be a coincidence, but thinking about it I think it could be the BLW. She is swallowing more than I expected, as her poo's have changed (TMI but they're thicker, darker, she's not pooing half as much as before & there's always bits of food in them) & I guess as she's only a small tummy the food must be filling her up & therefore she's sleeping thru. Either that or the actual task of BLW is tiring her out. Did anyone else notice this when they started? That said tho, I still wouldn't start solids just cos they're not sleeping thru, if they're hungry then I'd just offer more milk. I forgot to look at how old yr LO is so will when I've posted this

 

[JayleighAnn]

Ahh I've not posted it ages! Halen had spag bol tonight for dinner, he couldnt quite do the spaghetti though lol he kept trying to get mine when I was sucking it in my mouth, so we ended up doing a scene from lady and the tramp and having a kiss ha ha he kept doing it and giggling.

Has anyone tried courgette frittas? We had a recipe slip from Sainsburys Little Ones with this recipe in, their like breadcrumbed slices on courgette then baked.