BLW - Baby led weaning support thread

[Mum2b_Claire]

I just wanted to say I gave Freya a bowl of weetabix about 15 mins ago and the bowl is still on the table!

WOW! I think Ruby will still be eating off the table top when she's 15, when I give her a bowl she ignores the food.

Actually Ruby ate loads at lunch for the first time in ages today...
She ate 2 big chunks each of roasted sweet potato and butternut squash, some carrot, a whole 30g piece of cheese with cranberries in, and about half a pear.

 

[cleckner04]

Have you girls found any weight difference after starting BLW? Emma is a very slow gainer so is this going to hurt or help me? I know I still should be giving just as many milk feeds throughout the day and I plan on that but I'm just curious if this will have any affect on the weight situation.

 

[Mum2b_Claire]

Ruby's gain has slowed. But she was a very, very fast gainer up until 6 months so I think that's normal and nothing to do with how she's been weaned.

I would say that using BLW will certainly not be bad for a slow weight gainer. Breastmilk/formula has more calories than any solid food, and with BLW she will probably carry on having lots of milk for longer than a puree fed baby. Whatever amount she eats solids-wise is right for her, so if she's small she's meant to be small!

 

[cleckner04]

Thanks so much Mum2b_Claire. I've only been in here two days and you've already helped loads.

 

[kirsten1985]

Yeah I agree, Freya has always been a slow gainer (16lb at 8 months was most recent) and BLW hasn't made it any slower. I stopped going to the HV though because she kept telling me to feed her purees, lol.

She has been on the 9th centile since birth, it hasn't really changed

 

[TigerLady]

Otter has also slowed a bit, but he was such a fast gainer that is a good thing! And I don't think the slowing is BLWing related. I think it is more related to a normal slowing at this time.

And he needs to slow even more now! Doc's orders.

 

[joeyjo]

G has slowed but I don't think it's the BLW - more likely his natural curve no he's getting more active.

Easy dinner for G tonight coz I'll eat with hubby later. Pasta twists mixed with some tinned tuna & a dairylea triangle - surprisingly nice!! And he enjoyed it

 

[Mum2b_Claire]

Yeah, cheese spread makes a good quick pasta sauce, I use philadelphia mixed with a little of the pasta cooking water. I think I'll try tuna and pasta for Ruby, she has started refusing it on toast, it seems.

 

[Lu28]

Cleckner, Aisling was a slow gainer, at one point she only gained 5oz in 9 weeks when we were still exclusively bfing. Since starting BLW, she's gone from 9th centile up to nearly the 50th

Aisling really just doesn't seem bothered with food at the moment, not sure why. her teeth don't seem to be bothering her or anything My shock at the amount she was eating a few weeks ago isn't a problem anymore! She seems happy enough though, who knows!

I keep thinking I should start putting a spoon and baby fork down for her to play with during dinner so she can get used to them but I've a feeling she'd just play with them and ignore her food!

 

[faille]

Cleckner, Aisling was a slow gainer, at one point she only gained 5oz in 9 weeks when we were still exclusively bfing. Since starting BLW, she's gone from 9th centile up to nearly the 50th

Aisling really just doesn't seem bothered with food at the moment, not sure why. her teeth don't seem to be bothering her or anything My shock at the amount she was eating a few weeks ago isn't a problem anymore! She seems happy enough though, who knows!

I keep thinking I should start putting a spoon and baby fork down for her to play with during dinner so she can get used to them but I've a feeling she'd just play with them and ignore her food!

I started giving Violet a fork with her dinner but she'd automatically throw it straight off her tray
I think she realised it wasn't food and therefore no good to her

 

[fantastica]

Not been on since about monday...so seems impossible to catch up! But TL thank you for suggesting the BLW recipe thread, will have a look now see what else I can try!

Jacob has figured out that if he holds food out from his highchair for a bit the dog will come and take it from him...I turned around for one second and his toast was gone and he was laughing as she licked his fingers...so meal times have no become slightly impossible, although the dog seems to love BLW!

 

[petal040]

Quick question - when we start weaning - if there are bits in the nappy - like chunky bits - does this mean LO is not ready yet? What do you do in that case?

 

[Mum2b_Claire]

No, bits in the nappy don't mean LO is not ready. It just means LO is developing the enzymes necessary for digesting food. Ruby still often has bits in her nappy at 9 months.

If LO can pick up a piece of food, bite off a bit, chew and swallow, chances are she's ready

 

[Lu28]

^^^ Agree with Claire, as long as they're able to bite something off and swallow then they're ready

 

[CountingDown]

Yeah, cheese spread makes a good quick pasta sauce, I use philadelphia mixed with a little of the pasta cooking water. QUOTE]

Thanks for posting this I never thought to try cheese and pasta. I just tried it for Olivia's lunch and she ate nearly every piece

I am so happy and she only spat out a few mouthfuls (for those who dont know Olivia has been spitting out every mouthful of every meal for nearly a week now)

 

[Mum2b_Claire]

Yay! Pasta goes down well with Ruby too, she eats loads of it.

I've dropped Ruby's 4pm bottle because that, her tea, and her bedtime bottle was too much concentrated into a 3 hour period, and one of these was being refused. Yesterday was the first day we did it and she ate a lot at tea time which was good.

So now if she's hungry she gets a solids snack. We finally seem to be getting somewhere with the actual weaning process!

Ruby ate meat yesterday, roast chicken, she'd never really eaten meat before so we were pleased with that.

Annoyingly, at the moment I can only put one piece of food in front of her at once, if there are more pieces she just does a 'windscreen wiper' with her arm to clear the decks! The bible says this is common apparently though.

 

[kirsten1985]

Yay! Pasta goes down well with Ruby too, she eats loads of it.

I've dropped Ruby's 4pm bottle because that, her tea, and her bedtime bottle was too much concentrated into a 3 hour period, and one of these was being refused. Yesterday was the first day we did it and she ate a lot at tea time which was good.

So now if she's hungry she gets a solids snack. We finally seem to be getting somewhere with the actual weaning process!

Ruby ate meat yesterday, roast chicken, she'd never really eaten meat before so we were pleased with that.

Annoyingly, at the moment I can only put one piece of food in front of her at once, if there are more pieces she just does a 'windscreen wiper' with her arm to clear the decks! The bible says this is common apparently though.

Wow that's great Claire, I still feel we have a long way to go, Freya hasn't dropped any milk yet which I feel is slowing us down a bit. She still doesn't eat solids out of hunger, just cries for milk. Not sure what to do about that though. She eats fine at mealtimes, just small amounts and still relies on the milk to fill her up.

Ruby's doing fantastic!

 

[Lucy_lu_84]

Joshua has dropped 2 feeds :S He isn't wanting his night feed so often and he has no interested in his afternoon bottle at all. Not sure whether I should try offering it him again or not as he doesn't actually seem to eat much.

Although since dropping the afternoon bottle he tends to eat more at tea time, but he barely eats anything at other two meals!

We gave him a bowl yesterday with mash, gravy brocoli and runner beans. Dinner much have lasted 30 mins and the bowled stayed put! Whoop!! He loved mash potato, ignored everything else and eats this. surprisingly he's not to messy either, just hands and around his mouth! I've jinx myself now haven't i? tonight dinner will go everywhere!

He loves rice and cheese sauce! random! We were having chilli and it was a bit to spicy so didn't wanna give it him, so made a cheese sauce and mixed it with the rice and he couldn't get enough of it. he cleared his plate and we had to get more!

 

[Lucy_lu_84]

Kirsten love your child led blinkie!
I was trying to tell someone that the other day when they were telling me to stop giving a night bottle. They didn't get it!

 

[Kitten]

This is gross but I want to celebrate, lol. Been BLW for 3 1/2 weeks now and he still shows no signs of swallowing. Well, he has been suck once or twice and brought some bits up but it was very frustrating as it seemed like if he was swallowing then he was then getting carried away and throwing up mid-meal thus undoing any success.

However, I've perservered and sat and watched every mouthful get mushed up and spat out and picked endless bits up off the floor and just panicked inside that somethings wrong, that he's going to get anaemia etc etc. And then today I changed his nappy and it is without a doubt the nappy of a baby swallowing solids