BLW - Baby led weaning support thread

[alice&bump]

i got told they werent meant to have oranges and stuff cos they were too acidic?? can do the same as tomatoes and strawberries. all babies are different tho arent they!!

 

[XKatX]

I don't give much - just the odd segment here and there. I also give tomatos, usually cooked though. like you say, all babies are different. I wouldn't have dreamt about doing it 2 months ago though!

 

[Mervs Mum]

I wondered that....well we are all strawberry and tomatoed up over here so a few oranges cant hurt!!

 

[alice&bump]

well they say tomatoes are fine when they're cooked, takes whatever it is that gives them the reaction out. katie's had them cooked plenty of times and been fine with them. she's got a thing for lemonade jelly thanks to my sister! its so so sour, i couldnt eat it, but she loves it!!

 

[Brockie]

are blueberries ok to give do you lot know? xxx

 

[Miss MellyG]

Hiya all,

just looking for a bit of advice really...

I started weaning Charlie at 4 months & thought he was doing really well. Somedays he does really well & eats purees quite well. Somedays though he refuses the spoon. The thing is he loves it when you give him lumps of food, like toast, cheese, mango, fish & meat etc, I worry that thats not enough though if I drop the purees. I also cant get him to eat stage 2 purees. Should I just bite the bullet & trust him to know how much food he wants?

I went to see my HV today to get him weighed & he has only put on 1oz in 4 weeks. When he was born he was on the 91st centile. He's now dropped to the 25th. I'm feeling a bit down about it tbh & I'm seriously doubting myself.

Advice needed please..

Thanks

Mel x

 

[XKatX]

Hiya all,

just looking for a bit of advice really...

I started weaning Charlie at 4 months & thought he was doing really well. Somedays he does really well & eats purees quite well. Somedays though he refuses the spoon. The thing is he loves it when you give him lumps of food, like toast, cheese, mango, fish & meat etc, I worry that thats not enough though if I drop the purees. I also cant get him to eat stage 2 purees. Should I just bite the bullet & trust him to know how much food he wants?

I went to see my HV today to get him weighed & he has only put on 1oz in 4 weeks. When he was born he was on the 91st centile. He's now dropped to the 25th. I'm feeling a bit down about it tbh & I'm seriously doubting myself.

Advice needed please..

Thanks

Mel x

Well, from what you've written - it can't harm to try for a couple of weeks! If you let a baby feed themselves, they tend to eat more anyway (once they get used to the concept!!). Try him with more finger foods and if he goes for it, then get a little more adventurous! The finger foods you are giving him are perfect anyway.

Have you tried letting him have the spoon himself? They learn surprisingly quickly what to do with it. Oliver now takes the loaded spoon, eats the contents and hands it back to me. It can get a little messy, but it's a lot less stressful than trying to get it into a clamped shut mouth!!

Good luck babe x x

 

[scatterpatch]

Hey guys just wanted to dip in here as we BLw and love love LOVE being able to eat the same food together, we all went out for a carvery the other day with another little girl a month older than our Flo and whilst she had a jar of food flo was able to sit there with a plate of roast potatos, chicken, yorkshire pudding, mash ( very messy poor carpet) and carrots it made me so grateful for finding out about blw, we had a great time and she polished all but the floor mash off !

At the minute shes just perfecting her pincer grip by bashing her homemade scone into tiny peices the size of a pea and then picking them up to eat lol

 

[sparkswillfly]

Hey guys just wanted to dip in here as we BLw and love love LOVE being able to eat the same food together, we all went out for a carvery the other day with another little girl a month older than our Flo and whilst she had a jar of food flo was able to sit there with a plate of roast potatos, chicken, yorkshire pudding, mash ( very messy poor carpet) and carrots it made me so grateful for finding out about blw, we had a great time and she polished all but the floor mash off !

At the minute shes just perfecting her pincer grip by bashing her homemade scone into tiny peices the size of a pea and then picking them up to eat lol

Clever girl! I love hearing success stories. x

 

[XKatX]

Hey guys just wanted to dip in here as we BLw and love love LOVE being able to eat the same food together, we all went out for a carvery the other day with another little girl a month older than our Flo and whilst she had a jar of food flo was able to sit there with a plate of roast potatos, chicken, yorkshire pudding, mash ( very messy poor carpet) and carrots it made me so grateful for finding out about blw, we had a great time and she polished all but the floor mash off !

At the minute shes just perfecting her pincer grip by bashing her homemade scone into tiny peices the size of a pea and then picking them up to eat lol

Yey!! Well done you! I love hearing a good old success story. Isn't it great when they get to the stage where they join in! we went out for dinner last night and Oliver shared our tea too. It's great to see them tucking in to good wholesome food! Even better when you see the looks some people give you when you load the tray up with your dinner!!

How old is she BTW?

 

[alice&bump]

mellyg - we went thru a stage with katie where she refused the spoon. HV suggested BLW, cos they like the independance. she soon picked it up and she loves it! she now has purees quite a bit too, its just quicker lol! but they'll eat as much as they want. if they dont eat loads tho, dont worry cos their milk still gives them everything they need and should be their main source of nutrients for the first year!xx

 

[Miss MellyG]

Thanks Kat & Alice,

Again today he refused the spoon so I just gave him finger foods & he fed himself. I think I'm just going to go with the flo.. one question though.. when you give mash & other soft food like spag bol.. do you give them a spoon or just let them get their fingers stuck in?


Mel x

 

[rach321]

It looks like we are going to have to go the BLW way. My LO is refusing the spoon but is quite happy to feed himself and I am so sick of having a puree battle every meal! Thing is I am stuck for things to give him for breakfast, apart from toast. He will take some fresh fruit but has trouble picking things like banana and pear up - I've even tried leaving the skin on. He manages strawberries by bashing them on the table to smoosh them up then eats the bits he's bashed off. Any suggestions? I'd give him a bowl of porridge but he just smacks his hands in it and splats it everywhere....now I can deal with some mess but not that much! Has anyone managed to make like little porridge balls with fruit or something just to make it a bit easier to handle?

 

[Mervs Mum]

Bananas do get slippy quite quick so I used to crush a breadstick and roll the banana in it so give it some grip.

 

[Mervs Mum]

Question from me.....Kat????

Pincer grip - what did you give to perfect it and how long did it take? Hebe's needs some fine tuning but when I put really little stuff on her tray she will bash the tray till it jumps off... I'm trying to think of something small but easy to keep giving......but also cheap so it doesnt matter about lots of casualties!

 

[alice&bump]

frozen peas lisa!

melly g - i gave porridge a couple of times just plonked on the high-chair tray and whilst it was great fun, it was so so so messy! i found after a while katie started accepting the spoon again, cos she knew she did have the chance to do it herself every now and again. my HV also suggested maybe giving her a small bowl of food and a spoon and having one myself that i fed her from - therefore she thinks she's feeding herself too!

rach321 - i just give toast in the mornings, we have had porridge, but its too messy! like lisa said, bananas are good with something crushed around, i've done it wish crushed up ricecrispies (the only thing we had in!) katie just sticks her fingers in so she can grip it gets a bit messy!!

 

[Mervs Mum]

I meant to take a picture for you Alice yesterday of the state of Hebe after she was eating those nasty Organix cookies.....she looked EXACTLY like Katie did at Hevz.....I've had to bleach her top.....

 

[alice&bump]

omg i couldnt believe the state she was in! and then on the afternoon, i let her sit there with a friggin gingerbread man and she did the same!! and smeared it all over me! do i nefver learn?!

 

[rach321]

I'm liking this BLW - went to the pub for sunday lunch and LO had a roast parsnip and a chunk of roast beef. He got a bit carried away with the parsnip and got a big bit stuck in the roof of his mouth - I only rescued him when he started crying - he was moving it around for a good 10mins! I was amazed to see him get a bit of meat off to chew - he's only got 2 teeth - I though he would suck the juices out of it. He amazes me when he feeds himself and mealtimes are much less stressful - this is definitely the way to go!
Will try the banana dipped in crushed stuff tomorrow to see if that helps - am liking the rice crispies idea! Thanks

 

[XKatX]

Lisa, I just gave him things like scrambled egg. He eats the big chunks, then as they disintegrate, he pincers the smaller bits. I didn't really give him any special foods - we just noticed he was doing it one day. I think it's one of those things they just suddenly learn - iykwim?