BLW - Baby led weaning support thread

[joeyjo]

That's great Candyfloss

We went to the weighing clinic today and G has gained a grand 5oz in the last month but HV is not concerned coz he has gotten sooooo active & also his poops are def solids poop - she had the pleasure of seeing/smelling one! We've had a couple of nights where he has woken for a BF 1-2hours after going to bed (he was sleeping thru most nights or waking after 4hours if he hadn't eaten much that day.)
HV thinks it might be coz he is eating more at teatime now and so not taking enough in his last BF and suggested jiggling things about and actually seeing how he does if we try and drop his late morning BF. SHe said if we do it this way to make sure I also offer both boobs at each BF as I often don't as he doesn't seem hungry after 1 but would prob take more.

Currently everything seems to bunch in the afternoon and his routine is as follows (approx times):
7:30/8 BF
8:30 Solid Breakfast (porridge or yogurt and muesli or weetabix, poss some fruit too) -
11:30/12 BF
1/1:30 Solid Lunch
3:30/4 BF
5:30 Solid dinner
6:30 BF and Bed for 7ish

She has suggested we try the following
7:30/8 BF
8:30/9 Solid breakfast as before
11:30 Solid lunch - she suggested starting with really quick to prepare foods and easy to eat stuff to minimise any possible frustratiuon and so he can be fed as soon as he shows any hunger signs.
2ish (on demand) BF
4:30 Solid dinner
6:30 BF & Bed for 7ish

What do you girls think - is it a sensible thing to try?

 

[Tacey]

The risotto went down quite well, although I think she got a bit carried away with the spoon and preferred to keep chewing on it rather than let me reload it. Because I made hers quite sticky it seemed to stay on the spoon well and she got quite a bit in her mouth (and ears...).

Glad you had a good meal out Candyfloss! I'm really nervous about our first meal out. It's great to hear that you've had a good experience of it. It's a lovely feeling when they eat well, especially in front of other people isn't it?

 

[joeyjo]

Yay glad the risotto went down well and that she got the spoon in the right place. George soon learnt that if he waved it at me I took it and refilled it; we're working on getting him to hand it back a little more calmly!

 

[Rachel_C]

Hi ladies, hope you don't mind if I join you! Leyla is 6 months in 2 weeks time and I'm so excited about starting BLW and my husband is too. She has had a few sneaky tastes of things (she loved licking a salad leaf!) but I'm really glad I've ignored what my mum and MIL said about traditional weaning at 4 months.

I'm a veggie so we (well, I!) have decided that Leyla will be vegetarian too until she's old enough to make her own decision, but my husband eats meat at least four or five times a week. Is anybody else in the same situation? How would you deal with it? I think mostly Leyla will eat with me as her dad gets home at about 8pm during the week, but there's bound to be times when she sees what he's eating and wants to try. Don't know how I'd handle that! I'll definitely try cooking more proper meals (as opposed to the naughty ready meals we often eat now) and hubby will eat those but he'll never give up chicken wings!!!

 

[Eala]

At think geek there is a gyroscopic bowl

I tried one of these at the Baby Show last year. And managed to dump at least half the rice crispies in it all over the floor I looked at the guy selling it, and he said "Well you tipped it up"... My reply was "And you think a toddler wouldn't?!"

 

[Vici]

What did you girls start of giving for breakfast? So far she loves toast but i wanted to try other things too.

 

[Mary Jo]

Adam has had porridge, Weetabix, porridge mixed with Weetabix (needed a quick thickening agent), yogurt, toast w/ butter & fruit spread, crumpet, plum and nectarine. The porridge + Weetabix combo went down well because he could pick up handfuls and smush it in.

 

[joeyjo]

George has porridge with fruit purée or sugar free muesli (no whole nuts) mixed with a little natural yoghurt most days. He gets a crumpet once a week and sometimes gets toast. He usually has a side of fresh fruit too his fave at the mo is pineapple or pear

dropping the milk feed seemed to help last night as he slept thru

 

[TigerLady]

Otter started with fruit for breakfast, but usually has yogurt or applesauce now.

 

[Tacey]

Alice has had mango slices and stewed apple. I'm giving yoghurt a go tomorrow - eek!

 

[Mary Jo]

Anyone else have trouble fitting three meals plus bottles/milk in? Adam usually takes 2-3 sometimes quite long naps during the day and on days like that there just isn't time for 3 meals. In the morning, after his bottle and nappy change he just wants to sleep so there's never any food till around midday. Then he's been only taking about half his usual amount of milk, even when he's screamed for a bottle, and then he sleeps again till about 5pm. I don't know whether to offer more food or milk at this point! We have dinner around 7pm-8pm and then he has his bedtime bottle around 10pm.

So more often than not he's only getting 2 meals of solids AND he's dropping a fair amount of milk.

Should I trust he's ok? How could I squeeze more food in while letting him have his naps?

 

[joeyjo]

We were struggling to fit everything in when he was having 3 meals and 4BFs - since I cut out 1 BF the last 2 days its been much easier.

It is a little easier to fit things in as G isn't really a daytime sleeper - He woke at 8am, he had a 40min nap about 11am today and nothing then till he went to bed at 6:45, I usuually manage to get him to have a 20min nap in the afternoon but he just didn't seem tired today and didn't fall asleep in his BF (which I would expect if he was tired).

 

[Lucy_lu_84]

I feel like im constantly feeding and he only has 3 bottles a day. but he gots bed at 6pm!

Girls im struggling with lunch time ideas... i tend to have a sandwich most days, but I don't want to give Joshua bread every day. Want something quick, but other than fruit, bread, pancakes, ad breadsticks im stuck! Any ideas? what do u girls give?

 

[joeyjo]

I gave wedges of hard boiled egg today that went down well, he also had half a pear, a couple of ricecakes & a bit of cheese.

Sometimes I give pasta with cheese spread or tuna as a sauce

Jacket potato with beans/tuna/chilli etc

 

[TigerLady]

This was/is a typical day for Otter:

7 am wake up
730 am solid breakfast
900 am BF
915-1000 nap
1000-1130 play
1130 solid lunch then play
1230 BF
1245-230 nap
230-330 play
330 BF
345-430 nap
430-530 play
530 solid dinner
615 bath
645 BF
7pm Sleep
Then he has 3-4 BF through the night (though I am hoping he is showing signs of dropping a couple of those)

So, that is 3 meals and 7-9 BFs per day (sometimes he throws in an extra BF)

He is not on a set scheduled so this varies a bit from day to day. But it is a general idea. Sometimes I feel like all we do is feed and nap!

 

[Mum2b_Claire]

I feel like im constantly feeding and he only has 3 bottles a day. but he gots bed at 6pm!

Girls im struggling with lunch time ideas... i tend to have a sandwich most days, but I don't want to give Joshua bread every day. Want something quick, but other than fruit, bread, pancakes, ad breadsticks im stuck! Any ideas? what do u girls give?

Omelettes go down well with Ruby!

 

[kirsten1985]

I feel like im constantly feeding and he only has 3 bottles a day. but he gots bed at 6pm!

Girls im struggling with lunch time ideas... i tend to have a sandwich most days, but I don't want to give Joshua bread every day. Want something quick, but other than fruit, bread, pancakes, ad breadsticks im stuck! Any ideas? what do u girls give?

We like baked potatoes - freya has hers with cheese, tuna, cheese spread, marmite, peanut butter, spinach, tomatoes, loads of choice!

 

[Lucy_lu_84]

Thanks Mum2_claire and Kisten: he does love baked potatos actually but we tend to have them in the evenings! Peanut butter tho...I didn't even realise he was allowed it! lol
Will have to do some omlettes, not had one of them in ages!

 

[CloudyDay]

Need some advice with a couple of BLW issues!

How do you all know when your LOs are all done? How long do you wait to wrap up the meal? What signs do your LOs give you that they are done?

My DS has been "wiping" food around/off the tray when he doesn't like the food offered or, it seems, when he is all done. But then, he sometimes does this for a few minutes then resumes picking at the food again!

My second issue is that DS is currently crazy about apples and pears. He is willing to put some other foods to his mouth (sweet potato, carrot, rice rusks, and zucchini) but doesn't eat them like he does apples and pears... he wolfs those pieces down and will zoom in on them, ignoring the other pieces on the tray. He won't even touch avocado after getting one taste.

I still keep putting a bit of all of those foods on his tray at every meal. Should I give the ones he doesn't like a break then try again in a few weeks? Or should I just keep offering all of them at every meal anyway?

 

[Mary Jo]

CloudyDay, I have some of those issues as well, Adam often starts to look bored/drops things over the side but then I get the stuff out of his bib (it catches dropped food) and he is all keen again. It's still hard for me to tell when he's done, sometimes it's clear and he will be completely distracted looking away (usually at our cat) but more often I think he'd go on for hours if he was allowed. While it's nice to know he's enjoying it, I don't want to be whipping the food away early if he is just taking his time. But our meals often take 30-40 minutes. No idea if that is a long time, a short time or average.

I need some suggestions myself this morning - Adam seems to be constipated, he's not really pooed since Friday, other than a 1p-sized pellet yesterday, and he seems really distressed (yowling and screaming, trying really hard, but nothing). I seem to recall someone mentioned prunes somewhere, but how would I offer them? Should I hold off with carbs/protein today and just give him fruit & veg? Or keep offering what I'd normally offer and trust that his body will seek out the stuff it needs?