BLW - Baby led weaning support thread

[firegal]

Thanks joeyjo! That's what I was leaning towards too.

 

[TigerLady]

I would go for the second or third... probably third for my kid, but he is a really good eater. So, judge it based on your LO. I agree with JJ, take loads of snacks!

 

[ActionCat]

Hi ladies!

Sorry to be gross but I have a question about poo

We've been BLW (3 meals a day) for about a week and a half now and LO's poo routine has gone crazy! Before BLW he used to poo every 2 or 3 days but now he poos 3 times or more every day. The poo itself hasn't changed much except it has bits of food in it and occasionally it's green (mostly it's yellow though).

Did anyone else experience this or should I be concerned? LO is fully BF by the way.

I'm glad you asked this as my LO has been pooing like crazy these last few days. We started weaning him at 5 1/2 months and he's now 6 months and 1 week but it's only been this last week or so that he has more regularly been swallowing food. He started off with a bit of diarrhea and a really sore bum but even though the sore bum has cleared up, he's still pooing small amounts very regularly. It's like having a newborn again at night! Waking up for food, poo, change nappy, poo, change nappy and repeat. I had put the constant pooing down to teething but after reading your post I'm wondering if it's weaning related... I'd be interested to hear if this has happened to anyone else.

 

[Shiv]

Firegal I would go for option 2 as well

I have a question too. I am getting quite worried about Sophia, she is eatting a lot more. For exapmple for breakfast this morning she had half a crumpet, 3 blackberries and some yoghurt (and I mean that she actually ate that instead of just played with it), the problem is that she just won't breastfeed during the day. Today I even skipped her solid lunch to try to make sure she had some milk but no! However she is waking up several times a night hungry for milk! I am soooooooooooo tired and just don't know what to do! Usually I would put waking in the night down to a growth spurt (not that Sophia has actually ever woken in the night since she was 2 months until I started weaning her and now she has been waking for the past month ) but because she isn't feeding more during the day it can't be a growth spurt can it? No sign of teething either?

I just don't know what to do, I thought things were supposed to settle down as they got older not get much much worse

Anyone else been through anything similar, any ideas what I could do to help?

thanks

 

[Mum2b_Claire]

Firegal I would go for option 3.

Shiv have you tried offering her a feed when she is really sleepy before a nap or something? In a dark-ish room? Maybe she is too interested in what is going on around her to bother feeding!

 

[Faerie]

Shiv I can't really offer advice because Sofia is a nearly 11 month old ratbag doing the same - perhaps it's in the name!

 

[Shiv]

hahahaha maybe! I love the term ratbag too!
She actually slept much better last night, I think it was a one off! I put her bedtime back by an hour to try to give her more time to breastfeed after her solid dinner. Will do the same tonight!

She seems to be really getting teh hang of eating now, for breakfast she had a whole plum (minus the stone obviously, and 2 bits of skin, she ate the rest of teh skin though!), half a banana and some porridge! I know lots of people have said it, but it does seem like quite a lot for such a little person!

 

[special_kala]

I love BLW, just watched River demolish 5 chunks of roast parsnip

and then watched the dog hoover up the bits she dropped

 

[diz]

Hi ladies!

Sorry to be gross but I have a question about poo

We've been BLW (3 meals a day) for about a week and a half now and LO's poo routine has gone crazy! Before BLW he used to poo every 2 or 3 days but now he poos 3 times or more every day. The poo itself hasn't changed much except it has bits of food in it and occasionally it's green (mostly it's yellow though).

Did anyone else experience this or should I be concerned? LO is fully BF by the way.

Hi FG

Noah has gone from having 2 poos a day to 1 massive one every 24 - 48 hours. They are gross

Well Noah ate like a trooper today! For tea he had two large stuffed pasta parcels with chicken, garlic, parma ham and cheese; asparagus, tender stem broccoli, a carrot stick and half a fruit and rice pot. What a porker!

 

[craftymum]

Just a wee quick question ladies, is it ok to combine a little bit of traditional weaning with BLW? When I say a little I only mean like giving porridge at breakfast time then the other meals all finger foods. I also bought some organix rice cakes and carrot sticks today, has anyone else used these and is it ok to give them to Jacob now - he will be 6 months next Saturday.

 

[triplemom]

Hi Ladies
Here I am, a little confused. I have been offering food (fruits) to my baby for a week now, and she is very happy for sharing the moment with us, but not eating too much, just little pieces, when She can grab them.
The thing is that my baby seems to be hungry every 2-2 1/2 hours (still!! and She is 6 months old already) and I get exhausted sometimes, because I have no time for anything else.

What can I do?? Should I try to "hold" her to 2 1/2-3 hours? or try to give her more food??
Our days are a mess, no routine at all (just at bedtime) and I think We should have some kind of schedule at this stage. Am I wrong?

I feel like I have a smaller baby sometimes and that maybe it is not good for her either.
I mean to get used to BF all day, sometimes every hour. and when she is sleepy, I offer the breast and She takes at least a little snack before her nap (that are very short, thanks to a cold she got)

I really need some advise, please...

 

[Mum2b_Claire]

I don't think there's anything wrong with that triplemom, obviously it must be exhausting for you but it really won't be forever. The whole idea with BLW is that you offer solids at your mealtimes and milk on demand, so you're doing everything right. It's up to LO to choose when they want to up their solid intake and decrease milk.
I don't think many BLW babies drop any milk feeds at 6 months and 1 weeks.
Ruby didn't eat any solids really until 7.5 months.
Oh and having lots of BF is only a good thing!

 

[Mum2b_Claire]

Just a wee quick question ladies, is it ok to combine a little bit of traditional weaning with BLW? When I say a little I only mean like giving porridge at breakfast time then the other meals all finger foods. I also bought some organix rice cakes and carrot sticks today, has anyone else used these and is it ok to give them to Jacob now - he will be 6 months next Saturday.

It's ok to combine finger foods with spoonfeeding, of course, but it isn't BLW.
Why not offer him a pre loaded spoon of porridge for him to feed himself? Several ladies on here do that and it works really well. I hand Ruby a pre loaded spoon of yoghurt sometimes.
I give Ruby organix snacks sometimes. She doesn't like rice cakes but the carrot sticks she's had.

 

[Tacey]

I know this will vary between babies, but when do they start to digest their food properly? I'm finding the nappies with chunks in a bit difficult to stomach, especially as we have cloth nappies! I can't wait for the day when I can just shake it down the loo!

 

[Shiv]

Triplemom - I agree with Claire, BLW works well with BF on demand. I know how knackering it can be, but it won't last forever and your baby will eventualy take less milk. You sound like you have been doing everything right

Tacey - Sophia's poos are a lot more solid now (BLW for 6 weeks) not always though it does depend how much she has eaten. There is still alot of undigested lumps in it, even when it is solid though. I am gross though and find it quite interesting

DO any of you give pudding? All of my friends who are doing traditional weaning give two courses at lunch and dinner. We don't as I rarely have pudding. Opinions please?

Also Sophia really struggles with bread or toast. She just doesn't persevere long enough to bite any off. Some of her TW baby friends are eating toast and she can't - I find this odd!

 

[triplemom]

Thanks!! I'll keep going

 

[Mary Jo]

Shiv, Adam doesn't have 2 courses really, and no dessert because we don't have it (*we* used to have chocolate after dinner but that's out of the window for now. heh). though I offer his food in stages because he seems to get overwhelmed/over-excited when he has too much in one go. So for example this morning he had mini oatibixes with milk, then I added some banana and finally some yogurt (plain, unsweetened). it was a big oaty/bananay/yogurty squishy gloop on the table in the end. And yesterday he ended up with toast, omelette, yogurt and prunes all together. Niiiiice.

He does manage toast but isn't biting off much, I usually put on loads of whatever spread I am giving him, cream cheese at the moment, and he sucks it all off, which makes it soggy and the toast itself comes off in his mouth better. I've still never given untoasted bread products, but I was wondering about making sandwiches sometime. Not sure when though.

 

[Mum2b_Claire]

DO any of you give pudding? All of my friends who are doing traditional weaning give two courses at lunch and dinner. We don't as I rarely have pudding. Opinions please?

Also Sophia really struggles with bread or toast. She just doesn't persevere long enough to bite any off. Some of her TW baby friends are eating toast and she can't - I find this odd!

I usually give the main meal and then some fruit or some natural yogurt on a pre loaded spoon. I never give actual puddings.

Ruby can't manage rice cakes when TW babies seem to eat them. I don't why that is either! She just can't bite any off.

 

[Mum2b_Claire]

Mary Jo, I've just started giving Ruby sandwiches and she really struggles with them. If the filling is not really 'wet' then she struggles to break it down, it's just too much bread in her mouth at once, and also they just seem to fall apart.
My friend who did BLW with her now 18 month old said she only gave sandwiches at about 15 months.

 

[Mary Jo]

Ah ok, will skip normal sandwiches for a while then. I wonder if he'd manage an open sandwich on untoasted bread?

OT but Mum2b, I had this thread open at your last post and was holding Adam on my lap after his bottle and suddenly he focused on the screen and started to laugh. am sure he was amused by your avatar pic of Ruby. it's a lovely pic, she looks like a lot of fun.