BLW - Baby led weaning support thread

[Mum2b_Claire]

Hi Rebaby and boltonlass

Rebaby IMO a steamer isn't essential, if you normally boil veg then just carry on doing so. Ruby has both boiled and steamed veg and shows no preference. I just boil for a couple of minutes less than I steam.

I think it's fine to put your meals in arms reach of him. As you say, he probably won't eat much, if any.

 

[boltonlass]

Hey Rebaby just noticed Toby is only 3 days younger than Leila - we can be BLW buddies

I wanted to wait till 6 months and still dont intend to make it a regular thing until then but in the meantime i figure weve got 3 weeks for her to have a play and get used to handling food. Wont be offering every day but i guess its 'baby' led weaning and if baby seems ready then i should be led by her

Was so nice how she wanted to grab and hold it and when she started sucking on it i was so proud of her - guess i wondered if she would actually take to BLW so was reassuring to see. I hate the idea of purees and spoonfeeding - nothing against it but im so lazy and it seems so much hassel and so expensive so i was really excited when i heard about BLW.

Will be nice to hear how you and Toby get on with it x

 

[craftymum]

Firstly BLW is going really really well for us - Jacob is loving it and seems to be taking it all in his stride which is fantastic, our problem is I can't get 3 meals in, he has his bottle at 6am then breakfast roughly an hour later, another bottle at 9am then 12pm then lunch half an hour - an hour later.He then takes a bottle at around 3pm another at 5 and then he wants one at 6 again before retiring around 6:30 for the night. He can be really really grumpy in the afternoons and I either don't get a minute to prepare anything for his tea or he's too tired/hungry to be interested. I just don't know how to get him to drop the 5pm bottle and maybe have some food instead as I'm exhausted from 3pm onwards everyday. It's so easy to give him breakfast and lunch and he loves it, I just don't know how to work a Dinner in there too.

 

[NIfirsttimer]

we had this issue with a 5pm bottle..i didnt want to bring dinner forward because then we would all be eating at different times, so i just started to offer half of it, to take away the immediate hunger, then offered food, then topped up with a bottle if she needed it.. it worked, and she eventually started to drop the after food bit, then the whole thing.. that was the first bottle to go!

 

[Rebaby]

Thanks for the warm welcome.

I think we will probably start putting things within reach next week. I normally have a sandwich for lunch though, or some toast and a yoghurt or something like that, which isn't necessarily going to be an easy "first food" for him, so although the plan was for me to simply start eating my lunch and let him have access to my plate, in reality it might be easier if while he is still just practicing i put actual grab-able size veggies/fruit on to his tray and take it from there...does that sound okay?

I know that later on it will be better if we all eat the same but from the book it sounds like at first he'll be okay with having something different to begin with?

Hey Rebaby just noticed Toby is only 3 days younger than Leila - we can be BLW buddies

That sounds great! Will be nice to hear how you are all getting on with it and what Leila enjoys

 

[Mary Jo]

Rebaby, welcome. Sounds like you're planning to start Toby off at the same age as we started Adam, he was just over 5 months. As far as I recall, we sat together each evening and I made a few extra bits of vegetables - steamed broccoli, spinach (he liked grabbing a raw leaf), steamed carrots - and he just went for it. Broccoli was especially successful because he could hold the stem and the top part was soft enough to bite. At lunch, I started having rice cakes (among other things I didn't offer him) and he loved them. Have fun, it really is a nice, pressure-free way of introducing solids. Adam has always really enjoyed his food, apart from when he's not feeling well, and that's lovely to see.

 

[Poppy7]

Hello everyone

I've been reading this thread with great interest. I really want to do BLW with our little chap and have bought the Gill Rapley book. I feel very strongly about baby led weaning and am very excited to get started. Elliott is very interested in putting everything in his mouth (well everything but food-I haven't given him anything at all to eat or gum on yet). I know this is their way of discovering new things but his hand to mouth coordination is getting brilliant now.

He loves to watch us eating and loves to do things by himself. We have all been unwell lately so he has been having medicine from a syringe. He trus to hold the syringe and do it himself. It's very cute!

I, like Rebaby, have been very very strict about the fact that I don't want him to have any proper food until he is 6 months old at the very earliest. However, when I was swimming the other day he was chewing away on a toy and one of the other Mum's suggesting giving him some cold, raw carrot battons to gnaw on as it would be soothing for his gums. I thought if u started doing this would it hurt to every now and then give him little bits of food to experiment with?

I do not want to rush this at all so please do not be afraid to tell me to wait until 6 months if that's the best thing to do. My OH is keen to get started but he is also very respectful of my thoughts and wishes and will wait until I think Elliott is ready. Also whilst he is unwell I won't be giving him anything different as he ix extremely congested right now, poor thing.

Elliott is exclusively bf and his weight gain is good and steady (following 25th percentile).

Look forward to gaining some tips and hearing everyones BLW stories.xx

 

[Tacey]

Poppy7 -hello! We were just the same as you. I decided to give Alice some sticks of fruit and veg at about 5 and a half months in the end and she was surprisingly good at eating. I know other babies who are over 6 months who aren't interested. I think 6 months is a good guide, but they aren't suddenly more able to eat on the day they turn 6 months old. Having said that, next time I'd probably just wait the extra few weeks as I didn't want to give her anything she might react to, so it wasn't BLW as I'd imagined it. It was much more fun when she was eating just what we were!

You won't do him any harm by letting him chew a carrot. If he isn't ready, he just won't do very much with it. Hope it all goes well for you. We've really enjoyed it. I'm so relieved not to be faffing about with purées!

 

[Poppy7]

Poppy7 -hello! We were just the same as you. I decided to give Alice some sticks of fruit and veg at about 5 and a half months in the end and she was surprisingly good at eating. I know other babies who are over 6 months who aren't interested. I think 6 months is a good guide, but they aren't suddenly more able to eat on the day they turn 6 months old. Having said that, next time I'd probably just wait the extra few weeks as I didn't want to give her anything she might react to, so it wasn't BLW as I'd imagined it. It was much more fun when she was eating just what we were!

You won't do him any harm by letting him chew a carrot. If he isn't ready, he just won't do very much with it. Hope it all goes well for you. We've really enjoyed it. I'm so relieved not to be faffing about with purées!

Hi Tacey and thanks for your reply. When you say you wish you had waited the extra few weeks; why is this? Was it because you were wooried about allergic reactions or choking etc (sorry to sound stupid, I think my brain left my body when we came down with this awful virus!!).

I am a terrible worrier and was dreading the thought of purees. It's so nice to hopefully forget all if that and enjoy eating WITH our baby. I'm keen to get started, not because I think he's hungry and needs food but because I can't wait to see his little face when he starts experimenting!xx

 

[Tacey]

I think I just feel that there was no need to start early. I did worry about choking, but I think I'd have worried about that at any stage! I think it would have been nice to start by giving her whatever we were eating rather than just picking out the veggies or giving her some fruit. Also, this sounds really daft, but I'd have liked to have said I had gone to 6 months of exclusive breastfeeding. That's just a personal thing though. I know it hasn't hurt her at all and she was definitely ready for it. I think you just have to go with what fits in with you and your family.

 

[Poppy7]

I think I just feel that there was no need to start early. I did worry about choking, but I think I'd have worried about that at any stage! I think it would have been nice to start by giving her whatever we were eating rather than just picking out the veggies or giving her some fruit. Also, this sounds really daft, but I'd have liked to have said I had gone to 6 months of exclusive breastfeeding. That's just a personal thing though. I know it hasn't hurt her at all and she was definitely ready for it. I think you just have to go with what fits in with you and your family.

I can see exactly where you are coming from I feel exactly the same as you so am going to do my best to hold out until 6 months. Whilst he is still satisfied by milk and his weight gain and health are good, I think we are doing just fine thanks again hun.xx

 

[triplemom]

Hello girls!
I have been offering breakfast and dinner to my baby and She is really enjoying it, more than really eating, She loves to play and taste the food

I would like to hear some ideas for breakfast, Do you give cereal to your babies, with a pre loaded spoon?

BLW is fascinating, my baby likes to use the spoon and she has been "eating" for three weeks now!

 

[Mum2b_Claire]

I give cereal but not with a pre loaded spoon, Ruby resents even that amount of interference from me! I give whatever cereal she can pick up, shreddies are her favourite! I've also given pancakes.

 

[craftymum]

I give porridge on a re loaded spoon as if I give Jacob a bowl he loses all interest in the food and just wants to play with the bowl. I've also given him toast with banana or avacado on or some fresh fruit. It's all pretty new to me too so at the minute it feels like all I'm ever doing is feeding him or preparing food, it's mad but I'm guessing this will settle down once we get a good routine going.

 

[dom]

Hi all Im back again Gabriella is 1.5 weeks under being "officially" 6 months old, but has been taking food off the table and putting it to her mouth, so whilst we havent been offering it to her as such, if she has grabbed it we have left her to it.

Tonight, after tea, my little fella Mackenzie was eating an apple and had had enough of it. There was still quite a bit left, and Id cored it for him so we gave it to Gabriella to have a play with.

She has 2 quite big teeth at the bottom and bit off a small bit of apple. I got cold feet though, and took it out of her mouth terrified that she'd choke on it. Was that the complete wrong thing to do? Should I have left it in her mouth, or is apple not really suitable for her yet?

Ugh I dont know if im going to cope with BLW, how am I ever going to let her eat things by herself if I got cold feet at the very first attempt Please help!! xx

 

[Mum2b_Claire]

I don't give raw apple. My friends' LO choked on it and when I've tried Ruby with it in the past, she gags constantly.

I think ripe fresh, or tinned, pear is a better option.

What do others think about raw apple? Maybe I'm being over cautious...

 

[Mary Jo]

I've never offered raw apple, though he's had little bits of dried apple. My husband, however, has offered it, but I insisted he cut it incredibly thinly. Adam was ok, but I prefer him to have chunks of juicier, softer fruit, like nectarine, peach, banana, plum and pear. If I really wanted him to taste apple, I'd bake or stew it.

 

[dom85]

Hi again everyone :wave:

We've started!I'm still kind of nervous about the whole thing, not just choking but generally giving him the right things, my friend has done a nutrition and BLW course and keeps going on about how she's not giving her baby a lot of dairy because of growth hormones they put in it and allergies etc and buying organic.

Brady started really well and was very interested in the foods I'd given him, and putting them all to his mouth, although today and last night he really hasn't been interested. I'm guessing this is normal in the early days?

 

[dom]

Thanks ladies, Im off out to town today so will stock up on some other softer fruits

So Im guessing if she does get lumps of other softer food in her mouth, like steamed carrot, toast etc etc I should just leave them there for her to chew up and eat herself?

Sorry for all the questions but Im very nervous about it all....I spoon fed my little fella so its all new to me xx

 

[Mum2b_Claire]

ooh this is confusing, a dom and a dom85! I'll try and remember who said what!

dom85 - yes that is very normal. We found in the early days Ruby mostly ignored the food. She had random times of being interested and I'd think 'ooh she's going to start eating' but then she'd go back to not being bothered! She didn't eat at every meal until about 8 months.
I don't buy many organic things. When Ruby switches to cow's milk from formula I'll give her organic cow's milk, I give organic yoghurt, and I think I'm going to start buying mostly organic bread and flour. There are certain foods it's really worth buying organic, well according to an article in Good Food magazine anyway!

dom, yes you should definitely let her chew softer foods. In the early stages they tend to chew food, then it just falls out of their mouths as they haven't yet learnt to move it to the back of their mouth and swallow. Ruby was in this stage for quite a long time.