BLW - Baby led weaning support thread

[Maffie]

We make foods but dont puree them but he can still use a spoon with (made broccoli soup the other day)

For meal times we steam/bake something simple for Noah or I whip a meal ive made out of the freezer so he can eat with us. I also use baby stock cubes to make veggie casseroles for Noah.

 

[dom]

i love reading this thread and seeing how well everyone is getting on

Gabriella was doing really well for the first few days, then on Thursday after lunch (She had some sticks of cheese and a ham t-cake) I was lying on the bed nursing her and all of a sudden she vomited a LOT! it was just milk that came up, but it was proper wretching vomit - she's never done that before, the poor little poppet was really upset.

She was quite off her milk on Thursday and Friday, then on Friday night I came down with something - was up on the loo all night (sorry wayyyy tmi!!), and the OH was the same, but he was sick too, and in bed all day Saturday.

So anyway, she seemed a lot better yesterday, so I thought we'd try her with food again today. I tried her with ready break on a pre-loaded sppon for breakfast - which she was completely un-interested in, and then a cheese spread t-cake for lunch (we were having tuna mayo & sweetcorn, and I wasnt sure tuna would be suitable). She was happily having a really good play with it - ripping it up, squeezing it, and then putting it into her mouth and chewing it. It was great seeing her having so much fun with it again When she looked like she'd finished, I was just cleaning up the kitchen and she vomited again....not as much as last time, but she still vomited.

Oh, and also, her nappies have been like, the consistancy of mr whippy ice cream but yellow (sorry about that also!!) I know its normal for them to be interested and happily enjoying food one day, and then completely off it the next, but do they normally vomit? And I thought their nappies just contained lumps rather than changing consistancy??

Do you think she may be a bit ill?? She seems fine in herself now though, could she still be getting over it?..or are these normal changes once you start BLW? - The vomiting and changing nappies?? Or do you think it could be bread that she can't tolerate? Or would she have vomited up the bread in that case?

Im really sorry for the long post xx

 

[joeyjo]

Nappies - consistency (& smell) change and become more & more like propr adult poop (yuck!) but they vary each day & can have bits in too.

Sorry not got time just now to answer other qus.

 

[triplemom]

Dom, I think your baby might still be ill. Maybe wait another day and try again

 

[dom]

hhhmm yeah, I may leave her a while longer. Its just that she has only vomited straight after food, and her nappies are weired too that I thought it may be connected to the BLW.

She is otherwise her usual happy and smiley self.

xx

 

[polaris]

Well we started! I couldn't wait till Tuesday and thought it would be nice to start when OH was around. It went really well!

He had banana at lunch time, it was too slippy for him to manage properly but he definitely enjoyed mushing it up and got some in his mouth too. For dinner we were having tagliatelli with bolognese sauce - Thomas had plain tagliatelli which was really easy for him to pick up and suck on, don't think he actually ate any but he really enjoyed it, broccoli which he wasn't too bothered about but did have a bit of a suck on it, and a whole spring onion which was definitely his favourite - he sucked the whole middle bit out of it and I think he definitely swallowed some too! His face was an absolute picture in response to the strong taste of the spring onion but he kept going back for more so he must have liked it!

Going to go shopping tomorrow and get some stuff in for him. I'm so excited about it now - OH is still quite worried about choking and keeps saying things like 'we'll have to see how we go' but I think he will come round. He was impressed with how well he managed the spring onion. So was I!!

 

[TennisGal]

Fun, isn't it Polaris!? We're doing a mixture...but DD is much more into doing things herself at the moment. I saw you had some questions...just my view (I am quite new to this!)

DH and I similarly worry about choking...DD gagged this weekend, and my heart was in my mouth...so we just take it slowly, one day at a time. More for our comfort, than for hers!

Is it best/OK to stick to simple foods like fruit and vegetables to start with?

We started with chunks of roasted veg and fruits. We now cook without salt, and add to our dishes afterwards. DD still has purees, but she likes to try what's on our plate. Often, we'll do a little portion without all the flavourings. She has tried some pasta and sauce, and the concentration was hilarious!

What about foods like porridge/yogurt? When did people introduce these - is it better to wait for a bit or can you start giving a pre-loaded spoon straight away? I have given Thomas a spoon to play with before and he loves it and is very good at getting it into his mouth, so I think he would definitely manage to get some in. Also do you use a plastic weaning spoon or just a normal (tea) spoon, Thomas seems to like the normal spoon better!

We've got weaning spoons, as DD tends to chew quite hard on normal spoons...and ours are quite 'sharp'. She's having porridge this week...and she's had yog and Petit Filou. Both very popular. I've fed her a few spoons, so she gets the feel and taste...and then I leave a few pre-loaded spoons. Be prepared for hair splattering! lol

I was also worried about temperature of food. I like my food very hot but I presume Thomas's portion will need to be left to cool down a bit so he doesn't burn his hands/mouth. How do other people manage this so that you are still all eating at the same time? I obviously don't want to leave Thomas waiting for his food but I don't want to be eating my dinner when it's cold either!

We put DDs in the fridge for a quick moment - or leave some bits of veg out on a separate plate (they cool down quickly) for her to try first. Or she has a little bit of cheese / rice cake etc first. She often has purees, and then a small 'taster' of what we have...so we're not fully at the eating exactly the same stage yet.

 

[Poppy7]

Well we started! I couldn't wait till Tuesday and thought it would be nice to start when OH was around. It went really well!

He had banana at lunch time, it was too slippy for him to manage properly but he definitely enjoyed mushing it up and got some in his mouth too. For dinner we were having tagliatelli with bolognese sauce - Thomas had plain tagliatelli which was really easy for him to pick up and suck on, don't think he actually ate any but he really enjoyed it, broccoli which he wasn't too bothered about but did have a bit of a suck on it, and a whole spring onion which was definitely his favourite - he sucked the whole middle bit out of it and I think he definitely swallowed some too! His face was an absolute picture in response to the strong taste of the spring onion but he kept going back for more so he must have liked it!

Going to go shopping tomorrow and get some stuff in for him. I'm so excited about it now - OH is still quite worried about choking and keeps saying things like 'we'll have to see how we go' but I think he will come round. He was impressed with how well he managed the spring onion. So was I!!

Sounds like he is having great fun Polaris.

Today we went to a 1st Birthday party.....My OH's Mum was there and she is a food tech teacher. OH was not with me and she can be rather over empowering with Elliott (taking him from me and walking off - makes me so angry I shake). Anyhoo.....OH explained to her earlier in the day about BLW and she seemed to grasp the idea and think it was great.

So there was nothing on the table at the party suitable for Elliott (crisps, pizza, sweets etc) so I got him a plain white roll so he felt a bit more involved and gave him a bit of it. MIL took Elliott from me whilst he was eating it. He was having a lovely time gumming it, making a lovely mess and squidging it so that he could get manageable sized bits in his mouth. Firstly I was anxious as she wasn't holding him carefully whilst he was eating (I like him upright and stable) and then every time he had bread mush on his hands she was wiping it off!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Eventually I explained that Elliott does that with his food and it's his way of being able to get it in his mouth and try to swallow it so every time she brushed off the gummed bread it was getting rid of his hard work. She was a bit baffled and then tried to put food in his mouth after I had explained that BLW is about letting them do it for themselves. She then said "would crisps be okay for him" - NO and "how about a grape"?? Ummmm also NO as it's a choke hazard at the moment.

Sorry for the rant but after all this she went to put him in a baby swing and he nearly fell through amongst other silly things.

Rant over....I feel bad as I really like OH's parents as people but they infuriate me when it comes to Elliott OH has gone away to Spain until Friday and I wish he was at the party with me as I find it hard to say what I feel to them!

 

[dom]

Aw well done Polais and baby Thomas! I have never even thought about giving Gabriella spring onion as I thought It'd be too strong a flavour for her, but I will try her with some now

It sounds like you are both having so much fun

 

[dom]

aw Poppy7, I really feel for you Its awful when you feel you have to keep quiet to keep people happy ... Im very lucky in that even though my MIL is a MW, and currently they are very anti-BLW in my area, she has never said anything negative about it to me She's too nice, and I love her to bits In fact, its my Mum thats the bloody awful one, shes really nasty about it telling me that Gabriella will be starving because Im not shovelling food down her throat (dont get me wrong, I spoon fed my litle man and am not against it at all) and that now that she is weaning I should be cutting down her milk and just giving her water during the day!! WTF!!

Okay rant over, sorry ladies xx

 

[Maffie]

Well we wnt out for a meal today set ine back it was that rubbish, but I ordered a side of veg for Noah (broccoli and carrots) he was dipping in the bowl himself, he looked a bit confused as the broccoli was so overcooked it went to much as he held it which doesnt happen at home. He happily munched away.

Dom sounds like your LO is still getting over their illness. How old are they? I wouldn't feed too much wheat products too early on.

Poppy I peel grapes and then cut in half and Noah manages them really well. I only tried them this week but boy did he enjoy them. He also likes gumming corn on the cob, he some how bucts the corn leaves everything but the juicy insides

 

[TennisGal]

ladies - do you give your LOs any kind of cheese? I've stopped giving realllly strong cheddar, as it's quite salty. What about cheese spreads - like dairylea or philly? Does anyone give these? Am not sure, DD always tries to snaffle some of my philly!

 

[Shiv]

we give Sophia philly, on toast, rice cakes, crumpets, celery etc etc she loves it. It is quite high in salt but as long as I am not giving her too much other salty stuff then I figure it is ok

 

[Mary Jo]

yeah, I offer Philadelphia on toast, bread and rice cakes, it's a bit of a staple in our house. he doesn't get it every day though. as for hard cheeses, he adores strong cheddar and I do offer it still but not more than twice a week.

re temp of food and family meals - I take Adam's portion out before ours and spread it around on a plate to cool a bit quicker. a lot of our meals are things that bake in the oven, like cottage pie, or in a pan, like pasta, so the rest usually stays pretty hot and I serve ours up once AE's is cool enough. but sometimes we do eat not-quite hot food. I often zap mine in the microwave for a minute because I like my meals properly hot.

and spoons - he has some soft plastic ones that are labelled 7+ months, and he manages them ok. but he covets whatever cutlery I have, so I have been known to eat my own breakfast with a small plastic spoon as well.

 

[loopy loulou]

I'm coming around to the idea of BLW now and am getting quite excited! I like the idea of just giving Eve what we've got and watching her discover things for herself.

I must admit since she's been about 3 months I have been looking forward to her eating real food and couldn't wait to start weaning, I bought purees and ice cube trays and spoons etc.. all sitting in the cupboard waiting...

But now it's getting closer I am thinking - 'hassle!' - and am now thinking I quite like the ease of her just drinking milk!

Anyway, after reading lots of threads on here and looking at other websites I think I would quite like to ditch the purees and icecube trays etc and go for 'proper food'! Sounds much more fun! And easier! (I'm lazy... )

My question is - (first one of many I predict!) Is it safe to start offering her bits and bobs a bit earlier? Because am I right in thinking that if she can sit up, pick up a piece of food and put it in her mouth, she more than likely has the skills to eat it? I wouldn't put anything in her mouth myself, just let her explore. She already sits in her highchair and watches me tidy up and I have put a few pieces of banana on her tray to see what happened. She did manage to grab a piece and it did go towards her mouth, but she kept dropping it.. So obviously she's not quite there yet, but was thinking it probably won't be long.. maybe a few weeks (she'll be 5 and a bit months then).

I don't want an 'early weaning' reply because I don't really believe it is.. I'm not force feeding her, and probably not much would go in! It was more about the safety of it...

She can pick up her tommee tippee cup by both handles and put the spout in her mouth too! Which I was quite proud of!!

Sorry, just one more thing... I read somewhere (can't remember which site, will try and find it again) that if your baby is FF then BLW may not be the right thing for you, and you should speak to your HV if you wanted to do BLW. It was quite a pro-breastfeeding site so wasn't sure of the reasoning behind it. Anyone here found any problems with BLW whilst FF? What are the reasons why it may be difficult?

Sorry for loooooong post!

Thanks so much ladies. xxx

Can any of you BLWers answer my questions please? Would be much appreciated! Thanks guys.

 

[Shiv]

I'm coming around to the idea of BLW now and am getting quite excited! I like the idea of just giving Eve what we've got and watching her discover things for herself.

I must admit since she's been about 3 months I have been looking forward to her eating real food and couldn't wait to start weaning, I bought purees and ice cube trays and spoons etc.. all sitting in the cupboard waiting...

But now it's getting closer I am thinking - 'hassle!' - and am now thinking I quite like the ease of her just drinking milk!

Anyway, after reading lots of threads on here and looking at other websites I think I would quite like to ditch the purees and icecube trays etc and go for 'proper food'! Sounds much more fun! And easier! (I'm lazy... )

My question is - (first one of many I predict!) Is it safe to start offering her bits and bobs a bit earlier? Because am I right in thinking that if she can sit up, pick up a piece of food and put it in her mouth, she more than likely has the skills to eat it? I wouldn't put anything in her mouth myself, just let her explore. She already sits in her highchair and watches me tidy up and I have put a few pieces of banana on her tray to see what happened. She did manage to grab a piece and it did go towards her mouth, but she kept dropping it.. So obviously she's not quite there yet, but was thinking it probably won't be long.. maybe a few weeks (she'll be 5 and a bit months then).

I don't want an 'early weaning' reply because I don't really believe it is.. I'm not force feeding her, and probably not much would go in! It was more about the safety of it...

She can pick up her tommee tippee cup by both handles and put the spout in her mouth too! Which I was quite proud of!!

Sorry, just one more thing... I read somewhere (can't remember which site, will try and find it again) that if your baby is FF then BLW may not be the right thing for you, and you should speak to your HV if you wanted to do BLW. It was quite a pro-breastfeeding site so wasn't sure of the reasoning behind it. Anyone here found any problems with BLW whilst FF? What are the reasons why it may be difficult?

Sorry for loooooong post!

Thanks so much ladies. xxx

Can any of you BLWers answer my questions please? Would be much appreciated! Thanks guys.

Ok, so teh theory goes that when a baby is skilled enough to pick up a bit of food, get it to their mouth, chew it and swallow it then they are ready to eat it! So in this respect if you follow teh "rules" of never putting food in your babies mouth then you cannot rush them into eating too early as they wouldn't be able to. A caveat I would add to this is that BLW is recommended from 6 months because it doesn't put restrictions on what you can offer the baby to eat (apart from honey and choking hazards). So if you are going to try it earlier than 6 months then i would stick to fruit and veg and then add in wheat, dairy etc once LO turns 6 months (just my personal opinion)

I breast feed so can't really help with the FF question, however in Gill Rapley's book it does mention this and if i remember correctly she says that FF babies are less used to feeding themsleves (in a portion control sense I think she means) but I know that plenty of ladies on here combine F with BLW with no problems so I am sure they can reassure you on this count

hope that helps hon

 

[Poppy7]

I'm coming around to the idea of BLW now and am getting quite excited! I like the idea of just giving Eve what we've got and watching her discover things for herself.

I must admit since she's been about 3 months I have been looking forward to her eating real food and couldn't wait to start weaning, I bought purees and ice cube trays and spoons etc.. all sitting in the cupboard waiting...

But now it's getting closer I am thinking - 'hassle!' - and am now thinking I quite like the ease of her just drinking milk!

Anyway, after reading lots of threads on here and looking at other websites I think I would quite like to ditch the purees and icecube trays etc and go for 'proper food'! Sounds much more fun! And easier! (I'm lazy... )

My question is - (first one of many I predict!) Is it safe to start offering her bits and bobs a bit earlier? Because am I right in thinking that if she can sit up, pick up a piece of food and put it in her mouth, she more than likely has the skills to eat it? I wouldn't put anything in her mouth myself, just let her explore. She already sits in her highchair and watches me tidy up and I have put a few pieces of banana on her tray to see what happened. She did manage to grab a piece and it did go towards her mouth, but she kept dropping it.. So obviously she's not quite there yet, but was thinking it probably won't be long.. maybe a few weeks (she'll be 5 and a bit months then).

I don't want an 'early weaning' reply because I don't really believe it is.. I'm not force feeding her, and probably not much would go in! It was more about the safety of it...

She can pick up her tommee tippee cup by both handles and put the spout in her mouth too! Which I was quite proud of!!

Sorry, just one more thing... I read somewhere (can't remember which site, will try and find it again) that if your baby is FF then BLW may not be the right thing for you, and you should speak to your HV if you wanted to do BLW. It was quite a pro-breastfeeding site so wasn't sure of the reasoning behind it. Anyone here found any problems with BLW whilst FF? What are the reasons why it may be difficult?

Sorry for loooooong post!

Thanks so much ladies. xxx

Can any of you BLWers answer my questions please? Would be much appreciated! Thanks guys.

Hi hun,

I will try and help you though we are new to BLW too!!

BLW is a lot of fun and certainly a lot less hassle. I started letting Elliott experiment with food when he was 5 months and 10 days old. I really wanted to start at 6 months but it is doing him no harm, he is having fun and he's not having a huge amount right now.

I epcect your LO's tounge thrust reflex is quite effective so don't worry too much about it being unsafe. Also her gag relfex will be good as well!! Elliott often exits food fromo his mouth that he's not sure on swallowing. I don't believe you are early weaning just letting her experiment. Raw carrot is a good one, especially if she likes to chew. It is nice a cool on their gums if they are teething as well.

Clever girl picking up her own cup. Elliott has a doidy cup which is rather messy but a lot of fun.

With regards to FF and BLW....I'm not 100% sure on the reasons but I think it is because with FF you can see exactly what baby is taking...with BLW you can't and have to trust the baby. If you are BF you can't see what a baby is drinking so you don't tend to worry so much therefore making BLW easier. I don't see why it can't work for you though as long as you accpt that it is a longer process to them actually consuming food than if you were feeding them purees.

I'm sure you will be fine and hopefully a more experienced BLW'er will come along soon.xx

 

[Poppy7]

Well we wnt out for a meal today set ine back it was that rubbish, but I ordered a side of veg for Noah (broccoli and carrots) he was dipping in the bowl himself, he looked a bit confused as the broccoli was so overcooked it went to much as he held it which doesnt happen at home. He happily munched away.

Dom sounds like your LO is still getting over their illness. How old are they? I wouldn't feed too much wheat products too early on.

Poppy I peel grapes and then cut in half and Noah manages them really well. I only tried them this week but boy did he enjoy them. He also likes gumming corn on the cob, he some how bucts the corn leaves everything but the juicy insides

That's a good idea with the grape . I'll try that tomorrow. Thank you.xx

 

[joeyjo]

My question is - (first one of many I predict!) Is it safe to start offering her bits and bobs a bit earlier? Because am I right in thinking that if she can sit up, pick up a piece of food and put it in her mouth, she more than likely has the skills to eat it? I wouldn't put anything in her mouth myself, just let her explore. She already sits in her highchair and watches me tidy up and I have put a few pieces of banana on her tray to see what happened. She did manage to grab a piece and it did go towards her mouth, but she kept dropping it.. So obviously she's not quite there yet, but was thinking it probably won't be long.. maybe a few weeks (she'll be 5 and a bit months then).

I don't want an 'early weaning' reply because I don't really believe it is.. I'm not force feeding her, and probably not much would go in! It was more about the safety of it...

She can pick up her tommee tippee cup by both handles and put the spout in her mouth too! Which I was quite proud of!!

Sorry, just one more thing... I read somewhere (can't remember which site, will try and find it again) that if your baby is FF then BLW may not be the right thing for you, and you should speak to your HV if you wanted to do BLW. It was quite a pro-breastfeeding site so wasn't sure of the reasoning behind it. Anyone here found any problems with BLW whilst FF? What are the reasons why it may be difficult?

Sorry for loooooong post!

Thanks so much ladies. xxx

I started at just over 5 months (23weeks) because LO nabbed my toast. I wasn't overly happy about it & tried to start very slowly, just once a day at first. He was keen from the start but I think if he hadn't been I would have waited a few more weeks - the initial justification I used was that LO wouldn't eat much before 6 months but a surprisinng amount made it in which gave me 2nd thoughts
As I started before 6 months I didn't do it "properly" at first (ie offering exactly what we had) as I wanted to wait till 6 months to offer dairy, wheat & meat. I just offered the fruit/veg from our meal & bought gluten free bread for a few weeks.

I BF so not sure about the FF although there are a few doing it fine. I think as a BF'r we are used to not measuring how much LO eats etc but a FF is used to known quantities & may struggle with leaving the baby to decide quantities etc.

 

[Poppy7]

aw Poppy7, I really feel for you Its awful when you feel you have to keep quiet to keep people happy ... Im very lucky in that even though my MIL is a MW, and currently they are very anti-BLW in my area, she has never said anything negative about it to me She's too nice, and I love her to bits In fact, its my Mum thats the bloody awful one, shes really nasty about it telling me that Gabriella will be starving because Im not shovelling food down her throat (dont get me wrong, I spoon fed my litle man and am not against it at all) and that now that she is weaning I should be cutting down her milk and just giving her water during the day!! WTF!!

Okay rant over, sorry ladies xx

Thanks Dom. I still feel angry about it now! It's so frustrating when people don't understand OR even worse....you try and explain and they don't listen