BLW - Baby led weaning support thread

[TigerLady]

My nusery can't as you have to provide the food. If I don't provide purees, then they have no choice. LOL

 

[polly78]

Libby is just over 5 mths now and i'd like to start BLW - She is now getting quite hungry and feeding every couple of hours, and suffers from reflux and both HV & dr said it might be worth trying to start weaning her - is it too early to start BLW we're not in any hurry and was going to try a little bit of rice in the mornings just to see how that goes to see if she can keep it down better than milk but don't really want to end up pureeing everything and would prefer her to eat what she wants rather than spoon feeding - when is a good time to start introducing finger food as would prefer to do this for the majority of weaning than spoon feeding.
When did you all start?

 

[Shiv]

Polly - some of the ladies in here started introducing finger foods from 5 months to their babies. There is no harm letting your baby just play with food from 5 months, if by any chance they can get some food into their mouth and eat it then they are ready to eat it, if they just play with it then they aren't quite ready but no harm done as they haven't eaten any! I would only try with fruit and veg until the 6 month mark though.

My personal experience is that we had Sophia sat with us in her high chair at the table from 5 months (with toys to play with) so that she could get used to being there and see what was going on. Then from 6 months we started giving her bits of food. She caught on really quick and now eats like a trooper.

Good luck and let us all know how you get on x

 

[craftymum]

Blw has been going great but these last few days Jacob has been getting a little lazy, he puts the food in his mouth then he kind of just leaves it there hanging out of his mouth and sucking on it a bit. It's like he just can't be bothered with the effort of it all. Any advice anyone?

 

[sun]

Bun is 6 months old today!

I decided to celebrate by offering him a preloaded spoon of food and see what he did. I actually mixed brown rice cereal with banana. put it on a spoon and put it on the tray to see what he did. I thought I would try porridge since he always seems fascinated when I eat cereal and opens his mouth when I do LOL... Anyway he really didn't like it at all! He did pick up the spoon and put it in his mouth, but wasn't too hot on it and gagged the whole time (from the food not the spoon)
I will try him tomorrow morning with some finger foods I think. I am considering sweet potato! We'll see how that goes.

No kidding he was gagging though - that cereal is gross!

xx

 

[Shiv]

Blw has been going great but these last few days Jacob has been getting a little lazy, he puts the food in his mouth then he kind of just leaves it there hanging out of his mouth and sucking on it a bit. It's like he just can't be bothered with the effort of it all. Any advice anyone?

Perhaps he just isn't very hungry? Sophia tends to have days where she eats loads and days where she doesn't. i wouldn't worry, if he has been eating "normally" before then he will again if he is hungry

 

[dom]

i think Im going to have to ask them if I can come in and have her eat lunch there a couple of times too before she sharts. Im really terrified that they might take the food off her before shes finished with it, as she sometimes has a good nosey around and looks as if she isnt interested, but she does go back to it and carry on. Either that or panic if she gags, or take it out of her mouth or something...I am not looking forward to her being there at all

Is there a huge difference in the way they can handle food between 6.5 and 8 months? At the minute she normally has one meal where she eats quite a lot, and another meal where she just pics and has a play. I think I may start offering breakfast next week too she doesnt gag nearly as much as she did a couple of weeks ago when she first started, she seems to be really chewing food up now

I dont think there will be any chance of them giving her puree either - she closes her mouth and moves her head away if you try and put anything into her mouth lol.

Oh and another question (I hope your not sick of my questions yet, lol )- is a toasted cinamon and raisin bagel suitable to give her? I was thinking that because the raisins are toasted they go soggy and they wouldnt be a choking risk??

xx

 

[TigerLady]

Hmm... I would be careful of raisins for a bit. I just gave them to Otter the first time a few weeks ago and he gagged on them once. And he's super good with all foods now.

For Otter there was a massive difference in his ability to eat between 6.5 and 8 months.

 

[dom]

Thanks Tigerlady - you're like my BLW inspiration xx

 

[Punky79]

Libby is just over 5 mths now and i'd like to start BLW - She is now getting quite hungry and feeding every couple of hours, and suffers from reflux and both HV & dr said it might be worth trying to start weaning her - is it too early to start BLW we're not in any hurry and was going to try a little bit of rice in the mornings just to see how that goes to see if she can keep it down better than milk but don't really want to end up pureeing everything and would prefer her to eat what she wants rather than spoon feeding - when is a good time to start introducing finger food as would prefer to do this for the majority of weaning than spoon feeding.
When did you all start?

I started when Ciarán was 5 months exactly!

 

[Punky79]

Do you guys prepare all your finger food fresh? I was thinking whether it would work to boil/steam fingers of veg and freeze them and then defrost on the day?

I chop up veg like butternut squash and sweet potato, then freeze without boiling or anything. I find they cook straight from frozen a lot quicker than from fresh!

Ooo good idea - do you then boil them?

 

[joeyjo]

When can shellfish be introduced? DH gave G prawns last week I've just discovered; apparently he loved it! DH said I only told him about nuts & honey -he's right & there were no I'll effects from the prwns is there any reason not to offer them again?

 

[Mum2b_Claire]

Do you guys prepare all your finger food fresh? I was thinking whether it would work to boil/steam fingers of veg and freeze them and then defrost on the day?

I chop up veg like butternut squash and sweet potato, then freeze without boiling or anything. I find they cook straight from frozen a lot quicker than from fresh!

Ooo good idea - do you then boil them?

No I roast them. I heat a little bit of olive on a baking tray, then put the wedges onto it, and bake for about 20-25 mins, turning halfway. (but that timing is based on my oven which seems to cook faster than others!)

 

[Mum2b_Claire]

When can shellfish be introduced? DH gave G prawns last week I've just discovered; apparently he loved it! DH said I only told him about nuts & honey -he's right & there were no I'll effects from the prwns is there any reason not to offer them again?

I think the general consensus is to introduce shellfish at a year.
I'm really reluctant to give Ruby shellfish for a while yet though as my mum is violently allergic to it.
Allergies aren't the whole issue though, it's easy for dirt / bacteria to remain on shellfish and LO's immune systems are less effective than adults', so if they do get food poisoning from it, it's far more likely to be a serious problem than it would be for us.
We're told not to give unpasturised cheeses for the same reason, if they do get sick from it, it's likely to be worse for them.

 

[Abigailly]

How many times do you give your child a food they don't like before you leave it?
I've read that you should give it to them 15-20 times. Naimh seems to hate cheese though. I've given it to her in a few different forms grilled, chunks, sandwiched. She just turns her nose up at it.

 

[TigerLady]

I give it several times. If he refuses it, then I wait for a while and try again. Otter didn't like peanut butter at first. I left it and didn't offer it again until last week (about 3 months after last time). He gobbled it right down this time! Go figure. LOL

 

[Punky79]

Do you guys prepare all your finger food fresh? I was thinking whether it would work to boil/steam fingers of veg and freeze them and then defrost on the day?

I chop up veg like butternut squash and sweet potato, then freeze without boiling or anything. I find they cook straight from frozen a lot quicker than from fresh!

Ooo good idea - do you then boil them?

No I roast them. I heat a little bit of olive on a baking tray, then put the wedges onto it, and bake for about 20-25 mins, turning halfway. (but that timing is based on my oven which seems to cook faster than others!)

Great thank you!

 

[sun]

Mum2b_Claire - Thanks for the suggestion about pre-cutting and freezing! I did that with sweet potato and grabbed 3 sticks from the freezer and they steamed in less than 10min! So easy! Sweet potato and avocado for breakfast today!

xx

 

[sun]

Hmmm - This BLW will be a learning process for sure! For me as well as Bun!

I tried Bun with some sweet potato and avocado sticks! Poor Bun - he was so frustrated! The sweet potato was soft and delicious - TOO soft! Every time he grabbed it, it mushed in his hand and split in half! He was better with the sweet potato when I microwaved it and it dried out a bit and got chewy. Then he went for the avocado - mushy AND slippery! He couldn't get a hold of it at all. Any advice on avocado? It wasn't overly ripe, but because of that it was so slippery. And I left the skin on so he could grab it, but it kind of peeled off. He was trying so hard though!!!!

xx

 

[craftymum]

I mush avacado up and spread it on bread or toast for Jacob.