BLW - Baby led weaning support thread

[ellie]

mmm, yoghurty armpits, nice!

K's been doing really well, although he hates hates hates his highchair!? he'll sit in it for a bit but soon starts screaming and is inconsolable till we take him out. He'll then sit happily on dad's lap or on the table and eat more. i dont really want him to eat like this though. Help ?!?

Also, he's discovered his favourite thing ever is strawberries and will eat several at a time - he's worked out that he can put them in whole and squidge them around, swallow the juice then chew the rest - luckily we have loads growing in teh garden right now - this is okay right, that he 'binges' on them? sometimes theyre the only thing he will eat at a meal.

He scared us to death earlier though - eating a chunk of tomato, he normally sucks out the seedy bit and chucks away the peel bit. He must have got a bit of peel though and happened to breathe the wrong time and almost choked on it, he eventually took a breath but went really red and had trouble coughing, he was really upset then. Should I have given him some water ? I had leapt up to pat him on the back when he got it out.

On water - i see some of you give water at meals - I havent been, but usually offer a breastfeed after meals (sometimes he takes it, sometimes not) - shoudl I be offering water with food now?

I cant help with the preloaded spoons though - K's not great with them either, he usually just turns them upside down

 

[TigerLady]

Does his highchair have a coushin? Sometimes that makes a big difference.

I would start to offer a cup of water at every meal. He's probably ready. But don't worry if he doesn't drink loads yet.

 

[Vici]

Girls - please help. Imi is in a really bad habit of throwing all or most of her food on thd floor, even her favs!!! Please tell md this is just a phase and will pass soon.

 

[TigerLady]

It's just a phase and will pass soon. Sort of.

Otter did the same at about the same age. I learned to not pick it up for him. He learned he lost it if it hit the floor. Now, he eats and then throws the rest on the floor when he is full.

It was like he learned a new skill -- "Look! I can throw this stuff!" and then learned it was even more fun to eat it and throw what was left. Yesterday, when he got full, he had about 1/4 of a banana left. He actually threw it over the BACK of his head, the back of his chair, far enough to miss his large splash mat and land in the middle of the floor.

 

[Vici]

I think if she was full and doing it, i'd not worry but as soon as the tray is put in front of her, she picks everything up one by one and chucks it away Shes stillhvaing 4 bottles and water but not sure how much food shes actually eaten in the last week or so!!

 

[eldar]

I'm picking stuff up when she drops it, mainly because she gets so confused when things disappear, it's cute.

However when she deliberately starts to throw or drop it will be duly treated as a new skill moment and I will stop helping! With this new skill she will have to learn it doesn't come back when deliberately dropped!

 

[Mum2b_Claire]

Vici, Ruby did that a bit at Imi's age, I just gave her one or two pieces of food at a time and if she threw what was there, I would not give her any more for a few mins, then if she started whinging, I would give her another bit, and if she just kept repeatedly throwing each piece then I would assume she wasn't hungry and would leave her sat there with nothing while I finished mine. It usually meant her teeth were playing up or just wasn't hungry.

 

[Vici]

Thanks Claire. She did just have her top middle teeth pop through and it has been very hot so i'm just figuring shes not interested. I'll try your suggestion

 

[florabean1981]

umm, does nayone else's LOs seem to have a fascination with 'watering' their food? I've had to stop offering his water until I'm pretty sure he's done eating, or he just pours it all over his food, then refuses to eat anything coz it's 'ruined!' Crazy baby, lol!

On a good note, chicken korma with broccoli & rice last night went down a treat! Even my carpets loved it!

 

[TigerLady]

Otter dumps his water out all the time. I don't think he does it on purpose so much as he has yet to figure out that you can't turn a rimmed cup sideways and expect the water to stay in.

He might be catching on, though. The other day when he tipped his cup he stared at the pouring water in fascniation as if to say "Hey! Look at that! What is it doing THAT for???"

 

[Xinola]

I've been catching up with this thread. It's great to read how other ladies and their LOs are getting by! Well done to all, reading this thread is truly very encouraging.

We started the BLW when Sini turned 5months old, and she started only playing with bits of food, touching it and putting it into her mouth eventually. It all looked like a very intesteresting game for her.

Now that she is 6months old, she is so interested in eating! I'm so amazed and excited. She has eaten bits or bread (wheat and rye), oat porridge (PL spoons), veggies (cucumber, sweet pointed red pepper, cauliflower, broccoli), and fruit (bananas, peach, pear, cooked apple).

Since yesterday, Sini started to get grumpy (frustrated I think) when she does not get a bite and she is hungry! -just like other ladies have mentioned on previous pages-.

The thing that I wanted to mention was that currently we are visiting my OH's family (we are going to be with them for over a month), and I've found it a bit stressing when doing the BLW because they stare at Sini and talk to her, and try to 'help', and that makes the whole thing difficult. At times, we have done it when there's no one around and Sini has peace and a quite time with her foods. But most of the time, her grandaprents are glued to her and intervene. I don't speak their language, so I have to rely on my OH in telling them to please give us some space... which does not seem to have come across clearly. All I want is to make sure Sini does not get put off by other people's intervention with her 'meal time'. I just wish they would respect her in the way they don't bother us when BF her.

 

[ellie]

Argh, I need help ......

I'm not sure I am 'doing this right'.

we made the mistake of getting a highchair which doesnt have much of a lip around the edge, so he was just pushing his food off. So, we flipped the tray over and he sits at teh table with us and has his food off the table. But he's quite hesitant at picking it up and often cant get his grip on it quite right so drops it, and I often end up helping him, I shouldnt really do this right? but Ive got into worrying that he's not eating anything. He's also not keen on preloaded spoons. So sometimes he will grab things in both hands, then sit with his arms stretched out and cry or try to lick the table , and he wants us to spoonfeed him runnier things like cereal or stewed fruit.
so weve kind of fallen into 'helping' him and feeding him at most meals ... I really didnt want to be doing it ! However my friend was saying that her (BLW) 10 month old has now started wanting to be spoonfed so wondered whether they do sometimes do this?
How do I get back into encouraging him feed himself? Obviously now he's eating I dont really want him to be getting less again ....

 

[sun]

As many of you know, getting BLW started has been a long process for us!!

Bun has never let us spoonfeed him (giant meltdown) and it took him over a month for him to be willing to put any food into his mouth at all. Then he would try a few bites and have a giant meltdown - we tried so many different things/foods/environments! Anyway - you can always go back and read my pleas for help if you're interested lol...

But I just wanted to update that toast was the thing that brought him into the realm of food - last week he was starting to gnaw on toast, which was a huge accomplishment. Since then he has had some toast every day (still only swallowing a small amount), and we were sure to take the food away before he started getting too frustrated. Suddenly yesterday he was eating sweet potato like a mad person! At least 4 chunks - easily the most he had ever eaten. So today I offered him some lentil burger and roasted potato - he was ok with the burger (sucked on it a bit) but downed an entire small potato!!!!

Bun is coming up on 8 months old, and he is finally ready to get down with the eating!!! For all of you out there who are worried about the quantity of food your LOs are eating, just keep offering and they will come around. Bun even attempted some porridge today off a preloaded spoon - he loves these spoons, but doesn't get much in. Loves playing with them though!! His bowl is even more frustrating to him - it suctions to the tray and he can't stuck his face in it!!! He tries hard though - here's a pic!

So proud of my little Bun!!

 

[amandad192]

I said from when Liam was very young I wanted to do BLW.
My mum told me not to, I'm stupid and he'll choke. My SIL didn't have a clue what I was on about, didn't even know it existed, but borrowed me the Baby-Led Weaning book, which has been a great read, I only have a few pages left.
I made the mistake when Liam turned 5 months in puttin small peices of food in his mouth, one night we had a roast dinner and he ate LOADS of carrot. But 2 nights ago I decided to stop helping him.
When we had dinner (spicy chicken breast and couscous for me, and mash for OH) Liam had a bowl of mash and couscous. It went everywhere! But he had mash on his fingers and had a little sick.
So yesterday I decide to put some uavers on his tray, Thinking it would take weeks for him to put anything in his mouth properly; he proved me wrong. The first food he help in his hand and took to his mouth...was a CRISP! He only had a lick though. So after he'd thrown them all on the floor we shared an orange. He had a good little suck on a segment. No attempt to bitee or chew, just a suck.
At dinner last night we had pizza and potato wedges. I gave him a few large peices of the soft bread from the pizza, most of it just got thrown on the floor, but he took a bite out of one peice. I was watching him out of the corner of my eye..and it didn't come back out. I sooo wanted to praise him and celebrate, but the book says not to make a fuss whether he eats or not. When all the pizza was on the floor, I gave him a potato wedge. I was quite anxious because they have quite a flavour! I thought if he put it in is mouth he would start fussing and crying, but again he proved me wrong. He even took a bite, and swallowed it too.
So BLW for us is getting off to a flying start. I seriously expected him to take a few weeks to eat anything, which is why I started so soon.
It was soo cute watching him eat, I'm soo glad I chose BLW over TW.

 

[Xinola]

Argh, I need help ......

I'm not sure I am 'doing this right'.

we made the mistake of getting a highchair which doesnt have much of a lip around the edge, so he was just pushing his food off. So, we flipped the tray over and he sits at teh table with us and has his food off the table. But he's quite hesitant at picking it up and often cant get his grip on it quite right so drops it, and I often end up helping him, I shouldnt really do this right? but Ive got into worrying that he's not eating anything. He's also not keen on preloaded spoons. So sometimes he will grab things in both hands, then sit with his arms stretched out and cry or try to lick the table , and he wants us to spoonfeed him runnier things like cereal or stewed fruit.
so weve kind of fallen into 'helping' him and feeding him at most meals ... I really didnt want to be doing it ! However my friend was saying that her (BLW) 10 month old has now started wanting to be spoonfed so wondered whether they do sometimes do this?
How do I get back into encouraging him feed himself? Obviously now he's eating I dont really want him to be getting less again ....

At the beginning we did a bit of helping Sini to feed herself. And, after a couple of further tries (she wanting to eat from our hands or even eat the plate), she learnt that it was herself who should bring the food to her mouth. Just keep on trying. What we did was talking to her, telling her that we would not give her the food, that if she wanted it, she should take it, and then we showed her how we eat. Babies, I have found out with Sini, are rather quick learners.

 

[Rebaby]

Hello! So sorry for disappearing off this thread, just been trying to catch up and it seems like a few people have been experiencing the horror of BLW tantrums like we did I have to say there was no magic cure for us, things just seemed to slot together with time. We did take a bit of a step back from it all though while we moved and i fell back on very quick and easy things, like rice cakes and veggies, things i knew Toby could manage and that i could rustle together in a matter of minutes so if it all went horribly wrong i didn't feel like throwing myself out of the window having slaved over a hot stove all day

Anyway i am hoping that the babies in question are getting on a bit better now??

We're doing great, which i guess is why i have been so absent from here, we're at a stage where we're just plodding along nicely, trying lots of new things and generally enjoying ourselves. Toby was born on the 25th percentile but since being a few weeks old has always hovered between the 50th and 75th. Well he is now on the 75th, at 20lbs and 7oz at 8 months old He doesn't (breast)feed as much during the day as he used to but still loads at night and has breakfast lunch and tea (although he's not as interested in breakfast as he used to be but i am trying to be more inventive with what i offer)

Argh, I need help ......

I'm not sure I am 'doing this right'.

we made the mistake of getting a highchair which doesnt have much of a lip around the edge, so he was just pushing his food off. So, we flipped the tray over and he sits at teh table with us and has his food off the table. But he's quite hesitant at picking it up and often cant get his grip on it quite right so drops it, and I often end up helping him, I shouldnt really do this right? but Ive got into worrying that he's not eating anything. He's also not keen on preloaded spoons. So sometimes he will grab things in both hands, then sit with his arms stretched out and cry or try to lick the table , and he wants us to spoonfeed him runnier things like cereal or stewed fruit.
so weve kind of fallen into 'helping' him and feeding him at most meals ... I really didnt want to be doing it ! However my friend was saying that her (BLW) 10 month old has now started wanting to be spoonfed so wondered whether they do sometimes do this?
How do I get back into encouraging him feed himself? Obviously now he's eating I dont really want him to be getting less again ....

I might not be the best person to answer as we're pretty easy-going about "spoons" in our house...if Toby wants help eating something that requires a spoon (mostly yoghurt or porridge or weetabix) i am happy to help. If he has food in front of him that i know he is perfectly capable of picking up (i.e. he's managed it before, it's not something tricky or slippy like very ripe fruit) then i don't help, i just wait for him to take the hint!

Sometimes he will hold both his arms out of the way (or tuck them under his highchair tray) and lunge forward like a fish. I never put food in his mouth but i have, on occasion picked up something from his tray and held it in front of him and maybe said "Hey look, it's a piece of orange" or something and that is usually enough to get him interested in wanting to hold it and start picking things up himself and getting on with it

 

[dom]

Aw, Im another dissapearer off this thread too I went back to work last week so have been mad busy

Gabriella is still doing amazingly well with her eating - we have had so many comments from nursery about how good an eater she is - they are all in complete awe of her Even the manager commented yesterday about how great she is - she's the first BLW baby they have ever had and they all think it's brill

She is currently having a BF when she gets up in the morning - normally between 6 and 7, 3 portions of cereal for breakfast at nursery, 3 portions of lunch at nursery (I think nursey portions must be very small ) and tea at home. She then has a bottle of formula at night.

And huge mega congratulations to Sun and Bun on the amazing achievment you have both had this week I've read lots of your previous posts and all I can say is mega well done !!!!! You must be so so so proud of him

 

[jenny82]

I haven't posted in a while either but we're going ok. A few meal ideas are needed but otherwise ok-ish.

I've caught myself this last while doing something that I probably shouldn't be. There are things my LO won't eat, but I always think its just due to the texture of the actual food. Like avocado/strawberries/sweetcorn. If I offer him a chunk, he'll squeeze it, look at it and chuck it away, but not eat it. So if I have a tiny bit to hand, I pop it into his mouth and he'll chew and eat. Is this wrong? Should I not be doing this? Culann isn't complaining at all and even enjoys it I think, but I always feel like I should just let him get on with things..?

 

[Claire788]

Hiya Girlies! I'm about to start BLW properly in the next couple of weeks.. but have a question I'm curious about.. how do preloaded spoons work?

Do you end up with it everywhere till they get the hang, or do you girls just dip the spoon in, so the end is covered, (rather than a mounded tsp quantity iykwim) and let them get on with it..

Or should I give him an empty spoon to play with first?

I have visions of a big spoonfuls flying across the room lol

 

[sun]

Hiya Girlies! I'm about to start BLW properly in the next couple of weeks.. but have a question I'm curious about.. how do preloaded spoons work?

Do you end up with it everywhere till they get the hang, or do you girls just dip the spoon in, so the end is covered, (rather than a mounded tsp quantity iykwim) and let them get on with it..

Or should I give him an empty spoon to play with first?

I have visions of a big spoonfuls flying across the room lol

I have found that all food goes everywhere - especially once they realize they can drop stuff and learn to throw stuff! BLW is a very messy business!!! I just give LO a spoonful and let him do what he does. Usually it is something thick and sticky like oatmeal porridge or yoghurt so it sticks long enough for it to get to his mouth. I find it much easier with finger foods though - and Bun gets less frustrated.
xx