BLW - Baby led weaning support thread

[purple_kiwi]

ive froozen veg. myself and give it to her just cause theres no way i could use it alol before it went bad. i just boil it a few mins then bag it and freeze it

 

[sun]

Not sure if any of you ladies were the ones who responded to my post a while back concerning the fact that Thomas wasn't swallowing any foods?

Well, I'm needing more reassurance! We've been doing BLW for almost a month (after 6 weeks of completely unsuccessful attempts at TW) and he still isn't swallowing anything. He is picking up everything I offer him, putting it to his mouth, sucking it, gumming it and occasionally biting pieces off but he spits EVERYTHING out. It doesn't even go far enough in to cause him to gag.

I'm getting kinda worried

Hi Bluey - Please try not to worry! I was offering Bun food at 6 months and we were having tons of problems (you can search for my many threads regarding this) so I held off for a few weeks and tried again at 7 months. Anyway, Bun didn't really start swallowing anything until he was 7.5 months and even then it was tiny amounts - I wouldn't have known if it wasn't for bits in his diaper! Now Bun is eating so so well. It took good few weeks for him to get used to the routine and to learn how to move food around his mouth and swallow - but everyone is amazed at how well he eats now! I would also worry about his eating, since I would read about LOs on here that were eating tons, while my baby that was 2 months older ate next to nothing. But they are all different and your LO will let you know when he is ready for eating! Remember eating under 1 is mostly for fun! He will be getting the bulk of his nutrition from you. Baby led weaning is so great because you take cues from them and when they do start eating, they are fully ready! Then it is an amazing thing to watch Now we bring Bun out and he samples all kinds of food and really enjoys himself. It took us a while, but Bun got there in the end!
And your LO will too

xx

 

[chrissie33]

We are making reasonable progress with BLW and I admit I absolutely love it! Friends who are TW are so shocked when Katie eats the same as me and I do not feed her myself... some actually think it is wrong but thats their problem

I was really worried the other week that she was not eating much at all (although still bfing so know she is getting plenty of milk) but we went out for sunday lunch and gave her the usual veg and meat and as usual she seemed to eat some and throw the rest on the floor. It was only when someone gave her some custard and she was sick, did I realise she had actually eaten LOADS!! So whilst I didnt enjoy her being sick of course, it was very reassuring to see how much she would have digested had she not been sick!

BLW rocks!!

 

[Shiv]

hi everyone, good to hear some success stories!

Can anyone tell me what the recommended amount of salt is for a one year old? Does it go up to 2g a day? I must admit i looking forward tonot having to watch Sophia's salt intake quite as hawk like as I have been!

 

[Tacey]

Shiv - Yes, the guidelines say 2g max. for 1-3 year olds. I'm finding it even trickier though as Alice is eating so much more!

 

[Mum2b_Claire]

Yeah it is a pain when they are eating bigger quantities! I've taken to giving a lot less bought bread, and sticking to homemade bread items which I've either put no salt or a tiny bit in. That helps quite a bit.

 

[hivechild]

Yeah it is a pain when they are eating bigger quantities! I've taken to giving a lot less bought bread, and sticking to homemade bread items which I've either put no salt or a tiny bit in. That helps quite a bit.

I'm sure it's just because I'm so used to salt but I bought some salt free bread the other day to try and see if it was worth spending the money on when the monkey starts eating bread and it was probably the worst tasting bread I've ever had! I think I definitely need to make my own.

 

[Mum2b_Claire]

Yeah it is a pain when they are eating bigger quantities! I've taken to giving a lot less bought bread, and sticking to homemade bread items which I've either put no salt or a tiny bit in. That helps quite a bit.

I'm sure it's just because I'm so used to salt but I bought some salt free bread the other day to try and see if it was worth spending the money on when the monkey starts eating bread and it was probably the worst tasting bread I've ever had! I think I definitely need to make my own.

Oh yeah, commercially made bread without salt is horrible!

 

[hivechild]

I actually had high hopes because it was made by a grocer here that does a lot of organic and healthy type stuff. Either way it will be better, and cheaper if I make it myself!

 

[Shiv]

I often thought about making my own bread for Sophia, we have a bread machine that we used to use! but i was in a quandry as doesn't the bread you buy in shops have added vitamins etc? So for me it was always a 6 of one half a dozen of another as my own bread would have less salt but no added good stuff.

 

[Mum2b_Claire]

I often thought about making my own bread for Sophia, we have a bread machine that we used to use! but i was in a quandry as doesn't the bread you buy in shops have added vitamins etc? So for me it was always a 6 of one half a dozen of another as my own bread would have less salt but no added good stuff.

I don't know about this - we get bread from a local bakery so I don't even know if they add vitamins etc.
I think I'd rather Ruby got vitamins from other foods and had less processed bread. But for babies that don't eat a balanced diet I guess fortified bread / cereals are useful.

 

[sun]

I often thought about making my own bread for Sophia, we have a bread machine that we used to use! but i was in a quandry as doesn't the bread you buy in shops have added vitamins etc? So for me it was always a 6 of one half a dozen of another as my own bread would have less salt but no added good stuff.

I also use bakery bread or make my own, so there are no added vitamins in that. I would rather Bun eat the bakery bread (or my own) that has little salt and sugar and is all whole grain (I use whole spelt or brown rice if I am making gluten free). The only fortified bread is the commercial stuff.


xx

 

[gills8752]

I've been reading back a few pages (not too far I'm not obsessed haha) and noticed about apple - I've given my lo wedges of apple with skin and she's been loving it - not had any issue with the breaking apart as she just chomps down on it and swallows some. Same with cucumber and tomato. Is it really that dangerous not to give it to her?

 

[gills8752]

oh another couple of things..

1) can any one recommend a mat for the floor!? I've got carpet and its not fairing so well just now with veggies getting mashed into it! :doh:

2) Do you have to have breakie, lunch and dinner? Is it best to do all 3 meals or introduce them slowly? I'm struggling to do breakie as I barely eat it so don't have a scooby what she could eat!?

 

[sun]

oh another couple of things..

1) can any one recommend a mat for the floor!? I've got carpet and its not fairing so well just now with veggies getting mashed into it! :doh:

2) Do you have to have breakie, lunch and dinner? Is it best to do all 3 meals or introduce them slowly? I'm struggling to do breakie as I barely eat it so don't have a scooby what she could eat!?

Bun really loves oatmeal, so we usually have that! (well he does - I drink tea lol) Sometimes I make pancakes on the weekend (for him and OH) We just introduced meals slowly - breakfast and dinner. Then started adding snacks here and there if he was hungry. Right now we do 2 large(ish) meals/day plus 2 snacks!

 

[Shiv]

Hiya Gill, if your Lo is coping fine with Apple then as long as you are watching her I guess it isn't a problem

when we first started with Sophia we just did 2 meals a day and then moved up to 3 when she was eating a bit more. It is up to you, the more opportunties they get to practice the more they will pick it up though.

breakfast is the easiest meal of the day for me. Sophia has fruit, bite sized shredded wheat (just soaked in cows milk enough that they are soft but she can still pick them up) or wheatabix (same) and some yoghurt on a preloaded spoon (although she tries to do the loading herself these days) You could try porridge on a pre-laoded spoon as well.

Can't remember how old your LO is, but if under 6 months then i would stick to just fruit and veg.

 

[sun]

Just a note about oatmeal - I pre-load a spoon if he wants to eat with that, but usually he just eats it by the handful!!

 

[jenny82]

If it helps, I don't cut apple slices. If I'm eating an apple, I chip off big bits of it and LO hasn't had any problems at all. In fact, I didn't really know it coudl be a problem and now I'm more paranoid, whereas I wasn't before!

 

[craftymum]

Hi everyone, we're still having problems - at almost every meal Jacob eats a bit, then just throws everything on the floor, eats a bit more, then throws more bit by bit on the floor, then just screams to get out. He will have the odd good day but at the minute it's more bad than good. Mealtimes are just turning into one big bundle of stressy mess for me

 

[jenny82]

Help! I don't know what to feed LO.

Hes a bit sicky at the minute. His nappies are runny and hes vomitted up his whole meal twice in the last few days.

I haven't given him much since Thursday (when he threw up his whole lunch, I thought he had gagged at the time but it turned out he was sick).

I've offered him toast, little bit of porridge and he had some baked beans last night. Tonight, I tried him with a little bit of potato and some grated cheese tonight but he threw it up.

I'm not sure whether it was the sickness making him sick or whether he gagged (but he hasn't been sick because of gagging pretty much since we started BLW!).

I'm really scared to try anything with him, but he was really hungry earlier. He was getting frantic for his dinner...and then was sick! Hes getting sick of me offering him toast - he just throws it on the floor for the dog:/