BLW - Baby led weaning support thread

[jenny82]

Eugh I'm really stuck. LO has lost weight and its really getting me down. I can see him being skinnier, but he is now longer and he is moving about more (tonnes more), but it still annoys me... I'm not exactly sure of the weight hes lost but he has moved from the 90th to 75th centile.

I don't think he eats as much as he should. I know that in the BLW - what did your LO eat today thread, I post what he ate, but the *amounts* that he eats are actually a lot less than they should be. If I hand him a rice cake, he eats about a third and throws it on the floor. If I give him melon, banana etc, he does the same. Pasta is his one good thing he loves, but he can't eat that all day every day!

I know that he is hungry - too hungry sometimes. He can have meltdowns at the start of meals and we think its that food isn't going in quick enough to satisfy his appetite. So at this stage, I'm thinking of just trying to spoon him food - even though I really, really don't want to. What do I do???

ETA: I forgot to add - we have started giving him night-time milk too. He had cut them out completely, then started again. I've tried weaning him off it, then stopped altogether but he still wakes about 1am-ish and won't sleep till hes fed :/

 

[Mum2b_Claire]

Jenny, Ruby lost weight a few times around culann's age. At 12 months she weighed the same as she did at 9 months. (she was on the 99.6th centile for weight, now is on the 91st.) To quote the Pediactrician (we were at hospital for another issue): 'as she is on the upper centiles anyway this is no concern whatsoever'. He also pointed out that Ruby was only 7lb born (just under the 50th centile) so could be heading back there now she is replacing milk with solids. (Lots of FF babies take more milk than they really need when they are young, and gain weight really fast, I think Ruby probably fell into this category)

No I wouldn't spoonfeed him to try and get more into him because that could lead to more struggles at mealtimes at his age. Just my opinion though.

Somedays Ruby eats hardly anything. My OH is good at reminding me that we don't know how much she should be eating, only she does!

 

[Mum2b_Claire]

Oh and on the BLW thread, I am constantly surprised at the quantities some of the other LOs eat, Ruby eats considerably less than most, and she's fine.

 

[jenny82]

Thanks Claire - maybe I just needed someone to reassure me I'll relax a bit more this week and see how it goes.

He is also running about so much that its no wonder hes lost weight I guess!

 

[mummy_em]

hello ladies im hoping to start weaning ella soon but not sure when to start or quite how to go about it my last son started with pure but we quickly moved on to BLW and he was fine but feel a bit fretful about doing it with ella xx

 

[pinkclaire]

I'm having similar issues Jenny with James, I just love BLW its been brilliant for his hand eye coordination and he really enjoys whatever is put in front of him and loves the independance, but James has gone from the 50% to the 2% percentile and they keep asking me 'how much' he is eating. They look at me like I'm starving him, which I know I'm not as hes so content, hes been crawling since 5 months so a lot earlier than most and as it was before weaning he never stored up that fat like babies seem to do before crawling!

 

[casann]

Wonder if anyone can help ?Oscar is 7 and a half months old now and been blw dince 6 months . He started swollwing alot btut now the food is mostly chewed then spat back out and i'm worried that he is nto getting enough nutrients .

 

[sun]

Wonder if anyone can help ?Oscar is 7 and a half months old now and been blw dince 6 months . He started swollwing alot btut now the food is mostly chewed then spat back out and i'm worried that he is nto getting enough nutrients .

Your guy is getting everything he needs from you, so I wouldn't worry. I went with the saying "Food before 1 is mostly for fun (and learning!!)" as they are learning how to eat and move food around their mouths at this stage. Your milk has everything he needs to be healthy!

My guy didn't eat anything really until he was 7.5 months (that's when I first started seeing traces of real food in his diaper). For the next month, lots of what he ate eventually came back out - not very much was actually being swallowed. Lots of babies go through phases of eating more and less, spitting food out, or throwing food on the floor. Sometimes it has to do with teething as that can really affect their eating. Keep offering different foods and textures - I'm sure your LO will get into it again!!

 

[Mrs Muffin]

I've been worried about the quantity that Darwin eats lately. He will pick food up well and can feed with a pre-loaded spoon but the quantity seems rather small. Say he has a bit of bread (a finger size) he will nibble the end off and then it gets chucked on the floor. Bread is his favourite food yet I can't give him that every meal. He will maybe eat half a plum and suck the juice of quarter of a tomato.

Mind you he's still gaining weight consistently - follows the 50th centile so maybe he just prefers milk atm. Argh I'm sure I will look back on this and wonder why I was worrying (yet I'm still worrying!)

Part way through the meal he goes all jiggly like he has ants in his pants or he's having a fit, it's a bizarre sight to behold. It's like he is helpless to do anything but jiggle on the spot until all the jiggles have escaped. Sometimes he will go back to trying food again afterwards though. Anyone else got a jiggly baby at meal times?

 

[lanaross]

girls help I don't know what to do. I was all set to go BLW route and my LO seemed to love sucking an occasional peach or broccoli, and I started on Saturday and suddenly she hates it. She takes some bits of it and then starts crying, I don't know what it is. I tried puree and she was very happy with it, should I just give up? Or maybe she is not ready and I should try again in a week or two? She did pass the banana test almost a month ago! Or maybe it's the chair she hates? I am so baffled.

 

[sun]

girls help I don't know what to do. I was all set to go BLW route and my LO seemed to love sucking an occasional peach or broccoli, and I started on Saturday and suddenly she hates it. She takes some bits of it and then starts crying, I don't know what it is. I tried puree and she was very happy with it, should I just give up? Or maybe she is not ready and I should try again in a week or two? She did pass the banana test almost a month ago! Or maybe it's the chair she hates? I am so baffled.

Bun was like this at the beginning as well - he would get very worked up while eating. Eventually he was having total meltdowns at mealtimes and we decided that he needed some more time before introducing solids. There are a few other girls on here who had similar issues with their LOs. With Bun, even though he could do everything that on paper said he was ready - he wasn't ready and would get too frustrated with the food. Especially before he understood that food makes hunger go away - he just found it frustrating and annoying to sit in the chair. Bun didn't really eat anything much for quite some time (around 7.5 months) but now he is a serious eater and loves his food.

Some things that we tried were to feed him bits of whatever we were eating rather than steamed veg - Bun was much more interested in what we were doing and eating than if we made him something different. You can also try feeding her on your lap instead of the highchair - this didn't work for us but was really good for others on here. Also I would offer once a day and when that started going well, would offer an additional snack, then 2 meals a day, two meals plus a snack, etc. Bun just started eating 3 good meals/day not long ago. Bun has the most patience for breakfast so that is when I offered his meals - other LOs prefer dinner.

Knowing what I know now about BLW, I would give it another try before switching to TW. BLW has been so amazing - I love watching Bun explore new foods and I love that he eats what we eat (at restaurants or home) - I don't need to mess with purees or spoonfeed. It was easier for us to keep going with BLW, as Bun would not let me feed him LOL (he does now - but not at the beginning) - so BLW was the thing for us!

Remember that your LO is getting everything she needs from milk! A little bit of veg or fruit doesn't have nearly the nutrition that your milk will provide, so keep offering and she will get the idea If she doesn't seem ready at all, you can take a break for a few days and try again. Sometimes that does the trick! xx

 

[sun]

I've been worried about the quantity that Darwin eats lately. He will pick food up well and can feed with a pre-loaded spoon but the quantity seems rather small. Say he has a bit of bread (a finger size) he will nibble the end off and then it gets chucked on the floor. Bread is his favourite food yet I can't give him that every meal. He will maybe eat half a plum and suck the juice of quarter of a tomato.

Mind you he's still gaining weight consistently - follows the 50th centile so maybe he just prefers milk atm. Argh I'm sure I will look back on this and wonder why I was worrying (yet I'm still worrying!)

Part way through the meal he goes all jiggly like he has ants in his pants or he's having a fit, it's a bizarre sight to behold. It's like he is helpless to do anything but jiggle on the spot until all the jiggles have escaped. Sometimes he will go back to trying food again afterwards though. Anyone else got a jiggly baby at meal times?

Bun has recently started getting very excitable at times - mid-meal he will often ball his hands in fists and shake them in the air while squealing!! Also lots of kicking and fast breathing...

Bread was Buns favourite food for a loooooong time - he still loves carbs... pasta, grains (quinoa especially) and toast. He is just now getting into meat, but he would eat oatmeal every meal if I let him. He was eating very little for a while, then suddenly in the past few weeks really upped his food intake and is sleeping 2h/day more so I think their eating really has to do with their growth. Also Bun will go off his food and want milk when his teeth start moving. None have come through yet, but they move and the gums get red - they have been just under the surface for so long!

I just try and go with it - as long as they are healthy and happy all is well!!

 

[lanaross]

I've been worried about the quantity that Darwin eats lately. He will pick food up well and can feed with a pre-loaded spoon but the quantity seems rather small. Say he has a bit of bread (a finger size) he will nibble the end off and then it gets chucked on the floor. Bread is his favourite food yet I can't give him that every meal. He will maybe eat half a plum and suck the juice of quarter of a tomato.

Mind you he's still gaining weight consistently - follows the 50th centile so maybe he just prefers milk atm. Argh I'm sure I will look back on this and wonder why I was worrying (yet I'm still worrying!)

Part way through the meal he goes all jiggly like he has ants in his pants or he's having a fit, it's a bizarre sight to behold. It's like he is helpless to do anything but jiggle on the spot until all the jiggles have escaped. Sometimes he will go back to trying food again afterwards though. Anyone else got a jiggly baby at meal times?

Isabella jiggles too! But she does it during her milk feeds too and sometimes just because. I keep wondering if it's some air gets stuck? Or maybe they think it's funny. She only started doing it recently.

 

[Mrs.W]

Hi I hope its ok to post in here but we are just starting the BLW process. So far breakfast is a regular BLW thing, I offer him my toast crusts(I read this on BNB somewhere) and he has a suck/nibble and has definately swallowed on a couple of occasions. I have also tried offering banana still with some skin on (as it says in the book) although I'm not very good at this and he can't handle the banana "naked". So what sort of things can I offer him for breakfast at this early age? as I want him to have a couple of options. He is a week short of 6 months so I'm not sure if the foods in the "what did baby eat today" thread are appropriate for him yet as the babies look a bit older? or does that not matter. When can I offer like weetabix/ other low sugar salt cereals, and do I need to use his formula milk with this? Sorry if I've missed this info somewhere but I just wanted to post while I have a chance as I have loads of questions ATM.

Thanks

 

[Shiv]

Hi I hope its ok to post in here but we are just starting the BLW process. So far breakfast is a regular BLW thing, I offer him my toast crusts(I read this on BNB somewhere) and he has a suck/nibble and has definately swallowed on a couple of occasions. I have also tried offering banana still with some skin on (as it says in the book) although I'm not very good at this and he can't handle the banana "naked". So what sort of things can I offer him for breakfast at this early age? as I want him to have a couple of options. He is a week short of 6 months so I'm not sure if the foods in the "what did baby eat today" thread are appropriate for him yet as the babies look a bit older? or does that not matter. When can I offer like weetabix/ other low sugar salt cereals, and do I need to use his formula milk with this? Sorry if I've missed this info somewhere but I just wanted to post while I have a chance as I have loads of questions ATM.

Thanks

I would say as your LO is almost 6 months that is ok to give anything (except honey and any choking hazards such as whole nuts). Easy to handle breakfasts include fruit cut up into sticks, ripe pear (leave the skin on) and melon work well. no need to just give crusts of toast - give small fingers or triangles with fruit spread or butter (unsalted). preloaded spoons of cereal or yoghurt work too. you could do american style pancakes (thick and fluffy) hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm theres a few ideas for you to try - good luck with it and enjoy

 

[Mrs.W]

I would say as your LO is almost 6 months that is ok to give anything (except honey and any choking hazards such as whole nuts). Easy to handle breakfasts include fruit cut up into sticks, ripe pear (leave the skin on) and melon work well. no need to just give crusts of toast - give small fingers or triangles with fruit spread or butter (unsalted). preloaded spoons of cereal or yoghurt work too. you could do american style pancakes (thick and fluffy) hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm theres a few ideas for you to try - good luck with it and enjoy

Thanks for your reply, its good just to get the opinion from someone else as no-one in real-life here knows much about it. I have bought some pears and I'm waiting for them to ripen, thanks for your suggestions I will give them all a try

 

[sun]

Hi I hope its ok to post in here but we are just starting the BLW process. So far breakfast is a regular BLW thing, I offer him my toast crusts(I read this on BNB somewhere) and he has a suck/nibble and has definately swallowed on a couple of occasions. I have also tried offering banana still with some skin on (as it says in the book) although I'm not very good at this and he can't handle the banana "naked". So what sort of things can I offer him for breakfast at this early age? as I want him to have a couple of options. He is a week short of 6 months so I'm not sure if the foods in the "what did baby eat today" thread are appropriate for him yet as the babies look a bit older? or does that not matter. When can I offer like weetabix/ other low sugar salt cereals, and do I need to use his formula milk with this? Sorry if I've missed this info somewhere but I just wanted to post while I have a chance as I have loads of questions ATM.

Thanks

Hi there and welcome! I agree with Shiv that you can offer them whatever you are eating at 6 months (some parents do not offer things like egg white, nuts, or honey until a year depending where they live). Some of Buns favourite items when we were just starting out were roasted fingers of sweet potato and regular potato or toast fingers with avocado or apple butter (or any spread your LO likes - lots of babies like dairy - melted cheese, cream cheese or creme fraiche - though I don't really know what creme fraiche is, I have just read it on here). Bun preferred things he could pick up easily so I made lots of yummy pancakes (the kind Shiv mentioned - I make them with sweet potato), pieces of homemade muffin, and steamed veg. Bun wasn't really into fruit and still isn't, but lots of babies on here love chunks of melon, watermelon, mango or strawberries. I would watch out for apple though - Bun has a really hard time with it, and I know other babies on here are the same. We grate apple into oatmeal though and serve on a preloaded spoon. You could try yoghurt too!

Have Fun!!!

 

[EternalRose]

Just having a sneaky peak on this thread. Abigail will be 6 months old on 15th October, and thinking about trying BLW.

 

[sun]

Just having a sneaky peak on this thread. Abigail will be 6 months old on 15th October, and thinking about trying BLW.

Hello!!! Tons of great info on here!! Lots of ups and downs for us at first, but I can say that BLW has been the best thing we could have done.
People are amazed at our guy when he sits down and chows down on dinner with everyone else

xx

 

[kirmal12]

Just having a sneaky peak on this thread. Abigail will be 6 months old on 15th October, and thinking about trying BLW.

Hello!!! Tons of great info on here!! Lots of ups and downs for us at first, but I can say that BLW has been the best thing we could have done.
People are amazed at our guy when he sits down and chows down on dinner with everyone else

xx

Best decision you could ever make IMHO, my LO started a little slow and getting better every day. Loads of info on here and loads of help