BLW - Baby led weaning support thread

[CasG]

Thanks Sun, makes a bit more sense now. Phoebe is sitting unaided with confidence and just does not seem satisfied with just milk anymore (BF every 1 1/2 to 2 hrs for about 40 mins - exhusting!).

I might give the veg aga this weekend.
Thanks again

 

[kitabird]

I'd like to try BLW with Xander when he's old enough, but there's one thing I don't understand - when and how do you introduce cutlery? Do you have to wait until baby is able to put food onto a spoon himself and get it to his mouth, because then surely he wouldn't be able to have foods like yoghurt until much later than a TW baby? Sorry if I'm being stupid!!

 

[sun]

Thanks Sun, makes a bit more sense now. Phoebe is sitting unaided with confidence and just does not seem satisfied with just milk anymore (BF every 1 1/2 to 2 hrs for about 40 mins - exhusting!).

I might give the veg aga this weekend.
Thanks again

That does sound exhausting!!! Whenever Bun hit a growth spurt he would eat every 2h as well - so tiring to be feeding them like they are a newborn again!!! Hope she loves the food this weekend! xx

 

[sun]

I'd like to try BLW with Xander when he's old enough, but there's one thing I don't understand - when and how do you introduce cutlery? Do you have to wait until baby is able to put food onto a spoon himself and get it to his mouth, because then surely he wouldn't be able to have foods like yoghurt until much later than a TW baby? Sorry if I'm being stupid!!

Some babies can handle a pre-loaded spoon really well right away. Once Bun understood the concept of food, he would bring a spoon of food to his mouth unaided (but I would hand the spoon to him). He's pretty good with a spoon now but prefers to eat finger foods over runny stuff. He likes to inspect and pick out what he wants lol. Another way of feeding them yoghurt (or in my case blueberry sauce since Bun can't eat dairy) is to dip other foods into it - like pancake strips or breadsticks. I also often serve soup with rice cakes or penne noodles as a sauce (I make thick soup).

xx

 

[hivechild]

Kitabird, I gave ronan a soft spoon too chew on and play with while we ate at around your LO's age. By the time we started giving him food, and pre-loaded spoons he had great hand to mouth coordination and had figured out the gag reflex. He's not yet figured out dipping for himself but any food he won't eat with his hands, I can put on a spoon and either hand that to him or put it on his tray to pick up for himself. We eat things like greek yogurt over normal yogurt because it stays on the spoon better!

 

[TigerLady]

I'd like to try BLW with Xander when he's old enough, but there's one thing I don't understand - when and how do you introduce cutlery? Do you have to wait until baby is able to put food onto a spoon himself and get it to his mouth, because then surely he wouldn't be able to have foods like yoghurt until much later than a TW baby? Sorry if I'm being stupid!!

To give a different experience than what Sun had - Otter was rubbish with a preloaded spoon. But loved yogurt. I found other ways to give it to him -- on bread or fruit. Eventually I occasionally would feed it to him.

He is just now starting to figure out cutlery but isn't very good at it yet -- he is 15 months old. He has GIANT hands so struggles with fine motor skills. I also would sometimes just let him have the cup of yogurt (or applesauce or whatever) and he would play in it and suck it off his fingers. But BOY OH BOY was that a mess!

 

[florabean1981]

ladies, sorry, i know it's been forever since i've been on this thread, but i wanted to ask some Qs...

firstly, blw has been going brilliantly for the most part, but since he got his teeth at 10 months, he's been kinda 'off.' He started refusing a lot of the foods he has previously loved, then went off almost all savoury foods & would only eat cereals & fruit, then he started sleeping really crappy & upped his breastfeeds from about 4-6 a day & is now back upto 8-10 a day, which is exhausting me!

2 weeks, he started not wanting to eat with his hands, and trying to grab at our cutlery, so we were like, ah, maybe he's telling us he wants to move onto the next stage & use real cutlery now.... so we started offering a fork to him, which he took to birlliantly. A week later, he was using his fork like a little pro (proud mum & dad moment, lol), but now this week, he's turned into a stubborn little so & so & refuses to eat anything at all UNLESS he can use a fork.... This isn't such a huge issue, but it's meant I'm having to cut all his food up into bite sized pieces as he doesn't really know how to use his teeth properly yet (he's just cut his 5th tooth), which kinda feels like we're going backwards. And he's now taken to throwing more than half his food across the room if he doesn't want it, but then yelling at us for not giving him more...
Today he has only eaten his breakfast & nothing else & has been permanently attached to me & throws a little tantrum if I say no... It's times like this I wish he'd take a bottle or some other kind of milk (at 6 months he started refusing anything but water in a beaker & boob- he wont even take ebm anymore & just spits cow's milk out like I'm tryig to poison him...) I feel like I need a break- it's like having a newborn all over again...

Please tell me all these things are just a phase & that it's not him turning into a fuss pot!!!! Do they all go through phases like this, or am I pandering to him too much? Should I be firmer with him, or just go with the flow & ride it out. I'm only really worried from a nutrician point of view, as I hate to think that he's missing out on things when I've worked so hard to make sure he has a rich & varied diet.....

sorry for moaning! Hope everyone else is doing really well still?

 

[TigerLady]

Otter has gone through stages, too. I just ride them out. One minute something is his favorite and the next it is not. Sometimes he eats enough to feed an army, sometimes he doesn't eat hardly anything. I just go with it.

He totally throws his food on the floor if he doesn't want it. I just pick it up and throw it away. If he persists, I take all the food away. For him, it is an indication he really isn't all that hungry. He has picked up the sign for "eat" in the last week or so and that has helped as he will ask to eat when he is hungry now.

As for the BFing, I don't know! That seems like LOTS of feeds for his age. Not that it's a bad thing... but it could be problematic if it affects your relationship poorly. Have you tried refusing feeds and offering solids instead and sticking to it? Also, try a variety of cups again for milk -- sippies, doidies, straws, etc. Maybe he will take to one of them now where he didn't before?

 

[florabean1981]

i just ordered a doidy cup off amazon, so hopefull that might make a difference...
you might be onto something with offering him solids instead of a BF; i will start trying that tomorrow & get back to you. i think i give in way too easily when he's pulling at my top, lol. on days when his daddy's not working, he doesn't have half as many feeds as when he's away, so i think some of it might be attention, iyswim?
i might even start doing the dont ask dont offer method; not to wean him off the breast, but to get him to cut down a bit back to the 4 or so he used to have, which seemed much more normal, lol.

 

[TigerLady]

Otter is down to just one. Basically I got him to drop his last 2 (morning and midday) by not offering and moving up his solids time. Now, instead of BFing right when he gets up, he gets dressed, offered a vitamin and cup of milk, then I make him breakfast immediately... while he watches closely signing "eat".

 

[florabean1981]

aw, that sounds really cute of Otter

Today, since 7:30am, he's only had 4 BFs so far (huge improvement on the last week or so, that's sor sure) & has his normal breakfast & lunch, and I've been giving him some dried fruit snacks when he started pulling at my top. He's also been drinking his usual beaker of water... I think the upping his BFs are really his way of saying he's hungry & it's been easier for him to ask for 'bubba' as he calls it than to say he wants 'real' food... It's now just funny watching him try to stab his dried apricot chunks with a fork rather than taking the easy option & using his fingers, the silly boy!!!!

Do you have any tips in getting him more into the whole cow's milk thing? He has cow's milk on his breakfast, and has had a few sips from his various beakers, and once drank a little bit from the milk jug at starbucks, lol, but mainly he just spits it out, which is what he used to be like with his water.... I'm guessing it's a perseverence thing? I'm hoping the doidy cup (which should arrive monday) will help him too...

 

[TigerLady]

Try putting it over a bowl of cereal and then teaching him to drink the milk from the bowl after he finishes the cereal. This will give the milk a different flavor and he may like it better that way. Then it won't seem so strange when he drinks it straight from a cup.

https://i758.photobucket.com/albums/xx223/TigerLady_Otter/569f685b.jpg

 

[florabean1981]

wow, that's an awesome idea! You're a star TL! (and great pic of Otter there, he's such a little pro with BLW!)

Harry ended up having 'only' 7 BFs yesterday & a lot more healthy snacks through out the day & seemed to be ok with it all He's had so far today (it's just gone 4pm here) so it'll probably be about the same amount again today, but certainly better than the 10+ it has been recently!

Thankyou so much for your advice

 

[TigerLady]

Sounds like good progress!

I got lucky that Otter took to BLW so well! He is definitely a pro -- as evidenced by the fact that he is a TANK with a budda belly!

 

[Tacey]

I've not been around on this thread for a while, but I wondered if you ladies might have some advice for me.

Alice has suddenly started eating A LOT. She's never eaten much before and has always relied heavily on milk, but it seems she's now very interested in food. She's also gone from not letting me anywhere near her mouth (even to clean it) to wanting me to feed her. I thin it's because she wants to get the food in as quickly as possible. If you've come across this, how did you deal with it? It's a funny feeling actually spoon feeding her, and I'm not really comfortable with it, but she gets very upset if I don't. Maybe a bit of both?

 

[sun]

I've not been around on this thread for a while, but I wondered if you ladies might have some advice for me.

Alice has suddenly started eating A LOT. She's never eaten much before and has always relied heavily on milk, but it seems she's now very interested in food. She's also gone from not letting me anywhere near her mouth (even to clean it) to wanting me to feed her. I thin it's because she wants to get the food in as quickly as possible. If you've come across this, how did you deal with it? It's a funny feeling actually spoon feeding her, and I'm not really comfortable with it, but she gets very upset if I don't. Maybe a bit of both?

Bun has also been like this recently! He has been eating a lot of food (large portions!), but sometimes when he is really hungry he wants me to feed him (he also used to not let me get a spoon even close to putting it down on the tray without him taking it from me to feed himself). But now I notice that when he is really hungry he will cry in frustration/hunger (especially at breakfast) and want me to feed him. I think it is the same thing with Bun - he is too hungry and gets frustrated with feeding himself and just wants the hungry feeling to go away. In this case. I will usually feed him a few spoons to "get him started" then once he has a bit of food in him, he wants to feed himself again. I will give him a spoon or two and stop - giving him the opportunity to feed himself. So far he starts eating himself once he's a little less hungry and has more patience. xx

 

[TigerLady]

I think most babies go through a stage at about 10/11 months where they want to be fed. Otter did and I remember loads of ladies on here having the same issue. It is just a phase and they will get over it.

As for eating loads, that is normal and probably a growth spurt.

 

[sadeyedlady]

Im just wondering is it safe to use this technique on a 4 month old?

EDIT: Nevermind I found my answer in another thread

 

[Tacey]

Thank you for the advice! It's a funny experience, but I'm giving her the odd spoonful or two. It seems to be either when she's very hungry or very tired. She's using a fork and spoon herself now, so I think it takes a lot more effort to eat these days as she rarely uses her hands.

 

[jenny82]

Our BLW has gone completely to pot this past week. I posted about this before but in the wrong section. The creche are totally spoon-feeding him as he is opening his mouth out all the time now in anticipation of a spoon. I refuse to give in and hand him a spoon instead if if its that type of meal.

I started buying innocent veg pots and the odd little dish meal to give him during the week. Am finding it really hard to adjust to studying full time and OH has started a new job which means he now always misses out on dinner during the week. I'm finding it a bit of a hard adjustment as well as being so tired. LO is exhausted too by that stage and tonight, when he open his mouth for a spoon, I put it in there

I caught myself on though and stopped, but I'm afraid now that I'm confusing him. I think I need to go back to basics with quick finger foods as I just don't ahve the time to do big meals most evenings (wednesdays/thursdays are ok as I usually have one of these days off).

Sorry - I'm not quite sure if I'm asking for advice or just letting off steam, but its just a bit tough at the mo